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| The magazine for professional developers of consumer packaged goods |
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© 2003 by The Freedonia Group, Inc. R&D Sharp
to open R&D centre in China Japan’s Sharp
Electronics will open its first consumer electronics R&D lab in
Shanghai, China in July at a cost of $3 million. The lab will target
appliances like air conditioning equipment and washing machines aiming to
become Sharp’s main home appliances development shop in Asia. This is
Sharp’s first stab at moving R&D outside Osaka, Japan, and comes as
it beefs up its push into China. Sharp aims to raise the expertise level
of Chinese researchers and technical staff and quickly develop
one-of-a-kind products best suited to Chinese consumers, it says. Starting
with a staff of 12, it expects to have 50 by 2005. E-working
e-novation in the EU… Electronically
mediated communications will provide essential support to large scale
research and development in Europe, say researchers. Speaking after a
workshop into new working practices last week, Isidro Laso, scientific
officer with the European Commission’s Information Society directorate
general. “We believe
that technologies and applications that allow for new and effective forms
of collaboration will not only foster creativity and harness European
diversity, but will also boost levels of innovation in Europe.” But
collaborative e-working is new to most. Delegates heard results from
Europe’s first “hot city” project. In September 2002 Madrid-based
Wireless & Satellite Networks (WSN) launched its Afitel WiFi network
in Zamora, Spain. This gave users unlimited high speed wireless Internet
access from their PC, laptop or other mobile device anywhere in the city
for 9.90 euros/month, a quarter of the monthly cost of ADSL rates. WSN chief
executive Ignacio Ozcariz said networks like Afitel could make always-on
Internet connections affordable for far more Europeans. This could enable
new forms of collaboration and e-working practices. Ozcariz believes
wireless networks such as Afitel should be deployed across Europe with
public assistance, as part of the basic communication infrastructure. He
adds that rather than focus on current leading edge technology, funding
for EU research projects should go on future technologies and foresight
exercises. Jonathan Sage of
IBM’s business consulting services department said it is more important
to discover what collaborations emerge before throwing technology at them.
He prefers to see the EC promote open standards to lower the cost of
access, especially for small and medium companies. The EC plans to
summarise opinions expressed at the workshop and to set up an advisory
group on e-working and collaboration. …As
US seeks better access to R&D results The US House of
Representatives is to debate a bill that will curb publishers’ control
over academic papers produced with taxpayers’ money. The move is part of
a larger campaign by the open-access Public Library of Science (PLoS), to
raise a national debate on access to scientific literature. The PLoS says
that while government money supports research, access to the results is
limited to scientists whose libraries can afford high subscription fees
and to those lay people who live near a public institutional library. The Public
Access to Science Bill seeks to void copyright protection for any results
that depend mainly on taxpayers’ money. Most academic journals require
authors to transfer copyright to the journal as a condition of
publication. This would stop if the bill becomes law. Without copyright,
journals would still be able to publish articles, but they would not be
able to control distribution or republishing. They would be unable to hold
readers to ransom over subscription fees. Publishers say
they need copyright in order to control a publication's quality. But
others say that the effort required from the publishers does not justify
ownership. PLoS plans to
launch its first open-access, peer-reviewed journal this October, and each
paper will be accompanied by a plain-English summary. Nutrition US
dairymen hail child food act… The US National
Milk Producers Federation (NMPF) and the International Dairy Foods
Association (IDFA) welcomed the Child Nutrition Improvement Act (S.1367),
which may see more schools offering milk products as part of school meals. The act is a
response to concerns about children’s nutritional needs, ranging from
low calcium consumption to obesity. Nearly 90% of teenage girls and 70% of
teenage boys don't get the calcium they need, and obesity is now a
national epidemic. …As
lawyers queue to sue food processors Last year’s
$90 billion bill to treat obesity-related diseases was more than the bill
for smokers, drinkers and even the poor. Now the lawyers who troubled the
tobacco companies have their sights on food processors, and the fast food
sector in particular. Fast food maker
McDonald’s, which was sued privately last year for alleged misleading
advertising, has already added healthier options to its menu, changed
recipes to reduce trans fats, and started telling customers about
the energy and fat content of its products. But this is unlikely to deter
lawyers who scent fat payouts for their overweight clients. Lawyers for the
food industry say the lawsuits may infringe peoples’ right to choose.
But the estimated $12 billion obesity bill born by employers is nudging
corporate America to ditch doughnuts and Danishes for bananas and
broccoli. NBC reports that nearly 200 companies including Ford and PepsiCo
have joined a programme to try to cut obesity-related health costs. That spells bad
news for fast food and snack makers. Industry analysts say that a 3% drop
in cash growth means an 18% drop in market value. Expect some urgent
innovation in the corporate kitchens. Investment Charity
begins at home Foreign direct
investment in the European Union dropped 35% to EUR76 billion in 2002 as
European investment in the rest of the world shrank 48% to EUR140 billion,
according to new data from Eurostat. This was the
second year in a row that flows of EU foreign direct investment (FDI) with
the rest of the world contracted. In 2001 outflows fell by 34% and inflows
by 22% compared to 2000, Eurostat said. The US was still
the EU's main investment partner in 2002, receiving 33% of investment from
the EU, and supplying 42% of investment into the EU. Proportionally these
were well down on 2001, 58% and 72% for outflows and inflows respectively.
Excluding the US, extra-EU outflows in 2002 only fell by 17%, while
inflows rose by 37%. |
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The European food industry
gave qualified support to the agriculture ministers’ deal over reform of
the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), which costs taxpayers $50 billion a
year, half the European Commission’s annual budget.