Fujitsu and PARC Launch Joint Research on Ubiquitous Computing; Aim to Establish a New Era of Ubiquitous Networking.

TOKYO -- Fujitsu Limited and the Palo Alto Research Center Inc. (PARC), a subsidiary of Xerox Corporation, announced that they have signed a multi-year joint research agreement in the field of ubiquitous computing. Working together, the companies will establish and facilitate a new vision of ubiquitous computing that goes well beyond 2010, aiming to make peoples' lives safer, simpler, more efficient, and more comfortable.

Networking and computing systems have permeated our daily lives. Yet integrating these systems unobtrusively and seamlessly into everyday life will require sophisticated technologies and a broad understanding of the social implications of information technology. With the signing of the joint research agreement, Fujitsu and PARC are forging a new partnership to advance the realization of a ubiquitous network society.

"Fujitsu has highly regarded PARC's long-term research perspective and its ability to create visionary concepts, such as ubiquitous computing, that incorporate social science insights," said Takashi Aoki, corporate vice president of Fujitsu Limited. "By partnering with PARC to develop new information technology concepts, Fujitsu will also gain access to many of PARC's unique technologies for use in our own products and services, helping to raise Fujitsu's competitive strength on a global scale as a leader in solutions for the ubiquitous networking era."

"Fujitsu's expertise in highly reliable computing platforms, services and software, electronic devices, as well as the ability to provide comprehensive IT solutions makes them an exceptional partner for PARC," commented Mark Bernstein, President and Center Director of PARC. "Taking advantage of these strengths, we will be able to make our cutting-edge technology concepts and visions a reality. Beyond the broad commercial potential, we are excited that working to support Fujitsu's international customer base will fuel new ideas about the potential for PARC research."

Joint Research in Ubiquitous Computing

The penetration of information technology into different aspects of daily life creates new benefits and new business opportunities, both at the business-to-business and business-to-customer levels. Plans to develop secure and simple technologies are expected to involve several areas of research:

--Healthcare services in ubiquitous environments:

Safeguarding and securing personal information in global electronic healthcare systems.

--Local disaster-response systems:

Creating more robust infrastructure networks by making it possible for data networks to reorganize and locally adapt to changes in available sensing, networking and computational resources.

--Personalized consumer services:

Tying businesses and consumers together with a flow of personalized information services, opening the field of "ubiquitous customer relationship management."

--Advanced Intelligent Transportation Systems:

Networked transportation with a focus on standardization.

To realize the above systems, Fujitsu and PARC plan to focus on the following research areas, with product results appearing as early as 2006. These topics reflect the partners' shared vision and are expected to expand.

--Simpler and more secure wireless networking 

--Obje(TM) software architecture for interoperability

--Ad-hoc sensor network technology

--Technologies to protect privacy and simplify security

--Advanced information visualization technologies

The partners anticipate that other opportunities for collaboration will unfold as computational and human-science researchers work closely with Fujitsu's research, services and solutions organizations.

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is a leading provider of customer-focused IT and communications solutions for the global marketplace. Pace-setting technologies, highly reliable computing and communications platforms, and a worldwide corps of systems and services experts uniquely position Fujitsu to deliver comprehensive solutions that open up infinite possibilities for its customers' success. Headquartered in Tokyo, Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$45 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2004. For more information, please see: http://www.fujitsu.com/

About PARC

The Palo Alto Research Center (PARC), a subsidiary of Xerox Corporation, conducts pioneering interdisciplinary research in physical, computational, and social sciences. Building on our three-decade tradition of innovation, PARC works with Xerox and other strategic partners to commercialize technologies created by our renowned scientists. As the birthplace of technologies such as laser printing, Ethernet, the graphical user interface, and ubiquitous computing, PARC has an established track record for transforming industries and creating commercial value. For more information, please see: http://www.parc.com.

Obje is a trademark of Palo Alto Research Center Incorporated. All other company and product names mentioned herein are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.