Motorola Solutions Global R&D Centre in Penang Celebrates 40 Years of Innovation
From mission-critical digital radio solutions, to next generationpolicing technologies and state-of-the-art research and testing facilities, Motorola Solutions’ Penang research and development (R&D) centre is at the forefront of “borderless” innovation.
The global R&D centre celebrates its 40th anniversary this week, reflecting four decades of continuous innovation while planning for new opportunities for its 1,000 highly-skilled engineers to develop next-generation devices and solutions for customers worldwide.
Technology innovation is essential in helping public safety and enterprise sectors overcome new challenges – from complex threats including cyber terrorism to growing pressure on costs and resources and greater customer demands and expectations.
Over the past four decades, Motorola Solutions’ Penang R&D facility has designed technology solutions to enable organisations to work more effectively while reaching higher levels of safety and productivity. This includes mobile broadband technologies designed to help organisations extract greater value from data and reach higher levels of performance.
Innovative technology to keep public safety officials safe
Among the advanced solutions developed at the Penang R&D facility is the revolutionary Connected Police Officer concept, a collection of technologies that help to keep first responders safe by instantly sending and receiving critical information from their immediate environments. This concept includes, future-oriented technologies including smart belts, body-worn cameras, LTE devices, and sensors that provide location and biometric readings.
A Connected Police Officer is protected by these devices capturing and transmitting vital information without any need for human intervention – for example, activating a bodyworn video camera to record a potentially dangerous situation if an officer reaches for his or her gun.
“Malaysia is a strategic R&D site for Motorola Solutions. We are proud to have applied local skills and capabilities over the past 40 years to drive R&D and innovation all over the world,” says Dr. Hari Narayanan, Managing Director of Penang Operations, Motorola Solutions Malaysia. “This has enabled Penang to become the largest developer of devices for Motorola Solutions globally and to become the company’s largest investment in R&D outside of North America.”
“As Motorola Solutions continues its evolution into a software and services business, collaboration and growth are essential to riding the next wave of innovation. That’s why we have developed strong local partnerships with innovative, local R&D companies while continuing to build a healthy ecosystem of skilled talent and resources in Malaysia,” he said.
New Network Operations Centre launched
In parallel to Penang’s 40th anniversary of R&D, a new Network Operations Centre (NOC) will also be unveiled at the facility to monitor and manage customers’ essential communications. Staffed 24/7 by a skilled and dedicated team, the centre will provide guaranteed reliability and availability to keep communications networks operating at peak performance while customers focus on their core operations.
In addition to its product design and development facilities, Penang has laboratories fitted with advanced testing equipment to conduct rigorous compliance testing of radio products. Known as the “Innoplex”, this is a one-stop design centre comprising highly skilled teams from disciplines including industrial design, software, electrical and electronics engineering, mechanical engineering and programme management.
