Konica Minolta launches first-ever Business Innovation Centre in Singapore

 

  • The first of five BICs the company intends to establish around the world
  • BICs to facilitate and accelerate its ICT services business, says Konica Minolta

Konica Minolta launches first-ever Business Innovation Centre in SingaporeKONICA Minolta Inc has launched its new Asia Pacific Business Innovation Centre (BIC) in Singapore, one of five BICs the company said it plans to establish around the world to facilitate and accelerate the growth of its information and communications technology (ICT) services business.
 
The BIC would initiate, support and manage new business and technology development, as well as incubate new ICT service businesses for Konica Minolta, the company said in a statement.
 
The BIC will also manage the entire lifecycle of service development and incubation activities, from ideation, proof-of-concepts and pilot programmes, to business development and actual business deployment activities, Konica Minolta said. 
 
Using the open service innovation concept, the BIC in Singapore will work with customers and collaboration partners ranging from solution providers, startups, research institutions and crowdsourcing channels, to develop and incubate new services for the Asia Pacific region.
 
The centre is currently in close discussions with Singapore's Institute for Infocomm Research (I2R), a member of the Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) family, on collaboration opportunities.
 
These activities will complement Konica Minolta's research and development (R&D) in the creation of new service businesses, the company said.
 
Konica Minolta currently has R&D centres in Japan and the United States, focusing on imaging, optics, materials and nano-fabrication to add to its existing fields of business technologies, healthcare, measuring instruments and industrial materials.
 
“The decision to locate the Asia Pacific BIC in Singapore underscores Konica Minolta's confidence in Singapore as an attractive hub for Asia Pacific regional innovation activities,” said Yuji Ichimura, general manager of the ICT Service Business Operations at Konica Minolta Inc.
 
“Singapore's central location in one of the world's most dynamic, high-growth regions, [and this] combined with its vibrant innovation community, strong infrastructure and support network, make it an ideal choice to locate our Asia Pacific innovation centre,” he added.
 
Terence Gan, director of electronics at the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB), said, “We are glad that Konica Minolta has chosen Singapore to locate its Asia Pacific BIC, the company's first in the world.
 
“This is a good example of how global companies like Konica Minolta find value in our ICT capabilities to co-innovate and develop cloud-based solutions that can be scaled and exported globally. Through collaborations with our local research institutions and solution providers, we are confident that Konica Minolta will benefit from the multidisciplinary R&D capabilities Singapore has to offer,” he added.
 
In the initial phase, the Asia Pacific BIC will focus on the development of cloud-based service offerings such as Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) and Business Process-as-a-Service (BPaaS) to add to Konica Minolta's Intelligent Office service offering.
 
“The centre will also be working closely with customers to develop industry-specific cloud-based solutions,” said Rachel Goh, director of the Asia Pacific BIC in Singapore.
 
“By providing the services through the Konica Minolta cloud infrastructure, Konica Minolta will deliver the economies of scale, savings and agility to customers,” she added.
 
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