The local subsidiary of German information and communication technology (ICT) group T-Systems launched its Innovation Factory last month to localise and showcase prototype solutions generated by its parent company and to provide a collaborative space for its engineers and local partners to hone new ideas for commercial applications.

The facility is located at the Innovation Hub, in Pretoria, and will provide a structured space for its engineers and technologists to adapt its international developments to the local environment, as well as develop new solutions for its local customers.

“A significant driver for the establishment of this facility is the demand for innovation from our customers, coupled with the need to provide stable, robust platforms and solutions,” T-Systems South Africa MD Gert Schoonbee explains.

T-Systems also aims to use the facility to work with its customers and partners, as well as the broader ICT community, and make developments available to them to determine how to apply them to their own environments or for their own customers.

“The purpose of this facility is to create zero distance between the T-Systems Innovation Lab, in Munich, and our local operations to localise research and development to benefit our customers and [the facility] is also instrumental in creating zero distance between our clients and their customers.”

The T-Systems Innovation Factory is a collaboration between it, the Innovation Hub and the Maxum incubation programme. Entrepreneurs using the facility will be able to access the support functions of Maxum and opportunities to engage with development financiers and organisations, adds Schoonbee.

T-Systems will also provide local entrepreneurs with the opportunity to access some of T-Systems’ developments to build upon and potentially develop their own solutions, he highlights.

“Open innovation and co-creation are the keys to development in the modern hyper- connected world. There are always smarter people and more numerous smart people outside your organisation than within it. “Recognising this fact and opening internal research and development to external input will enable companies to develop and produce new products faster and capture growth faster,” says serial entrepreneur and Thumbzup developer Stafford Masie, who was the keynote speaker at the launch of the Innovation Factory.

The facility enables T-Systems’ engineers to connect with their own creativity and link this to formal innovation and product development to generate innovative solutions, says T-Systems South Africa innovation consultant Russel Brand.

“This is a formal space for creativity, co-creativity and innovation. Ideas and innovations tend to be muted within company structures, but these same organisations want to tap into innovation for growth.

“Introducing top engineers and technologists to a formal creative space and other innovators to be able to hone creative ideas into commercial solutions will give them the confidence to think more broadly, explore larger problem spaces and, thus, develop more innovative, relevant and robust solutions for customers and the company,” he concludes.