BT Research

BT Research

Formation	1921
Type	Former government-owned body, now private research organisation
Purpose	Telecommunications research
Location	Adastral Park, Martlesham, Suffolk, IP5 3RE
Parent organization	BT Group
Website	www.btplc.com/innovation

BT Research is part of the BT Technology, Service and Operations division of BT Group, a provider of communications and services operating in 170 countries.

The organisation embodies an 'open innovation' approach, drawing on external resources such as partnerships with universities, suppliers, partners, customers and start-ups to complement the BT's internal research and innovation programme. BT Group is also a partner in collaborative research projects that are part of the UK's Technology Strategy Board programme, the EU Seventh Framework Programme, and the EU Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme.

BT's main research facility is located in the United Kingdom at Adastral Park, near Ipswich in the county of Suffolk. The Adastral Park site was first planned around 1968 as the Martlesham Heath Post Office Laboratories and after completion in 1971 has grown since then to a facility today which has around 4,000 research and development people from both BT and some of its partner companies. Globally, BT has additional research labs in Beijing, Boston MA and Abu Dhabi. The focus of research at BT is Information and Communications Technology (ICT).

The Royal Air Force were the original residents of the site in Suffolk at RAF Martlesham Heath. Experimental aircraft test flights flew from the airfield and the name (Adastral Park) is intended to reflect the history of experimentation and innovation, which is the continuing focus for the Park. The initial models and plans created by the MPBW [successor to the MOW] would appear to indicate the influence of the Thunderbirds TV series of the 1960s.

Major theme areas are;

BT works closely with both academics and students in over 20 institutions globally and has strong partnerships with the University of Cambridge in the UK, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the USA and Tsinghua University in China. BT also leads the India-UK Advanced Technology Centre, a consortium of 22 Indian and UK industry and academic partners conducting research into current and next generation fixed and wireless communications.