Innovation related entries related to Technology

Whether they expect their country to win or they just want to have a fun evening with friends in front of the TV, each year, an estimated 125 million people watch the Eurovision song contest. Each country in Europe has one entry into this singing extravaganza, with participating countries voting, by country, for the winners. This is the event that launched the careers of Abba (Sweden 1974) – who just...

In the late 1800s, the guanaco, a close relative of the llama, was hunted to near extinction. As we mark this year’s Earth Day (April 22), I want to share my excitement about a new tool that looks to make the future a little brighter for the guanaco and other threatened species in Latin America. That new tool is LiveANDES (Advanced Network for the Distribution of Endangered Species).

It took a year for the artist Léonore Mercier to create Damassama, a unique installation of its kind. Trained for a year at the national studio of contemporary art Le Fresnoy, the young woman has managed to transcend tradition and modernity in her creation.

Nowadays, the quantity of data in the world is doubling roughly every 18 months, so that in the next five years, we’ll generate more data than we generated in the previous 5,000 years. This data deluge has the potential to transform many facets of society, from healthcare to education, and from commerce to the environment. The key to unlock this potential will be the ability to extract useful...

Fourteen to 15 months—that’s the average prognosis for patients with glioblastoma, the most aggressive type of malignant glioma, says Dr. Patrick Y. Wen, clinical director of the Center for Neuro-Oncology at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Architects and engineers all over the world are inventing new ways to reduce the time, cost, and risk of constructing energy-efficient, high-performance buildings. One of the key technical challenges these eco-pioneers face is the high cost of the data-intensive analysis they require to design these “green” buildings. Using cloud computing, an Italian start-up has now a new way to analyze data...

To all skiers out there! Here is a new app that is taking skiing and snowboarding to a new altitude. The Winter Ski & Ride app for Windows Phone gives skiers a wide range of new ways to get more from their favourite sport.

Back in the early days of Microsoft, our mission was to put a PC on every desk and in every home — an ambitious goal for the time. Behind that was the conviction that computer technology had the innate capacity to enrich peoples’ lives. The trick was applying it in a way that made sense, solved a problem, or generally made life better.

Unleashing the powers of creativity and innovation among our youth is one of the biggest opportunities to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges and unveil the synergies and potential of youth creativity, technology, and health innovation for real impact. Empowering youth to reach their potential is a promising investment for positive change, especially in this technological day and age....

In its 13th year, TechFest, is an annual event that brings together for a couple of days, our researchers with people from our various business divisions. It’s one of the processes we use at Microsoft to foster connection between research and product development. Our European research labs have a strong presence with many great projects.

The best hope for economic recovery in any part of the world largely lies with well prepared and skilled young people, and dynamic and thriving small and medium size enterprises (SMEs). This is also the case in Africa. Many of the societal issues facing Africa can be met by a technologically savvy young generation of leaders and entrepreneurs. Microsoft has been involved in Africa for the past 20 years. We...

In the battle of the buzzwords, “big data” is about to render “guestimation” obsolete.

The EU and its Member States investment in R&D is a vital, long-term investment in our collective future. In coming years, Europe’s prosperity, competitiveness and social cohesion will depend far more on its intellectual capital than on any other form of wealth; to starve its education, research or innovation base now will set back Europe’s global competitiveness by years.

Seventy-nine percent believe they could save at least 500 hours per year through smarter management of personal to-do lists. Less than half say they fully take advantage of technology to free up time.

Earlier this year our colleagues in Global Foundation Services shared a concept for what they called a Data Plant, a fuel cell-powered data center designed to run on biogas generated from landfills or water treatment plants. 

Every day the number of devices connected to wireless internet creeps closer to the 1 billion mark. The radio spectrum currently available for wireless internet is getting strained, access points and base stations are becoming overloaded and prices for consumers are rising. The new Microsoft Spectrum Observatory in Brussels shows that this does not have to be the case.

There is a growing understanding that the way spectrum has been allocated is creating scarcity. At the same time it has also become clear that today’s wireless networks are not currently, and will not be in the future, able to keep up with the rapidly increasing demand for broadband access. Even in the most developed economies, there are gaps in coverage. Access points and base stations become...

How can ICT help citizens improve their health outcomes to build a healthier Europe? Our population is growing and ageing. We are living longer and consuming ever more health services and resources. We are moving to cities to live and work. Growth projections indicate that if we don’t change how we deliver health services, the demand for health care workers will be impossible to supply unless the...

When Jurgen van Gael joined London-based start-up Rangespan – a company which develops analytical tools to help retailers grow and optimise their online range – he found his combination of scientific and practical experience to be crucial for making an impact in the start-up environment.

Health modernization empowers citizens to take greater control over the management of their health. Citizens are increasingly demanding personalized health information and quality care. Adopting information communication technology (ICT) in healthcare, therefore, is critical for its transformative nature that provides citizens access to personalized data which can increase levels of transparency and allow...

It has been just over a month since Windows 8 officially launched but what does this mean for vast numbers of European health workers and patients out there?

Everywhere you look from Europe, to Canada or Singapore, more efficient spectrum use is increasingly a global regulatory goal; with attention now shifting to what spectrum sharing can add to existing spectrum management options.

