Kamil Isayev (Intel Russia) about Innovation Design Lab

The second part of the interview with Kamil Isayev, R&D CEO, Intel Russia, who heads Innovation Design Lab together with Dmitry Repin. The first part can be found here

- Please let us know your viewpoint on Innovation Design Lab

- An idea of Innovation Design Lab consists in creating some environment on the basis of the SKOLKOVO Campus that would encourage innovations. I see Intel as an injector of ideas. Of course, ideas that we will try to implement there will be close to Intel as a company. They are IT industry, software industry and other modern trends. At the same time an innovative environment created at the Campus should conceive these ideas, process them inventively and produce some product, whether business projects, start-ups, new techniques - such products that can’t emerge in another area. In other words, we start with a set of ideas, including or first of all from Intel and/or our partners and result in business projects of various maturity with a potential to develop and turn into something innovative and new ready to become a component of that knowledge-based economy.

- Please tell us about Intel’s interest in this project

- Innovative Design Lab is especially relevant to Intel at the moment. The point is that the IT market is evolving in an interesting way. In other words, computing devices that we use are rather greatly diversified. Traditional desktops, notebooks, servers located somewhere behing the walls are not enough now; a great number of so-called mobile devices has appeared. Netbooks, tablets, iPad-lie devices and of course smart phones have greatly become intellectual devices.

All this diversification make completely different, new requirements to suppliers of components, such as Intel. It’s clear that today customers buy not hardware inside, but devices, whether smart phone, netbook or something else. They buy what we call ready-made solutions, and how a customer appreciates this purchase is a very complex feeling, it is formed from a lot of elements, and not only a processor of this device plays a key role. An important part here is played by software and user interface, all components of the solution assembled in a single unit. That’s why concepts like human-centered design become undoubtedly urgent, if we want to retain success in the contemporary market. Therefore Intel should learn to work with consumer audience – individuals who buy products for personal use or use at a company, they are not IT professionals, they are ordinary people. It’s them who find it very important to buy devices that meet their expectations, when they don’t even know what they expect or at least touch the right chord. So when this resonance occurs, a commercial success comes. Examples are not far to seek, everyone have heard them. So those companies from our industry that want to retain success should learn all these things. Traditionally Intel is a b2b company, and we have not worked with individual customers that much. I think such projects as Innovative Design Lab will be able to help us do it.

Of course, we should get from words and concepts down to business now, and it will happen very soon, because a start-up module begins in September, and the Lab will function within the framework of that module. I’m looking forward to it, because I’m interested to see what this innovative environment that digests or, on the contrary, generates the best ideas will be like.

— Have you been here at the SKOLKOVO Campus?

— Yes, of course, I have. Several times.

— What is your impression?

— Very good! The Campus makes an impression of a place suitable to that creative environment. I’m not saying that the entire Campus is Innovation Design Lab. It will be just a small part of the Campus, but it is an atmosphere that is more important, and it requires entourage.
If we put it all together – a comfortable habitat, an obvious care about people in terms of all components well thought-out, novelty, innovative approaches to architecture and infrastructure – to my mind, it will contribute to making a creative atmosphere. If we put Innovation Design Lab inside as well, where all creative powers in this Campus will be focused and concentrated, hopefully everything will operate perfectly!