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June 11, 1997

GMD and Hitachi to Cooperate in Information Technology Research and Development

Under the agreement, GMD FOKUS and Hitachi will jointly develop new computer and telecommunications technology and exchange general know-how and expertise in those areas.

GMD FOKUS is an important European R&D institute. It has contributed to a large number of national and international collaborative projects within R&D programs such as ESPRIT (European Strategic Program for Research in Information Technology) and ACTS (Advanced Communications Technologies and Services). GMD FOKUS works closely with partners from European industry and is an experienced consultant to public administrations and industry in such areas as telecommunications, information infrastructures and autonomous decentralized systems.

According to Dr. Radu Popescu-Zeletin, director of GMD FOKUS, "This co-operation is based on the fruitful results of the joint projects in which Hitachi and GMD have co-operated in the past. Through the cooperation GMD FOKUS has and will in the future profit from Hitachi's valuable experience in the development of autonomous decentralized systems (ADS) for industrial environments."

"We are interested in cooperative research and development projects with GMD FOKUS, which has extensive and valuable knowledge and experience in the field of information technology. Our wish is to see both parties' activities contributing to the advancement of such technology," said Mr. Toshiakira Ikeda, General Manager of the Strategic Business Development Division, Information Systems Group, Hitachi, Ltd., adding, "We are also planning to participate in European R&D Programs jointly with GMD FOKUS."

GMD FOKUS and Hitachi have concluded that collaborative R&D agreement will be to their mutual benefit and help to strengthen their present relationship and co-operation. Joint projects between GMD FOKUS and Hitachi laboratories are already underway into autonomous decentralized systems technologies. GMD FOKUS and Hitachi will also target joint participation in collaborative projects of various European programs such as ESPRIT and ACTS.

GMD, Germany's national Research Center for Information Technology, conducts research in Informatics, Communication, and Media. Its headquarters, in Sankt Augustin near Bonn, are housed in Birlinghoven Castle. Its research institutes are in Sankt Augustin, Darmstadt, and Berlin. It is funded mainly by the Federal Republic of Germany (BMBF ministry) and the Laender Berlin, Nordrhein-Westfalen, and Hessen. GMD is a member of the Hermann von Helmholtz Association of German Research Centers (HGF).

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