Skype is increasingly gaining popularity in the doctor’s office. Some doctors or General Practitioners (GPs) in UK are using Skype to "see" patients, and it’s a practice that’s becoming more and more popular in the private sector, for example the Harley Street Skin Clinic. Pharmacies are also starting to see the value: Lloyds Pharmacy now offers GP consultations through Skype, charging...

During the past year we’ve been talking about what Windows 8 means for businesses. Now that Windows 8 is officially available across the globe, so many of our customers are seeing first-hand how Windows 8 can benefit their organizations.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was in Europe last week to showcase Microsoft's wave of newly updated products, including Windows 8, Windows Phone 8, and Surface with Windows RT. He reinforced to customers, developers, students and others that the company is moving into a new era.

I have recently attended a Microsoft partner conference in Rome, which brought together Microsoft thought leaders, innovators, partners, and customers from around the world to discuss the future of technology in the public sector and new ways of creating a real impact in government.

I recently had the honour to attend the Sustainia Awards ceremony with Arnold Schwarzenegger (Honorary Chair of the Committee), Connie Hedegaard (European Commissioner for Climate Action), Gro Harlem Brundtland (former Prime Minister of Norway and former Director General of WHO), and Dr Pachauri (Chair of the IPCC).

Today Windows 8 really comes to life as our customers are able to choose from more than 1,000 new Windows 8 devices across a variety of form factors that offer them a no compromise experience.

I often tell people I’ve got one of the best jobs at Microsoft; I get the opportunity to meet and talk with the people here who brew the special sauce that is Microsoft. Last week I got to meet and talk with the guy who first created the sauce.

.NET Gadgeteer has great potential in schools due to the fact that it can be used to teach students computer programming, simple electronics and also some computer-aided design. It’s also very motivating for young people to be able to build their own gadgets. A digital camera can be built in about half an hour!

With more than 50% of the world’s population already living in cities, and projections that this number will surpass 70% by 2050, the accelerating trend of urbanization raises many challenges and demands for governments.

I had the great pleasure of discussing the role of ICT in modernizing Europe’s health systems with Paul Timmers, at the time Director of ICT addressing Societal Challenges, now director of Sustainable & Secure Society DG CONNECT. Paul shared his views on how ICT can deliver better and sustainable healthcare, at times of rapidly advancing demographic changes in Europe. Paul talked about how ICT...

ITU together with TechAmerica Europe is organizing the second Green Standards Week from 17 to 21 September 2012 in Paris, France, which will be hosted by Microsoft.

Concern, a global humanitarian NGO, build its worldwide email platform on the cloud in order to reduce IT costs, and to insure efficient communication when providing disaster relief and support.

In this case study you can read about how through cloud computing, SIVECO Romania’s solution helped the Ministry of Education lower costs and offer new and more reliable services to the public.

The Helene Elsass Center along with Microsoft Partner Commentor and Mitii Development A/S is building a programme called Mitii Kinect to help children diagnosed with cerebral palsy get the consistent help they need to develop their motor skills. Cerebral palsy is a neurological condition which impairs the motor skills and causes issues with physical movement.

In this case study, you can read about how IEG4 used cloud computing to help local UK governments deliver services faster and minimize costs.

  NEW: We have just launched our Healthier Cities vision and the Coalition of Partners for Healthier Cities. Read our White Paper for Healthier Citizen in a Healthier Europe.  In an effort to ignite the innovation and economic growth through sustainable health care delivery, Microsoft and its partners are organizing a three days exclusive forum on “Innovating for Better Health: Doing New...

As I’ve stated several times in the past, I believe that cloud and technology innovations can empower governments and public administrations. In order to come up with the best technology innovations, it is necessary to understand the challenges that governments face every day. We have had many discussions around this topic at the Worldwide Government Solutions Forum 2012 in London.

At Microsoft, one of my primary roles is leading our Local Software Economy initiative, which aims to accelerate the development of innovative software industries worldwide. The initiative—which is also a passion of mine—involves working closely with entrepreneurs to help them foster the skills, IT solutions, partnerships and, ultimately, businesses that will have a large impact on their local...

The challenges that the public sector needs to face nowadays, including a combination of rising demands, continuing fiscal constraints, and a growing number of complex problems makes it difficult for them to solve with the same approaches and solutions. With this thought in mind, a broad circle of Danish government researchers developed a framework for a new Danish government policy. As outlined by the...

On 18 June, we have unveiled Surface: a new family of PCs built to be the ultimate stage for Windows. You can view here, company executives presenting two Windows tablets and accessories. They explain the significant advances in industrial design we made and demonstrate the attention to detail.

I am really glad every time I come across examples of technology applied to improve citizens’ lives. As recently announced, the forward looking  Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust in the United Kingdom decided to run a pilot programme of using touchless technology in the operating theatre.

With economic headwinds buffeting Europe, governments are confronted by many difficult challenges. But in these unpredictable times, one thing is certain – that Europe has to embrace change, to do things in a better, more efficient and innovative way.

Somewhere in the world, this scene is taking place. The lights are low in the living room, and a couple wants to switch from a video game to a movie.

Microsoft has a long tradition of tackling tough challenges at a global scale. We have always focused on how our technology can enrich people’s lives, build businesses, and inspire and change the world.

