About us and our mission

The European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC), founded in 2003, is one of the Microsoft facilities dedicated to product research and development in Europe.

It is unique to Microsoft in its focus on collaborative applied research and its goal of contributing to European Commission and other public-sector research programmes.

“My goal is to support and improve the opportunity for collaborative development of new and innovative technologies in our community. I want the Innovation team to be an effective and valued collaboration partner in the research, design and implementation of solutions which are supportive of the European communities’ technology and innovation goals.” John Lefor, Director of the European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) (since October 1st, 2006)

“Innovation at Microsoft is a global effort, bringing together the best minds from around the world and putting them to work to build the technology of the future. The European Microsoft Innovation Center EMIC is the first Microsoft facility focussing on collaborative applied research. Based in Aachen, it works closely with European academic and industry partners.”
Pierre-Yves Saintoyant, Founding Director of the European Microsoft Innovation Center (2003 – 2006)

The mission of the European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) is:

• to contribute knowledge to the European technology base by participating with universities, research institutes and companies in collaborative research projects;
• to learn from European areas of excellence and expertise and transfer the results to society as a whole through products and technologies.
• to foster partnerships and relationships with European industry and academia.

The European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) targets the creation of advanced technologies which could be in the market within three to six years.
In addition to the skill and knowledge of our team, which is made up of scientists and engineers currently representing ten European nationalities, we benefit from access to the Microsoft knowledge base. We engage actively with Microsoft Research and Microsoft product development groups. We serve as a bridge between European partners and Microsoft’s world-wide technology development efforts.

Focal Points of Research

Innovation in information technologies are advancing with renewed vigour.
For instance the progress in networking technologies such as mobile and wireless communications, or the development of new and smaller devices, enable the creation of brand new applications for end-users in their homes, their cars or at work. In another domain, the definition of Web Services standards creates new opportunities through the integration of diverse applications. There are countless opportunities to put these new technologies to good use, creating practical solutions for government, business and individuals.

These solutions come about by bringing together companies from various technology sectors, universities, public research organisations and governments with a common objective: innovation through collaboration. Within the projects already underway, the European Microsoft Innovation Center is tackling some of the technological challenges to make these objectives a reality.

• Security
  The emergence of a pervasive seamless computing environment poses renewed challenges for the security of information systems, and the protection of the privacy rights of the users. New technologies have to be developed to support the necessary transparency of those systems while ensuring the protection of confidential information or the privacy of the users.
• Mobile and Wireless Technologies
  Mobile devices need to become smarter about their environment: their location, the other devices around them or the current user activities, and the various wireless networks they can use. This creates demand for the development of technologies as diverse as cognitive networks or development tools simplifying the creation of smart applications on those devices.
• Web Services
  Microsoft has made huge investments in the creation and development of Web Services technologies, and in the standardisation of many of the associated protocols. These technologies enable the easy creation of highly distributed information systems. Our staff is working on the extension of Web Services technologies to new platforms, new environments and new application domains.
• Visit also Research Areas

The Team

The team, with a current strength of 40 scientists and engineers, will continue to grow as our scope increases. This international team combines scientists who worked at renowned universities and in industry before joining Microsoft, with engineers with strong experience in the development of software products. This team is reinforced by many postgraduate students and visitors from European universities.

The Partners

Within those projects the European Microsoft Innovation Center (EMIC) is collaborating with a wide range of partners throughout Europe, including industry partners such as BAE Systems, British Telecom, Philips, SAP AG, Siemens and Telecom Italia; universities such as the University of Aachen (RWTH), the University of Stuttgart and Technical University of Milan (Politecnico di Milano); and regional governments such as those of Lombardy, Italy, and Region Aquitaine, France.

Other Microsoft Research Centers in Europe

• Microsoft Research Cambridge, UK • Microsoft Development Center, Vedbaek, Copenhagen • Microsoft Technology Centers