CAMBRIDGE, Mass. and Palo Alto, Calif., June 2, 2000 -- The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Hewlett-Packard Company (HP) today announced plans to form a $25 million alliance to develop innovative ways to create and handle digital information. The five-year alliance will investigate new architectures, devices, and user-interfaces in information-rich environments and explore novel services for commerce, education, and personal use.
HP President and Chief Executive Officer Carly Fiorina, an alumna of MIT's Sloan School of Management, is the keynote speaker at MIT's Commencement exercises today. Commenting on the new alliance, she said, "This is an extraordinary opportunity for two great research organizations to collaborate and develop technologies that will truly transform society for the benefit of all."
Fiorina is the second HP chief executive officer to speak at MIT's commencement. "HP co-founder Bill Hewlett delivered the keynote address in 1986 on the 50th anniversary of his receiving a master's degree from MIT in electrical engineering. In his comments, he emphasized the importance of innovation and creativity to a high-tech society," said MIT President Charles M. Vest. "Now, through this new alliance, HP and MIT will extend those necessary ingredients for successful invention into the far-reaching realm of digital information. We are delighted to build on our long-standing relationship with HP to undertake this new endeavor."
Capitalizing on the long collaboration between the two organizations, in particular between HP and MIT's Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, the HP and MIT alliance will address and support research and educational programs of mutual interest. Plans include projects within the Laboratory for Computer Science [World Wide Web Consortium (W3C)], the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Media Lab, the Sloan School Center for eBusiness@MIT, the Internet & Telecoms Convergence Consortium, and the MIT Libraries. The alliance will define and fund other projects in the future.
In March, the MIT Libraries and HP announced plans to build a $1.8 million digital archive at MIT expected to hold the approximately 10,000 articles produced by MIT authors annually, including a large amount of multimedia content. In January, HP became a founding sponsor of the Sloan School Center for eBusiness@MIT, committing to fund the Center for $900,000 over three years. In addition, HP has provided support to other MIT programs, including the Leaders for Manufacturing Program and the Microsystems Industrial Group.
About MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is one of the world's preeminent research universities, dedicated to advancing knowledge and educating students in science, technology, and other areas of scholarship that will best serve the nation and the world in the 21st century. It is known for rigorous academic programs, cutting-edge research, a diverse campus community, and its longstanding commitment to working with the public and private sectors to bring new knowledge to bear on the world's great challenges. For more information on MIT, see http://web.mit.edu/.
About HP
Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services -- is focused on making technology and its benefits accessible to individuals and businesses through simple appliances, useful e-services and an Internet infrastructure that's always on. Excluding Agilent Technologies, HP has 86,000 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $42.4 billion in its 1999 fiscal year. Information about HP and its products can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.