Back in 2010, I had a vision to build an information system that would advance the pace of delivering quality healthcare and challenge the perception that public institutions are slow moving.

Innovative teachers + technology + smart policies = the active learning and collaborative skills required for the 21st century.

Removing barriers to boost cloud computing opportunities, letting our industries and SMEs grow and better compete inside and outside the European Union.

In the next 10 years, Europe’s demographic landscape will change dramatically with the population aged 65 years and over reaching 148 million, which is double the figure in 2010. This change will increase the burden on economies, increase the cost of healthcare expenditure, strain pensions and reduce the quality of life of citizens, as noted by Commissioner Kroes on her speech on Active and health...

Three years ago, Microsoft adopted a broad environmental strategy. This strategy included commitments to reduce the impact of our operations and products, and to accelerate the use of information technology in addressing serious environmental issues. Our CEO sent out a company-wide email detailing our strategy, and highlighted some of the steps the company would take to be more environmentally responsible.

Ubiquitous or pervasive computing refers to the use of increasingly prevalent and progressively user centric technologies in our living and working environments.  Instead of users adapting and learning to use technologies, ubiquitous computing introduces a new use paradigm where computing becomes invisible, and technologies deployed pervasively can seamlessly collaborate and act in concert to learn and...

As mentioned many times before, at Microsoft, we are committed to software and technology innovations that help people and organizations around the world improve the environment. Our goal is to reduce the impact of our operations and products and to demonstrate responsible environmental leadership. We believe that technology and ICT plays a massive role in helping organizations, government, companies and...

The on-going debate around the world’s economic recession may be an unpleasant topic to address, but in my job as Vice President for Public Sector in Europe, Middle East and Africa, I face this issue every day when meeting with customers and partners, and I believe we need to continue addressing it in order to solve it!

Microsoft Ireland Research has been working on electricity grid research that allows the exact energy consumption and emissions to be measured for any piece of computation performed in a data centre. This allows past or predicted emissions to be calculated for any computation performed in the cloud and opens the doorway to measuring and reducing the emissions produced by data centres around the world.

Electronic voting can affect local, regional, federal and European institutions (political elections), companies (union elections, surveys), individuals (surveys). The target audience is broad and the remote vote can give a response to these multiple cases. Securing the vote and guaranteeing the reliability of results are fundamental success factors while implementing evoting solutions. Finally, the...

IBOR (Intergraal Beheer Publieke Ruimte) is an innovative smart control and management system for public areas. By remotely maintaining and controlling public infrastructure such as street lights, IBOR helps to save energy, decrease maintenance costs and reduce CO2 emissions. Delivered through the cloud, the tool is expected to help reduce urban area energy use by 25 to 40 per cent.

Atomblock’s solution is designed to take away all the hard work involved in publishing and selling content  - such as video games – online.  With Atomblock, companies can become e-retailers in less than a week, complete with links to social media.  It is ideal for retailers who want to create online stores, but do not want invest in the time, cost and expertise themselves.

Ubiquitous Computing Building on the success of last year’s Digital Values series, Microsoft is introducing a new speakers’ series called TRANSFORMATIVE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGIES. This speaker series focuses on a specific technology trend and how innovative minds are turning it into something beyond its main purpose.

No need to say more. The consumer preview of Windows 8 is available for download now. But before you do so, be sure to read the Introducing Windows 8 Consumer Preview post. This post gives a great overview of the benefits of Windows 8 for consumers and of the novelties we have introduced.

In the thousands of apps available for download on our phones, most of which used for entertainment or enhancing productivity, it is sometimes difficult to find those that serve as tools for us to contribute to our environment, and live more sustainable lifestyles. We’ve selected 5 of the best apps available today in the EU, and what’s more, they are all free for download on the Windows Phone...

Following on from a previous event on  Natural Computing,  we recently hosted an event on Social Computing, and how innovative minds are developing different avenues for people to share and exchange information online. Speakers included David Osimo from Tech4i2 and Paul Steckler and David Raskino, both of Microsoft Research FUSE Labs.

With an uncertain economic forecast and a decrease in budgets, governments must reduce their spending while, at the same time, continue to deliver the quality services demanded by citizens. Government agencies now need to innovate and focus on creating efficient and affordable ways to make a real impact on the people they are there to serve. It’s about gaining efficiencies, meeting constituent...

The North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) Police is the largest police force in Germany with 50,000 police officers serving about 19 million people. The NRW Police uses technologies that benefit their constituents, and mobile technology is one of them.

I had the pleasure to attend TEDx in Athens, Greece, and present a topic that is dear to my heart: disruptive innovation.

It’s hard to believe that the well-known term ‘BRIC’ has now been in use for a decade, yet November 2011 marked the ten year anniversary since Goldman Sachs analyst Jim O'Neill established the phrase grouping Brazil, Russia, India and China together as ‘emerging markets to watch’. Aside from this anniversary reminding us all how fast a decade can pass, it’s remarkable to...

Efficiency and Opportunity: How Cloud and Technology Innovations are Powering Digital Public Services

2011 was a year dominated by discussions around the debt crisis, but from a technology point of view Europe saw its fair share of milestones and breakthroughs which can greatly contribute to the economy.  Among others, Vice-President Kroes, endorsed the adoption of cloud computing, a technology solution that gives everyone access to scalable computing power and resources, by promising to make Europe...

