- T-Labs launching EU Labs program
- ELTE University in Budapest home to the first branch
- Further European collaboration planned
T-Labs, Deutsche Telekom's research and development arm, in collaboration with technical University of Berlin, opens its first affiliated institute in Hungary today. This is the first step in the new EU Labs program, with which T-Labs will continue to expand its expert network and strengthen international collaboration. In addition to locations in Berlin, Silicon Valley and Israel, Deutsche Telekom is now partnering with European universities as well. The new chair “Data Science and Engineering”, part of the Faculty of Informatics of Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest, is T-Labs' first joint applied research Lab in Hungary. It is about to be launched in the 2016/17 school year. Cooperation with further European universities is in planning.
"We believe in the future of Europe," states Christian von Reventlow, Chief Product and Innovation Officer at Deutsche Telekom. "Our goal is to collaborate with academic talents throughout Europe and, in doing so, to further strengthen our international joint ventures in research and development. Our new EU Labs program at T-Labs will help us further expand this international ideal."
Barna Mezey, the rector of the Eötvös Loránd University of Sciences places the unique initiative in Hungary into a European context when highlighting: „Success can only be expected from innovative and long-term investments that are based on cooperation. The Data Science and Engineering as well as the future education and research projects to be nurtured by it are opening a new era in higher education in terms of the international cooperation between the corporate and academic fields.”
Headed by Dr. Tamás Horváth, the department will focus on the research based on mobile networks data with relevant business and environmental aspects. The aim of the department will be to work out solutions to specific challenges through the means of data mining, artificial intelligence and data visualization. The next step will include the programming and implementation of these models on various platforms and architectures, generation of valuable research outcomes and innovative data products. The Computer Science Faculty at ELTE expects to involve interdisciplinary research teams from its other faculties. The responsible professor in Budapest Dr. Tamás Horváth has the initial mandate for five years.
The new Lab will cooperate closely with Deutsche Telekom's innovation organisations in Hungary, particularly with Magyar Telekom, the national phone network operator, and TU Berlin. The activity of the department will uniquely display the coverage of the total value chain, as well as the combination of data science and technical sciences. It is this combination of data science and engineering that makes T-Labs' new affiliated institute so special – paving the foundation for successful research results and innovative data products.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world’s leading integrated telecommunications companies with more than 156 million mobile customers, 29 million fixed-network lines and around 18 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2015). The Group provides fixed-network/broadband, mobile communications, Internet, and Internet-based TV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has around 225,200 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of EUR 69.2 billion in the 2015 financial year – around 64 percent of it outside Germany.
About Eötvös Loránd University
Eötvös Loránd University is the oldest Hungarian university with the widest educational portfolio in Hungary, and the largest scientific establishment in the country. The Faculty of Informatics is a top ranked faculty of Computer Science worldwide, with over 100 faculty members and a strong focus on R&D&I activities. ELTE FI leads the EIT Digital Budapest Associate Partner Group being the only EIT Digital partner located in the Central and Eastern European region.