Konica Minolta starts innovation centre in S'pore

JAPANESE printing giant Konica Minolta is transforming itself from a traditional printer manufacturer to an IT services provider, and its first step in that direction was to set up an enterprise-focused "business innovation centre" in Singapore last week.

The company's plan is to eventually have five new such centres set up in distinct locations globally: Singapore, London, Silicon Valley, Shanghai and Tokyo. Singapore is intended as its Asia-Pacific headquarters, London will represent Europe and Silicon Valley for the Americas.

The facilities are funded by the company's R&D (research and development) efforts, and are intended to complement its research department by partnering industry players and tertiary institutions. The company couldn't specify how much of its revenue or R&D budget will go to the centres.