Social Computing Building on the success of last year’s Digital Values series, Microsoft is introducing a new speakers’ series called TRANSFORMATIVE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGIES. This speaker series focuses on a specific technology trend and how innovative minds are turning it into something beyond its main purpose.

Early December 2011, we started a new guest speakers’ series to talk about future technology trends and their impact on our work and life.

The challenges posed by Europe’s ageing population are pushing policymakers to act quickly before the health systems become unsustainable. This drive for improved efficiency and cost effectiveness in healthcare systems is increasingly encouraging stakeholders to embrace technology-based health solutions.

In this case study, you can read about London Borough of Newham’s leading example of utilizing cloud computing in public sector services and sharing technology with neighbouring boroughs which has resulted in improved service delivery and digital engagement with its citizens.  

Natural Computing Building on the success of last year’s Digital Values series, Microsoft is introducing a new speakers’ series called TRANSFORMATIVE CONSUMER TECHNOLOGIES. This speaker series focuses on a specific technology trend and how innovative minds are turning it into something beyond its main purpose.

It is strange for me to talk about my own interview (starts at 01:16) but I had the honour of speaking on TV2 Danish National television on an initiative called Sustainia. The book entitled “Guide to Sustainia, Exploring the sustainable society of tomorrow” imagines a fictitious place in 2020 that hopes to inspire us into making it a reality.

Microsoft is taking Facebook to the office and tailoring your Twitter feed.

This event has taken place. You can read our post-event summary here. Microsoft is hosting its 3rd annual eHealth event that examines how ICT can enable advanced patient-centric healthcare in Europe.

Not too long ago the geospatial industry enjoyed a fair amount of anonymity. Those who worked in the profession drew blank stares at social gatherings when the topic of discussion took the inevitable “what do you do?” turn. “Mapping” was an easy enough response, though the impression left was that of the AA or Michelin Road Atlases.

Doctors want to reduce their administrative work and patients want easy access to healthcare. Why not use mobile technology to help them?

More than ever now, the European Commission needs to focus on building and growing the high-performance computing (HPC) market. High-performance computing (HPC) uses supercomputers to solve advanced computation problems and is a key enabler of ground-breaking innovation that creates high wage jobs and allows Europe’s competitiveness to be maintained.

Success in the public sector today rides on not only being able to do more with less, but also being able to meet and exceed citizens’ expectations.

Teenagers use Facebook, MySpace and Twitter to form their social identities – in a world that may or may not include their parents.

We have recently run a pilot programme on our corporate campus in Redmond, Wash., USA, aimed at using technology to improve the energy efficiency of the buildings.

HealthBlog readers may recall reading about an event I facilitated in Brussels just before Christmas last year.  More than 90 customers, partners, developers, clinicians, and government officials gathered in Brussels, Belgium, to discuss “Embracing Cloud Computing in Health and Wellness”.  The event was perhaps all the more special because of its setting in the historic Concert Noble,...

I truly believe that Europe has an immense potential to innovate. As stated by the EU Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) will be the powerhouse of the Innovation Union, as they represent more than 99% of all businesses and employ more than 90 million people in Europe.

The internet is developing at a tremendous pace as more businesses and people worldwide gain access to a vast range of online services. Increasingly, those services are built using cloud computing technologies which provide companies with an opportunity to save money on ICT infrastructure, and software developers with an advanced interoperable platform to create, test and deploy new services faster.

Information technology (IT) departments in organisations across sectors are facing difficulties in meeting the growing demand for IT services, due to tight budgets, rising energy costs, and limits on electric power availability. To answer the existing and new demands while remaining productive and competitive, it is important for organisations to embrace IT energy efficiency principles and practices.

When Richard Banks’ grandfather died about five years ago, he left behind a suitcase filled with hundreds of photographs, many depicting his time as a pilot during World War II. Looking through those images made Banks think about the legacy he would leave his daughter, and about the physical limitations of photos and floppy disks that become obsolete as images and information are increasingly stored...

Governments around the world are racing to invest in smart electricity grids to reduce energy consumption and battle climate change. The European Union’s Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan includes a €2 billion investment in smart grids over the next ten years. By 2020, the EU aims to have smart meters in 80 per cent of homes.

“Report issues with city infrastructure in real-time” StreetCare is a Citizen Service Platform solution which enables governments to do more with less, meeting their citizens’ needs to participate and connect with their local government.

Have you ever thought that gaming could make us live better and longer? Europe increasingly needs prevention and health promotion, integrated care, and independent living of elderly people. For this reason, the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing is seeking out creative ways to increase the average healthy lifespan of citizens by two years. One way to achieve this is...

There has been a lot of buzz going around since Google announced it is retiring Google Health. They had built a service based on the idea that “with more and better information, people can make smarter choices.” This is why we have worked with Google to enable people using the Google Health service, scheduled to be discontinued on 1 January 2012, to easily transfer their personal health...

VENUS-C is a pioneering, multidisciplinary initiative between industrial partners and scientific user communities that enables cloud computing for research and industry applications. Microsoft invests in Windows Azure resources and manpower through Redmond and its European research centers. VENUS-C is co-funded by the GÉANT and e-Infrastructure Unit and DG Information Society and Media of the...

