RDATE:25092008
Munich, September 25, 2008 - Giesecke & Devrient (G&D), one of the
world's leading providers of smart-card solutions, is today opening a
new Development Center in Pune, India. The center's approximately 80
employees are developing products based on smart-card technology for
applications in mobile communication, electronic payment and public
administration. Over the next few years, the R&D center intends to
double the size of its workforce to 150 by recruiting further IT
specialists.
The Pune facility is one of three G&D Development Centers - alongside
those in China and at Group headquarters in Munich, the latter being
responsible for controlling all R&D activities. Together they represent
the cornerstones of the company's worldwide smart-card development
organization, and ensure proximity to its international customer base.
Already in 2007, the German security technology group boosted its
research and development expenditure by 25 percent to around 100
million euros.
"The venture we launched in Pune in 2005 has meanwhile evolved into a
full fledged Development Center at the heart of the G&D Group. I am
pleased that we have been able to recruit highly qualified and
extremely motivated staff for our company thanks to our academic
alliance with the International Institute of Information Technology
(I"IT), which provides us its students to be trained as smart-card
specialists," says Michael Kuemmerle, group executive of the G&D Cards
and Services business unit. "Innovation cycles in smart-card technology
are very short. The only way for us to move forward as technology
leaders is by implementing an internationally oriented business
development plan capable of rapidly identifying emerging global trends
and transforming them into innovative products."
Pune today rivals Bangalore as a contender for the title of "India's
Silicon Valley". The region's highly reputed IT universities and
colleges offer specialized courses in mobile communication and embedded
systems. G&D's local partners in education and research include the
International Institute of Information Technology (I2IT).
As one of the world's leading providers of smart-card solutions, G&D
employs around 800 research and development staff at its various
international locations, with roughly two-thirds of them based at the
company's head office in Munich. G&D established its first business
ties with India in the 1990s, and sold its first banknote processing
system to an Indian customer in 1997. The company's Indian subsidiary,
Giesecke & Devrient India Pvt. Ltd., was founded in 2001 and today
employs more than 350 people. Apart from the staff of the Development
Center in Pune, these include over 200 G&D service engineers who
provide technical support for the banknote processing machines
delivered to customers all over India, the employees of the smart-card
production plant in Noida, which opened in 2006, and the sales and
administration team based in Gurgaon near Delhi.
About Giesecke & Devrient:
Giesecke & Devrient (G&D) is a technology leader in the field of smart
cards, providing smart card-based solutions for telecommunications,
electronic payment, healthcare, ID, transportation, and IT security
(PKI). G&D is also a leading producer of banknotes and security
documents and is dominant in the field of currency automation. Based in
Munich, Germany, the G&D Group maintains subsidiaries and joint
ventures around the world. In fiscal 2007, the Group employed close to
9,000 people and generated revenue of almost EUR1.5 billion.
CONTACT: Vera Schuh, Press Officer, Giesecke & Devrient GmbH
Tel: +49 89 4119 2985
Fax: +49 89 4119 1208
e-mail:
vera.schuh@gi-de.com
WWW:
http://www.gi-de.com
WWW:
http://www.gi-de.com/presse
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