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Telefonica I+D to lead in three priority areas: the internet of things; the prediction of human behaviour and identity and privacy
[November 07, 2014]

Telefonica I+D to lead in three priority areas: the internet of things; the prediction of human behaviour and identity and privacy


(ENP Newswire Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) ENP Newswire - 06 November 2014 Release date- 05112014 - Madrid .- Today, Telefonica I+D (TID, Telefonica R&D), during its event for internal developers known as 'TEFcon', introduced its strategy for the next few years.



Three main lines of work were established that will be centred around: the Industrial Internet of Things; models of human behaviour and identity and privacy.

As David del Val, CEO of Telefonica I+D, has stressed, 'aside from being the company with most investment in R&D in Spain, Telefonica has a great tradition in the innovation of products and services, and has got to where it is today through its pioneering work. In order to keep our position as a reference company and continue being the 'factory' for the company's best products, we have some clear aims: to create and invent new products in new lines of business, and to develop with excellence everything that we are able to create internally'.


Work within Telefonica I+D is already underway across these three areas, with tangible results produced.

With regards to the Industrial Internet of Things, a product called 'Thinking Things' was recently presented - this consists of stackable models, not dissimilar to Lego pieces, that provide the building blocks for baseline connectivity. These blocks can be used by developers to create new innovate products and solutions.

For the predication of human behaviour, an area with a huge amount of future potential, the best example at present is a recent study TID carried out focusing on the tourism sector. This emphasised the great opportunities that big data methodologies can offer in this industry while providing valuable insights into human behaviour and movements.

In terms of the focus on identity and privacy, TID will soon lead a communal effort designed to reveal the flow and use of personal information online. This is particularly relevant in the current global climate where identity and privacy concerns are front of mind for people, businesses and governments and levels of connectivity continue to increase at an unprecedented rate.

The presentation of these strategic priorities by TID was carried out during the TEFcon event (4 and 5 November), an event organised for the third consecutive year by Telefonica I+D to bring together all of the various product creators within the company. This included businesses such as Tuenti, Jajah, eyeOS and Tokbox, among many others. The aim is to spread the best practices used by engineers, as well as to learn and share new technologies, all through hakathons, dojos and networking. This event is becoming vital in improving the quality of products developed by Telefonica.

Throughout all of the innovative work showcased, there was one common stand-out element - the use of a startup methodology within a large company. In fact, in this area, TID is the worldwide pioneer in applying the 'Lean Startup' method to various projects in a large corporation. The application of this methodology instils a sense of fearlessness and big-thinking into the company, producing ground-breaking results that benefit the whole of Telefonica.

In order to develop this strategy and continue to lead in the creation of new innovative products and services, Telefonica will continue investing in R&D in Spain in line with what has been invested in recent years. The latest official data indicates that Telefonica allocated a total of 6,100 million euro to R&D&I projects worldwide in 2013, an amount that signifies a 6% increase on the previous year. This has turned the telecommunications company into the operator with the second largest investment in R&D&I in the world.

Moreover, according to the Global Innovation 1000 world ranking, carried out by PwC consultants, Telefonica is the operator with the largest investment in R&D in Spain this year. In fact, according to the data by the consultants, it has increased its position in the ranking, with an investment of 1,000 million euro in 2014, equating to a 1% increase year on year.

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