Firstline Doctor/Patient Demonstration is an intelligent exchange platform developed specifically for the healthcare sector. By automating the communications flow between doctors and patients, the system will result in a number of important benefits for both providers and consumers of healthcare services. Simple but often time-consuming tasks such as making appointments, writing prescriptions and accessing...

Public 360° is a leading application suite for integrated Case, Document & Records Management designed specifically for public administrations.

EU Energy Commissioner Gunther Oettinger has said that “The cheapest energy is the one we don’t consume”. Private households also need to reduce their energy needs, and doing so makes economic sense too: lowering your room temperature by just three degrees can save 20 percent on heating costs. Even reducing temperature by a single degree can cut consumption by 6 percent.

In this case study, you can read about how Partners HealthCare has enabled increased accessibility of healthcare by making health data and communication between patients and providers possible virtually through cloud computing.

Microsoft’s latest products are geared towards enabling users to be more productive and to do their work faster and more efficiently. But as well as being user-friendly, its products have also been specifically crafted to manage power efficiently, reducing both energy use and your overall electricity bill.

Organisations of all types are adopting cloud computing technologies to gain flexibility and strategic advantage in their environments.

“Every human being is author of his own health or disease,” the Buddha said. Some 2,500 years later, technology is allowing patients to truly take control of their own well-being in what may be the biggest medical revolution in decades: the computerisation of personal health records (PHRs).

Over the last few decades microprocessors and software have been increasingly present in cars. Today, an average car might contain as many as 50 microprocessors, each with their own piece of software on them. Electric cars have even more electronics on them and it is likely that tomorrow’s car will have even more!

Flexible working is the norm in many Microsoft subsidiaries across Europe. Employees are empowered to use our own technology – from Lync to Windows Phone to Sharepoint and Office – to communicate and collaborate, creating a culture of trust and transparency where people may work in a way that better suits work-life balance. These efforts have paid off, as today, the Great Place to Work Institute...

This week I had the pleasure of participating in the eHealth Conference as part of the CIEN (Crossroads for the Electronics and Digital Industry) in Paris. The event was very stimulating, having identified some key challenges in the adoption of eHealth in France as well as the rest of Europe. It brought together representatives from industry, academia, and government.

In the current, rather pessimistic climate of discussions about Europe’s difficulty to innovate, I was very pleased to see that 48 (nearly 40%) out of 124 student teams selected to attend the Imagine Cup finals are from the European continent (see full list)!  Imagine Cup is the world's premier student technology competition run by Microsoft. European countries like Denmark and France, also took...

How do you offer ICT services to mobile health workers?

Meander needed to convert its timesheet and leave request system from paper to digital. By using a cloud-based set of messaging and collaboration solutions, rather than running its own servers, it achieved cost savings of over 60%.

Following the recent economic downturn, public sector administration across Europe have had to make some tough financial decisions, whilst still ensuring high quality and cost effective services for the ever more digital citizens in Europe.

Environmental futurists have said smart cars will increasingly be able to provide drivers GPS information that will help avoid and create traffic.

In this case study, you can read about how the shift to cloud computing has enabled up to 60% cost savings in Italy’s largest paediatric research and treatment centre, freeing up more resources to be invested in research.

Belgian IT engineer Didier Beka had a new idea: software that would enable people with hearing or speaking disabilities to communicate by telephone. Beka knew he had the technical expertise to develop the product but he lacked business experience to build a company around it. “I needed commercial advice,” he says.

In this case study, you can read about cloud computing has enabled the Government of Catalonia to expand its IT infrastructure to support 144,000 users in a cost-effective way.

Can cloud computing put patients in control of their own health information? How can innovations in cloud technology help improve general standards of care across Europe? What are the benefits for healthcare organisations that have adopted the cloud as part of their operational structure? What are the benefits for the users?

Last week, I was in Nairobi, Kenya for the United Nations Chief Executive Briefing, where Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, launched the UN’s new energy neutral Nairobi office building. The building is the first of its kind for the UN in Africa and is a global showcase of sustainable design and technology.

Since the launch of the Innovation Union flagship by Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn last October, instruments and policies to improve the performance of the research and innovation systems in Europe have never been so much in the spot light.

Did your organization ever face the same problems? Stretched deadlines, missing the right IT infrastructure for launching a highly visible collaboration project, sharing documents with many internal and external stakeholders across various regions.

Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist on ICT, Rob Bernard, passed through Brussels again last month. I had the chance to continue from our  previous discussion on how ICT can contribute to a cleaner economy, and get his views on how cloud computing can reduce a European company's environmental footprint.

For French robotics pioneer Jean-Christophe Baillie, an entrepreneurial adventure that began in Paris five years ago led to a visit to Microsoft’s R&D headquarters in the US.

An article in the French newspaper Le Figaro, began with the words ‘Smart grids will be to energy what the internet was for computers’. In other words, a revolutionary concept.

In this case study, you can read about how the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) collaborated with Microsoft in developing an interactive application to engage citizens in the exploration of Mars.

I would like to highlight a recent example from the Netherlands where, Microsoft Partner, Capgemini, will provide a ground-breaking pilot of a smart public lighting system based on Microsoft’s cloud environment, Windows Azure in the Dutch city of Texel.

