Telekom Innovation Laboratories
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T-Labs, formerly known as Telekom Innovation Laboratories, is the R&D unit of
Deutsche Telekom Deutsche Telekom AG (, ; often just Telekom, DTAG or DT; stylised as ·T·) is a partially state-owned German telecommunications company headquartered in Bonn and the largest telecommunications provider in Europe by revenue. It was formed in 199 ...
. T-Labs current research areas are: Future Networks, Spatial Computing and Decentralized Systems.


History

T-Labs were founded in 2004 as the central research and development institute of Deutsche Telekom under the direction of Manfred Jeronim. At the same time, T-Labs are also a so-called affiliated institute of Technische Universität Berlin (TU Berlin), meaning that T-Labs is a privately organized entity that is closely integrated in the teaching and research activities conducted at TU Berlin. This concept promotes intensive collaboration between research and industry. Experts, entrepreneurs and researchers work together on innovations intended for real-world application scenarios and on disruptive technologies in the area of information and communications technology. T-Labs follow a consistent
Open Innovation Open innovation is a term used to promote an Information Age mindset toward innovation that runs counter to the secrecy and silo mentality of traditional corporate research labs. The benefits and driving forces behind increased openness have b ...
approach and are themselves an innovation as an affiliated institute and thus pioneered a new form of research and development. In a report for the
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD; , OCDE) is an international organization, intergovernmental organization with 38 member countries, founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and international trade, wor ...
(OECD), T-Labs have been presented as a benchmark example of modern
innovation management Innovation management is a combination of the management of innovation processes, and change management. It refers to product, business process, marketing and organizational innovation. Innovation management is the subject of ISO 56000 (formerl ...
. At the beginning, 25 Deutsche Telekom employees and about 50 scientists from many countries worked at the T-Labs. Peter Möckel took over the management from November 2004 to 2011. Under his leadership, several professorships were established at the TU Berlin.In 2008, 100 other telecom experts were integrated into the T-Labs and further scientists were hired in parallel. First companies were founded. Heinrich Arnold was responsible for the reorientation of Telekom Laboratories to more application and implementation-oriented topics. In the course of this reorientation, he took over the management of T-Labs from 2011 until 2016. During this period the foundations were laid for three new business units in the area of
cloud computing Cloud computing is "a paradigm for enabling network access to a scalable and elastic pool of shareable physical or virtual resources with self-service provisioning and administration on-demand," according to International Organization for ...
,
smart home ''SMart'' was a British CBBC television programme based on art, which began in 1994 and ended in 2009. The programme was recorded at BBC Television Centre in London. Previously it had been recorded in Studio A at Pebble Mill Studios in Birming ...
and
mobile payment Mobile payment, also referred to as mobile money, mobile money transfer and mobile wallet, is any of various payment processing services operated under financial regulations and performed from or via a mobile device. Instead of paying with cas ...
for and within Deutsche Telekom. In addition, further focus areas with the topics of health, energy,
Machine to machine Machine to machine (M2M) is direct communication between devices using any communications channel, including wired communication, wired and wireless. Machine to machine communication can include industrial instrumentation, enabling a sensor or met ...
and media were established. As a result, a number of cross-industrial projects have been carried out for the digital industry, such as in the port of Hamburg in 2012 with industrial partners such as
SAP SE Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...
,
Adidas Adidas AG (; stylized in all lowercase since 1949) is a German athletic apparel and footwear corporation headquartered in Herzogenaurach, Bavaria, Germany. It is the largest sportswear manufacturer in Europe, and the second largest in the ...
,
Claas } CLAAS is an agricultural machinery manufacturer based in Harsewinkel, Germany, in the federal state of North Rhine Westphalia. Founded in 1913 by August Claas, CLAAS is a family business and one of the market and technology leaders in ha ...
,
Osram OSRAM Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). OSRAM positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and trea ...
,
Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...
,
KUKA KUKA is a German manufacturer of industrial robots and factory automation systems. In 2016, the company was acquired by the Chinese appliance manufacturer Midea Group. It has 25 subsidiaries in countries including the United States, the Eur ...
and
Trumpf Trumpf SE + Co. KG is a German family-owned company based in Ditzingen near Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg. It originates from Julius Geiger's mechanical workshop. The Trumpf and Leibinger families transformed the medium-sized company into a gl ...
. Under the leadership of Heinrich Arnold, about 20 new spin-offs were founded, among others Trust2Core, SureNow, Litedesk, Motionlogic, Benocs, Soundcall, Zimory, Bitplaces, Schaltzeit as well as the digital cloud-based telecommunications service immmr (2016). In 2016, the EU-Labs programme were found together with the TU-Berlin, to expand the international collaboration. The first institution within this strategy was established at the
Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...
in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
. The new professorship "Data science and Engineering" has its focus on the evaluation of economic and environmental relevant data with the help from mobile networks. In 2017, another professorship at the TU Vienna was instituted. Since 2017 the T-Labs were under the lead of Dr. Alex Choi and further on of John Calian - from May 2018, until April 2020. John Calian was the Head of the Telekom Innovation Laboratories (T-Labs) and set up 3 focus topics: Blockchain, Intelligence and Experience. In April 2022, Dr. Alex Choi took over the leadership of T-Labs.


