Huawei opens mathematics research center in France: leveraging local research to create a thriving academic ecosystem for ICT innovation

Paris, June 15, 2016: During its fourth European Innovation Day, Huawei announced the opening of a Mathematics Research Center in France, the second of its kind with Huawei's first Mathematics Research Center located in Russia. Through the center Huawei aims to advance its role in basic scientific research, particularly in mathematical algorithms to drive ICT breakthroughs. The center is also part of Huawei’s goal to work closely with French academia to create a thriving academic ecosystem focused on ICT development. It will combine France's mathematical research expertise with Huawei's capabilities in applying research to business, and help bring France's talent and technologies to the global ICT sector.

Guests present at the opening ceremony included Thierry Mandon, France's Secretary of State for Higher Education and Research, and William Xu, Huawei's Executive Director of the Board and Chief Strategy Marketing Officer.

Minister Mandon said: "The opening of Huawei's Mathematics Research Center in France reflects France's outstanding achievements in mathematics education, and recognizes how our cutting-edge research can be leveraged to meet global ICT challenges."

William Xu remarked, "Mathematics is the tool used to make everything possible. For example, mathematical logic and algorithms are the foundation for effectively managing massive amounts of data traffic. Now, mathematical research is leading to brand-new breakthroughs in the ICT industry. France has been the birthplace of many world-class mathematicians." Xu continued, "Huawei is committed to innovation and has been investing in R&D in the area of massive data traffic transmissions over the past 29 years. We invest 10%–15% of our sales revenue in R&D every year. Our long-term, patient investment has led to strategic breakthroughs. For example, Huawei's Russian mathematicians have made revolutionary breakthroughs in algorithms for 2G and 3G systems. The integration of algorithms has enabled Huawei to develop more competitive, lighter, and smaller products."

The research center will be led by Mérouane Debbah, full professor at CentraleSupélec and specialist in the field of telecommunications. He said,

"We will inevitably face physical barriers or homogeneity problems as the information society continues to develop. Mathematics is crucial for developing advanced, high-performance, and differentiated chips and software products. To support communications and information processing with lower latency, higher bandwidth, and better power efficiency, we need to drive theoretical breakthroughs. This Mathematics Research Center will conduct in-depth research on mathematical algorithms, design new architecture and algorithms, apply new mathematical tools and models to the ICT sector, and build a new theory system. Meanwhile, Huawei will forge close partnerships with Supélec, Eurocom, Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies (IHES), Télécom ParisTech, and other colleges and universities."

Currently, the research center employs over 80 researchers, all of whom have a doctorate degree or higher. Mérouane Debbah added,

"One of our goals, beyond technological research, is to train more young French talent for the global ICT industry. The center will provide great opportunities for mathematicians. I believe many young experts will have the opportunity to work with our research teams around the world and begin their career in an international environment."

Located in Boulogne-Billancourt, France, this research center is dedicated to exploring France's basic mathematical resources, and conducting basic research into the physical and network layers of communications, distributed and parallel computing, data compression and storage, and other basic algorithms. In addition, the research center will focus on strategic projects (e.g.,5G) and short-term products, and design an overall architecture for distributed algorithms. To date, Huawei has established 16 research centers worldwide, including the France Research Center, under which there are four teams respectively focusing on design, digital imaging, mathematics, and home devices.