Microsoft Poland has launched a charitable initiative in collaboration with the Iskierka Foundation intended to equip all 17 children’s oncology wards in Poland with an Xbox 360 console, a Kinect sensor, an LCD television set and games. The technology can provide children with an attractive form of motion rehabilitation, assist them in overcoming the stress accompanying their illness and fill long...

I wanted to share with you an interview in The Guardian with Rob Bernard, Microsoft’s Chief Environmental Strategist.

Fishing Cactus is a start-up that began in the world of entertainment games. Now it’s moving into what are called “serious games” – starting with one that can help doctors support patients left with impaired motor skills after an accident.

A recent article in The Guardian has profiled how, thanks to an Oxford University project supported by the European Commission and Microsoft Research, citizens now have the opportunity to help scientists track the regional and local weather events caused by climate change. 

At Microsoft, we are committed to software and technology innovation that helps people and organizations improve the environment. We work closely with governments, NGOs, businesses and academia, on the best ways to use technology with the aim to resolve issues facing the environment such as climate change and energy sustainability.

The Greek government created the Public Power Corporation (PPC) in 1950 to implement a national electric energy policy and utilise domestic energy resources. Today, PPC provides 93 percent of the power capacity in Greece, generated by lignite, fuel oil, hydro-electric, and natural gas power plants and wind and solar energy parks. PPC is the largest business in Greece in terms of assets, with 98 power plants...

Benjamin Cohen of Channel 4 News in the UK visited Microsoft's headquarters in Redmond, Washington, recently and my colleague Steve Clayton took him on a tour to see the people who are building the future and the places where they're building it.   

Stockholm is one of the most networked cities in the world. It is also considered one of the happiest and one of the most environmentally aware. In fact, the city was recently named European Green Capital of 2010. Now, Stockholm is using Microsoft Windows 7 to achieve even better results.

In this case study, you can read about a Catalonian centre which is helping Spanish businesses become more productive through collaboration with Microsoft in providing Microsoft Office 365, an enterprise-class, cloud-based solution.

In this case study, you can read about how a Danish transport company has achieved 76% cost savings on IT investments and can now provide a much more reliable information service to its customers, thanks to cloud computing.

It’s a great time to be a consumer looking for mobile solutions. By mobile, I’m referring to the whole range of products and services that give us mobility in our professional and private lives.

After shaking off the jet lag and escaping the European chill I am walking into the UN Conference for Climate Change also known as COP 16 (Conference of the Parties) being held this year in sunny Cancun, Mexico and in its 3rd day.

I had the pleasure of opening the first European Summit of Microsoft’s Health Users Group this week in Brussels. The focus of the summit was on using cloud computing to create a “win-win” in the provisioning of wellbeing, that is, reducing costs while increasing the satisfaction of patients and health care providers.

Nearly 40% of all patients cured of cancer receive radiotherapy. Yet the methods used to target the radiations to the tumours are extremely time-consuming. New computer vision technologies could help save 4 million man hours globally.

Availability of content on the internet in languages other than English remains a problem and in particular several European languages.

The first Belgian National Homeworking Day was organized on October 28th by Microsoft, Getronics, AOS Studley and PricewaterhouseCoopers.

I am proud to announce the launch in Germany of Assignio, a health platform powered by Microsoft HealthVault. The platform, which will be operated and marketed by Siemens IT Solutions, marks a change in the way individuals can approach their health and wellness and will steer the German health sector in a new direction.

We’ve been underlining this idea many times before, the ICT industry has the power to contribute to the worldwide carbon reductions not only within the ICT sector itself, but also to help other sectors and industries such as production, transport, construction and logistics become more sustainable.

Ten years after the presentation of the European Lisbon Strategy for growth and employment, which had resolved to make Europe the most competitive and knowledge-driven economy by 2010, a final judgement on success or failure of the overall strategy is difficult.

As the President of Microsoft International I had the honour of hosting the Government Leadership Forum (GLF) in London.

Today’s computer games depend on hand-held controllers that respond to physical touch. Kinect does away with any physical connection to the video game processors controlling the screen.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer toured Europe this week. As a snapshot, here is what he said during one of his visits while in Germany.

In this case study, you can read about LoveCleanStreets, a cloud-based application that helps London authorities manage street care with the help of crowdsourcing – supported by an innovative SME bbits.

In this case study, you can read about an Italian company providing flexible, cost-effective communication and collaboration solutions to businesses, especially timely during tough economic times.

We attended the eHealth Strategies of European Countries Validation Workshop held on the 16 September 2010 in Brussels, hosted by the Belgium Presidency and organized jointly by the EC and Empirica.

In few years, they will be creators of innovative start-ups, recognised researchers, or, why not, even heads of large IT corporations. In the meantime, 400 students battled it out in Warsaw this July, during the worldwide finals of the Imagine Cup competition organised by Microsoft.

HealthVault – the Microsoft Personal Health Record platform – is now in Europe! While, in several posts on EMEA Health blog, I was discussing the potential benefits of such a platform in Europe, a first launch happened this June in the UK.

Go is a game so complex that raw computing power was never going to be enough to turn it into a competitive computer game. But two Cambridge researchers found a way – with a programming language used for analysing financial risks.

