Ericsson has set up a new innovation company - Ericsson BusinessInnovation AB - to develop ideas from entrepreneurs inside Ericsson tocommercial success. The company will manage Ericsson's internal innovationprograms.

Ericsson Business Innovation AB comes into being on 1 July 2000. It is anentrepreneurial organization with a streamlined structure and anexperienced management team drawn from within Ericsson.The company will establish Innovation Hubs in several places to promotethe benefits of Ericsson as an innovation partner, and to supportentrepreneurs. The Hubs will be staffed by senior managers who haveexperience in identifying business opportunities.President of Ericsson Business Innovation, Jöran Hoff, said: "Ericsson isone of the most innovative companies in the world and one of the reasonsfor our success is that we put in place structures to support innovation.This new company is the right model for today's business environment."

The first three focus areas for the new company are: solutions forbroadband, high-speed residential Internet connection - including thetechniques for deploying fiber optic cables to individual homes - contentaggregation and next-generation automotive communications.

Through the new company, Ericsson has interest in around a dozencompanies, including Wireless Car AB (a joint venture with Volvo andTelia), Connect Things Inc. (bar code technology for Internet) andTerraplay Systems AB (a company that produces systems for high-speed,Internet-based multi-player game-playing).

http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom/20000616-0097.html