Xerox this week announced that it is donating its legendary Palo Alto Research Center (PARC) to nonprofit research institute SRI International. The company said that this move will enable it to focus entirely on its print, digital, and IT service offerings.
Without PARC, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020, there may have not been Ethernet, laser printers, the computer mouse, the graphical user interface (GUI), or many other technologies that have emerged from it over the years.
Related: Xerox PARC: 50 years of innovation
“Our clients are at the heart of everything we do,” said Xerox chief executive officer (CEO) Steve Bandrowczak in a release. “This decision allows both Xerox and PARC to focus on delivering innovations and solutions that align with their own strengths and capabilities. With this arrangement, PARC’s deep tech innovations will be sustained by SRI while allowing Xerox to simplify and optimize its operations and focus solutions on the continued evolution of hybrid work.”
As part of the donation, Xerox will enter into a preferred research agreement, called the Technology Exploration and Innovation Program, in which SRI will provide contracted research and development services to Xerox and its clients.
Through the collaborative program, Xerox and SRI will identify topic areas relevant to Xerox’s core print, digital and IT services business, with the final goal of creating proofs-of-concept and roadmaps to implementation. Xerox will also retain a branded Innovation Hub at PARC to host meetings, demonstrations, and annual conferences for its clients.
“SRI International and PARC can be credited with developing many of the world’s most defining innovations through the last decades,” said David Parekh, CEO of SRI International. “We are thrilled to welcome PARC’s world-class talent to our team and launch a new chapter together delivering breakthrough technology to the world, and to continue collaborating with Xerox in the future.”
“For more than half a century, PARC and its employees have been at the forefront of some of the world’s most important technological developments,” added Bandrowczak. “Xerox will forever be proud of PARC’s role in our history and its continued innovation that solves the world’s most pressing challenges.”