In this case study, you can read about how Chronorace, a logistics company, handled huge demands for accessing multimedia on its Brussels Half-marathon website after the event with Windows Azure, the Microsoft cloud platform.

Europe and the US may have very different ways of funding health, but they have much in common, too. A new program is exploring what we might learn from each other.

Superbowl Sunday is big business in the US as people all over the nation tune in to watch the American football match of the year. Pizza deliveries soar on what is one of the highest days of food consumption in the US. This year Domino’s Pizza found a new way to cope with the sudden burst of demand on its computing resources: using “the cloud” for extra capacity.

There is one game-changer that can turn the promise of personalised healthcare into a reality. It is healthcare IT, says Alan Davies from GE Healthcare.

In this case study, you can read about how cloud computing helps Dutch orthopaedic centre help 30% more patients and scale up without worrying about continuously expanding or managing escalating IT expenses. Annatommie is an orthopaedic diagnosis, treatment, and rehabilitation centre in the Netherlands. With ambitious plans to open 14 offices, annatommie needed to automate manual processes to...

I'm often asked why Microsoft is getting involved in environmental issues: people assume it is not our issue or that internet and communication technologies can help. Wrong! Technology is not the solution but an important enabler for energy efficiency and reductions in greenhouse gases.

Huge industrial robots are now a mature industry. Young French entrepreneur Jean-Christophe Baillie believes it is time for them to move from factories to the home. The founder and CEO of robotics software start-up Gostai, Baillie envisions a bold paradigm shift in robotics – and last December he received a big vote of confidence when the judges in the ACES Awards for Academic Enterprise gave him the...

Patient empowerment is key to healthcare in the future. Patients themselves are demanding it, as they want more control of their health and wellbeing than might have been the case before.

The cloud is one of the most popular terms in IT today but perhaps also one of the least well defined. FUTURES guides you through the how and the why.

In this case study, you can read about how the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI) worked with Active Web Solutions (AWS) to develop a cost-efficient, cloud-based application to help them save more lives at sea. High numbers of deaths at sea is a major concern for anyone in the fishing industry, with an estimated 24,000 crew members drowning worldwide each year. To try and prevent these...

In this case study, you can read about how Aviva, a global organisation who unites its operations in 28 countries with cloud computing. Aviva is a global life and general insurance services company built around the needs of its customers. It has offices in 28 countries with 54,000 employees serving 50 million customers, and first started operating more than 300 years ago.

The BBC’s Digital Giants series features a video from Steve Ballmer, where he discusses the next big things online and how they will change our lives. Steve talked about three areas: the natural user interface, convergence and Cloud Computing.

Developers are the lifeblood of Microsoft. I know, I know, it’s a well-worn Microsoft mantra but believe me, it’s never been more true. Today, the hunger for new technologies is only growing.

  In this case study, you can read about how cloud computing has enabled a Dutch hospital to switch to a cost-effective email solution to comply with changes in regulation in a quick and seamless manner.

In this case study, you can read about the Royal Mail Group has improved their efficiency by giving its employees reliable & simple ways to access information through the adoption of Microsoft’s cloud solution. In the United Kingdom the Royal Mail Group has expanded their IT services agreement with CSC to include Microsoft’s Business Productivity Suite from Microsoft Online...

Innovation is now the catch phrase for the European Commission but an important one to try and resolve issues facing the EU and the world. From climate change to healthcare society faces many ‘grand challenges’ that will demand the brightest minds in both government, academia and the private sector.

Fiat Ecodrive lets you record your driving information on a usb stick and then use this information find out how to lower your driving emissions on your PC.

The European Commission as part of the EU Sustainable Energy Week (23-25 March) will once again run the Sustainable Energy Europe Campaign which contributes to realising the European Union's energy policy to amongst other things promote energy efficiency, new renewable energy sources, energy efficiency, and clean transport. The 2009 EU Sustainable Energy Week will sponsor 149 events inside and outside of...

Our favorite Geek in Disguise, Steve Clayton from the UK, provides on his blog a short and useful summary of Steve Ballmer’s speech yesterday in which the Microsoft CEO described how “we’re all in” cloud computing.

The eHealth landscape offers both opportunities and barriers to policy makers in the EU 27 member states which are not just about technical issues of interoperability and data security and confidentiality.

In Europe and elsewhere, computing is experiencing a powerful transformation. Driven by continuous innovations in software, hardware and the Internet, traditional models of computing are gradually shifting.   

Last week I published a video interview I conducted with Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, where he explains his vision of cloud computing.

I had the pleasure of interviewing Craig Mundie, Microsoft’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, when he was last in Brussels.

New and unique climate site illustrates for the first time in 3D how climate change affects you, your city and your home - and what you can do to protect the global environment Map My Climate by MicrosoftEurope

It’s not a new story, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t deserve to be told again! In 2008, Fiat introduced eco:Drive for Fiat Blue&Me powered by Microsoft, the first tool in the world to actually interact directly with drivers to analyse their habits at the wheel and make recommendations on how they can drive more efficiently.

Microsoft, in partnership with European Voice and its sister publications in Washington DC, Roll Call and Congressional Quarterly, is hosting a high-level transatlantic dialogue on how technology can enable innovation and transformation in the field of health.