Organization and fields of research

T-Labs are working within Deutsche Telekom for all kind of corporate divisions with a strong link into network and product innovation. With the affiliate institution with the TU Berlin and many other professorships at universities worldwide, an intensive co-research exchange between science and industry is provided. As of January 2021, the main focus topics of T-Labs are: Decentralized Systems: This research area deals with the distribution of authority over data among multiple players and making intermediaries obsolete. Spatial Computing: is focused on enabling advanced user interaction, at higher standards for various customer segments by using the next generation XR technologies and human-computer interfaces. Future Networks: From 2017 until 2020 the T-Labs team was focused on working on three main topics: * ''
Blockchain The blockchain is a distributed ledger with growing lists of Record (computer science), records (''blocks'') that are securely linked together via Cryptographic hash function, cryptographic hashes. Each block contains a cryptographic hash of th ...
and
Smart Cities A smart city is an urban area that uses digital technology to collect data and operate services. Data is collected from citizens, devices, buildings, or cameras. Applications include traffic and transportation systems, power plants, utilities ...
'' * ''New Media Experience'' * ''
Deep Learning Deep learning is a subset of machine learning that focuses on utilizing multilayered neural networks to perform tasks such as classification, regression, and representation learning. The field takes inspiration from biological neuroscience a ...
/
Machine Learning Machine learning (ML) is a field of study in artificial intelligence concerned with the development and study of Computational statistics, statistical algorithms that can learn from data and generalise to unseen data, and thus perform Task ( ...
'' The fields of research at TU Berlin included * ''Internet Network Architectures'', (2006 - 2013) by
Anja Feldmann Anja Feldmann (born 8 March 1966 in Bielefeld) is a German computer scientist. Education and career Feldmann studied computer science at Universität Paderborn and received her degree in 1990. She continued her studies at Carnegie Mellon Unive ...
* ''Quality and Usability'', (2007 - 2015) by Prof.
Sebastian Möller Sebastian Möller (born 1968) is an expert for quality of experience and speech technology. Biography Sebastian Möller studied electrical engineering at the universities in Bochum (Germany), Orléans (France) and Bologna (Italy). From 1994 to 20 ...
* ''Interaction Design and Media'' (2008 - 2010) by Prof.
Gesche Joost Gesche Joost (born 1974) is a German design researcher. Early life and education Gesche Joost studied design at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and completed her PhD in Rhetoric at the University of Tübingen. Career Since 2011, J ...
(since 2010 professor in ''Design Research'' at
Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...
) * ''Autonomous Security'' (2009 - 2011) by Tansu Alpcan (now at
University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...
) * ''Assessment of IP-based Applications'', (2009 - 2015) by Prof. Alexander Raake (since 2015 professor at
Technische Universität Ilmenau The Technische Universität Ilmenau (''Ilmenau University of Technology'', TU Ilmenau) is a German public research university located in Ilmenau, Thuringia, central Germany. Founded in 1894, it has five academic departments (faculties) with ...
) * ''Service-centric Networking'', (since 2009) by Prof. Axel Küpper * ''Security in Telecommunications'', (since 2010) by Prof. Jean-Pierre Seifert Other prioritised topics of the partners were: * Data- and network security as well as social networks (since 2006) at
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) (, ''Universitat Ben-Guriyon baNegev'') is a public university, public research university in Beersheba, Israel. Named after Israeli List of national founders, national founder David Ben-Gurion, the unive ...
by Prof. Yuval Elovici * ''Design research'' and ''Design Research Lab'' (since 2010) at
Berlin University of the Arts The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the second largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research uni ...
by Prof.
Gesche Joost Gesche Joost (born 1974) is a German design researcher. Early life and education Gesche Joost studied design at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and completed her PhD in Rhetoric at the University of Tübingen. Career Since 2011, J ...
* ''Data Science and Engineering'' (since 2016) at
Eötvös Loránd University Eötvös Loránd University (, ELTE, also known as ''University of Budapest'') is a Hungarian public research university based in Budapest. Founded in 1635, ELTE is one of the largest and most prestigious public higher education institutions in ...
by Dr. Thomás Horváth * ''Data Intelligence'' (since 2017) at TU Vienna by Prof
Allan Hanbury


Research scientists

Some of the experts and scientists who have been working for the T-Labs (who can be found via Wikipedia) : * Heinrich Arnold * Yaniv Altshuler *
Georg Essl Georg Essl (born March 1, 1972) is an Austrian computer scientist and musician, who works in the areas of human-computer interaction, acoustics, mobile computing and mobile music. He is a visiting research professor at the College of Letters & Scie ...
*
Anja Feldmann Anja Feldmann (born 8 March 1966 in Bielefeld) is a German computer scientist. Education and career Feldmann studied computer science at Universität Paderborn and received her degree in 1990. She continued her studies at Carnegie Mellon Unive ...
*
Gesche Joost Gesche Joost (born 1974) is a German design researcher. Early life and education Gesche Joost studied design at the Cologne University of Applied Sciences and completed her PhD in Rhetoric at the University of Tübingen. Career Since 2011, J ...
*
Sebastian Möller Sebastian Möller (born 1968) is an expert for quality of experience and speech technology. Biography Sebastian Möller studied electrical engineering at the universities in Bochum (Germany), Orléans (France) and Bologna (Italy). From 1994 to 20 ...
* Alexander Raake * Sascha Spors


References

{{coord, 52, 30, 47, N, 13, 19, 12, E, type:landmark_region:DE, display=title Laboratories in Germany Deutsche Telekom Computer science institutes in Germany Research institutes established in 2004 Research and development organizations Research institutes in Berlin Technische Universität Berlin 2004 establishments in Germany