Posted by Dennis GannonDirector of Cloud Research Strategy, Microsoft Research
Over the past two years, we have seen growing interest from the scientific community in using public clouds for research. As part of the original Cloud Research Engagement Initiative in 2010, Microsoft partnered with funding agencies all over the world to award more than 75 research teams for projects using Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud. The research covers topics in computer science, biology, physics, chemistry, social science, geology, ecology, meteorology and drug discovery. More details about these projects can be found here.
From an informal survey of these projects, we learned researchers value the concept of using an on-demand, scalable compute resource over acquiring, deploying and managing a dedicated resource. Ninety percent of these researchers were pleased with their ROI using cloud services to build their application and would use cloud resources again. Of course, this sample is biased. These researchers are, for the most part, the leading edge risk takers and early adopters.
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Posted by Jeff MeisnerEditor, Microsoft on the Issues
Microsoft and Hoeft & Wessel AG have signed a patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for Hoeft &Wessel devices running the Android platform. Hoeft & Wessel manufactures handheld devices and terminals for the public transportation, logistics and retail industries in Europe. While the contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the parties indicate that Microsoft will receive royalties from Hoeft & Wessel. You can read more about the agreement over on the Microsoft News Center.
Also announced today, Microsoft and EINS SE signed a patent licensing agreement that provides broad coverage under Microsoft’s patent portfolio for EINS devices running the Android platform.
Posted by Bart EppenauerChief Patent Counsel, Microsoft
Each year, the Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation presents its Annual National Inventor of the Year Award to individuals that contribute significantly to the practice of Intellectual Property. The Award recognizes “Outstanding Achievement in the Fields of Innovation, Creativity, and IP Rights” and fosters the spirit of American innovation and highlights the protection offered to inventors by the patent system. This year, its 39th year, the Foundation honored Alex Kipman of Microsoft for the invention of Kinect, a breakthrough motion sensing input device developed for the Xbox 360 video game system and Windows PCs at a ceremony at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C.
I had a chance to sit down with Alex on the eve of the award ceremony and talk with him about intellectual property, the role it plays in his organization at Microsoft, the “Kinect Effect” and some of the cool things we might expect to see in the future.
On Thursday, Microsoft Executive Vice President of Legal &Corporate Affairs Brad Smith opened the Washington Innovation Summit, an annual day-long conference, which focuses on the key mechanisms that make innovative economies grow. Put on by the Technology Alliance and attended by local technology business leaders, education, economic and government luminaries, Brad gave a keynote addressing the challenges facing Washington in becoming a state that fosters innovation, creates high-impact jobs and the need to make investments in the state’s intellectual infrastructure.
Brad laid out a framework for how to advance the technology-based economic development in Washington, a sector that drives significant growth and economic prosperity, but has the opportunity to do much more.
Posted by Brendon LynchChief Privacy Officer, Microsoft
I spent last week in Brussels with privacy regulators and practitioners from around the world, many of whom were there for the IAPP European Data Protection Congress. It’s an important time for privacy globally, and I want to share a few of my insights from the week (including my keynote address to the conference and a separate event we hosted on transatlantic privacy) and how they apply to what we’re doing to advance privacy at Microsoft.
We kicked off the week with our most recent @Microsoft Conversations on privacy. Our EMEA Director of Privacy Policy, Jean Gonié, moderated a panel discussion on developments in transatlantic data protection. The panelists included Marielle Gallo, Member of European Parliament, Rapporteur of JURI Committee on Data Protection Regulation; David Vladeck, Director of the Bureau of Consumer Protection, Federal Trade Commission; and Jerôme Déroulez, Justice Counselor, French Permanent Representation to the European Union.