Volvo chose Microsoft technology to help improve the company's collaboration, communication and environmental sustainability efforts. Unified Communications enable reductions in costs and CO2 emissions as well as decrease the need for business travel.

Scientists from Microsoft Research in the United Kingdom and the United States and University of California have developed a prototype that allows computers to run low-energy tasks while in sleep mode.

A group of scientists from Microsoft Research in the United Kingdom and the United States and University of California have developed a prototype that allows computers to run low-energy tasks while in sleep mode. This saves both energy and money.

We were very proud to announce the grand opening of our Dublin data centre last month. This state of the art facility helps to improve cloud computing capacity and network infrastructure throughout Europe to meet the demand generated from Microsoft’s online, live and cloud services (like Bing, Windows Live and the Azure Services Platform).

As part of its drive to foster innovation and the knowledge economy in Europe, the Commission has designated 2009 as the Year of Creativity & Innovation.

Interoperability and building trust in the privacy and security of eHealth systems is the route to patient-centric healthcare

There’s a new technology coming into your home. But unlike many, this one should save you money.

Environmental scientists face many challenges in monitoring and understanding our planet’s changing climate.

Is a European Innovation Act what’s needed to make Europe more innovative and strengthen growth and competitiveness in the EU? Policymakers, analysts and businesses are currently debating that very question as the EU considers what to do post-Lisbon.

When the new Commission is appointed, it will find a raft of proposals waiting for it – all aimed at putting research, development and innovation at the heart of policy.

Inspired by biology, Klaus-Peter Zauner is working on a radically new kind of computer.

Microsoft’s first European “mega data centre”, which opened recently on the western outskirts of Dublin, uses 50 per cent less energy than a traditional data centre built some three years ago.

Through Eye on Earth, a repository for geographical environmental information created by the European Environment Agency (EEA) and Microsoft, Europeans can see and rate the air quality with an online application called AirWatch.

Prof. Jacqueline McGlade at EEA, Rob Bernard, Chief Environmental Strategist at Microsoft Corp and Ludo de Bock, Senior Director EU and NATO, Microsoft Corp. 

The President of Microsoft International, Jean Philippe Courtois, was recently interviewed in the back of a cab (of all places). In a 3 minute interview you can hear Jean Philippe’s views on how all business and jobs are ultimately the result of innovation via cooperation between the worlds of academia, science, business and finance. The result is the creation of enabling technologies which will...

On June 20th 2012, in the presence of Prime Minister of Denmark Helle Thorning-Schmidt, sustainability legend Gro Harlem Brundtland, IPCC Chair Rajendra K. Pachauri, EU Commissioner for Climate Action Connie Hedegaard and 150 VIP guests at Rio+20, Eye on Earth has been chosen for the prestigious SUSTAINIA 100 list of solutions. For more information, you can visit:...

We launched our latest operating system – Windows 7 - on October 22nd. Appreciating the mistakes we made on Vista, we have adopted a beta approach on Windows 7 to ensure we took in as much input from users during the development process – a process which is carrying on during the current post-launch phase.   

Spotted this in a post by Murray Gordon: apparently, Windows 7 broke the Harry Potter pre-order record on Amazon prior to its launch on October 22nd!

Garbage Information Gathering eases up the clean-up in Roskilde Festival using mobile technology

Garbage Information Gathering eases up the clean-up in Roskilde Festival using mobile technology

We at Microsoft are delighted to see the opening of the first "mega data center" here in Europe. The Dublin Data Center is part of Microsoft’s long-term commitment in the region, and is a major step in realising Microsoft’s Software plus Services strategy.

The internet is developing at a tremendous pace as more businesses and peopleworldwide gain access to an ever greater range of online services including online office functionality, video and music downloads and more. 

  Car Manufacturers have made tremendous progress in reducing vehicle emissions. Today’s cars create far less pollution and emit far less carbon dioxide compared with those built a decade ago.

Healthcare is one of the biggest challenges facing our societies, economies and governments over the coming decades. At a personal level almost everyone has an experience, not only about healthcare, about healthcare innovation. At the organizational level, the private sector has a key opportunity to contribute to transform and innovate in the healthcare field.

Small computing devices, such as enhanced cameras, are becoming smarter and more capable: not only do they record visual input (video) but they are starting to interpret it.

Computing pervades everyday life: whether used in business or leisure, by individuals or communities, it offers opportunities for new ways of living and working together. It is also having a profound impact on human behaviour and thinking, and on interactions between people and with technology.

In an era of continual Internet innovation, one of the biggest trends is the Internet’s rapid growth as a platform for rich, high-definition content such as graphics, animation, video and film.

Just when you thought there was nothing new in pictures, along comes HD View and explodes all your preconceptions about what photography can do.

The Photosynth experience justifies the use of the old truism: it has to be seen to be believed.

“When I'm making plans for my spare time, the most convenient way to do it is to ask for the location and places of restaurants, tourist sites and service stations,” says Dragan Tomic, Principal Development Lead at the Microsoft Development Center Serbia in Belgrade. “But even when it's not obvious that I'm asking for location information, I'm probably interested in that information,...

Implementation of the Directive by member states is essential to the paradigm of ‘brain circulation' and the development of the European Research Area.