Global R&D / Open Innovation

Since Ricoh develops products and services for the global market, we must make use of talent and technology worldwide. Toward that end, we are conducting research in research bases in Japan, the U.S., India and China.

R&D in the United States

Based in California’s Silicon Valley, Ricoh Innovations, Inc. (RII) develops innovative technologies and new business opportunities.

RII was founded in 1997 as a subsidiary of Ricoh, growing out of the California Research Center established in 1989.

RII is home to world-class technologists with a broad set of competencies in areas such as intelligent sensors, computational optics, mobile visual communication and cloud-based collaboration. Completing the team are experienced ethnographers with deep insights into user and customer experience, and creative designers with a fundamental understanding of user interfaces and industrial design.

RII’s focus is to realize The Infinite Network – RII’s vision of a seamlessly connected world of people, objects and information.

The Infinite Network provides connectivity of value, creating processes to extract, organize and present information that is context- and location-aware. It provides connectivity to the “Internet of things” - control over local devices and the local environment. It allows people to work creatively, collaboratively and seamlessly.

RII is developing the technology and services to realize this vision.

R&D in India

Ricoh Innovations Private Limited ("RIPL"), an R&D facility in Bangalore, India, was established in February 2012 to address opportunities in India and similar emerging countries. RIPL is the Ricoh group's first R&D center in India, and is a subsidiary of Ricoh Innovations ("RII") based in the US Silicon Valley.

RIPL's goal is to extend the operations of RII, leveraging core technologies developed at Ricoh and RII. By combining market-oriented technology development with regionally optimized research, RIPL will pioneer new business tailored for India's rapidly growing market.

RIPL’s software and systems R&D teams focus on supporting cutting-edge projects in large market segments such as health care, education, finance, media and entertainment. The technologies and services developed by RIPL form the groundwork for IT solutions for other large emerging regions in addition to India, including Africa and South Asia. Together, these constitute a market of over 2.5 billion people.

R&D in China

Ricoh established Ricoh Software Research Center (Beijing) Co., Ltd. (SRCB) in the Zhongguancun Science Park in Beijing, China, at the beginning of 2004. This Science Park is attracting much attention internationally as an industry cluster, where government agencies, eminent universities, leading research institutes and laboratories of global companies are concentrated. Beyond that, excellent talented personnel get together, and the infrastructure to promote research and development are well maintained through governmental support. It is an excellent venue to research software and solutions.

Since SRCB is a member of Ricoh Group, they are conducting research and development of systems and solutions which are required in the future office, image and video processing, embedded system, wireless network, system control, and data mining, etc. The center is also actively engaging in joint research and exchange between personels with eminent Chinese universities and institutes. Examples include neighboring Peking University, Qinghua University, and the Chinese Academy of Sciences to accelerate high-level research activities.

SRCB aspires to be a global class laboratory, we use English as the working language. It has many researchers who have studied abroad in the Western Countries, as well as Chinese domestic talent. Many collaborative projects are underway with the R&D sector in Ricoh Group. They are conducted in an environment for efficient research and development using e-mail, video-conferencing and groupware.

In order to respond the rapid business enviroment changes in timely fashion, we need to proactively seek out the best resources and institutes around the world. To achieve this, we have to seek the chances to form or join research alliances, contract the joint research with heterogenous bodies across industries.