The World Economic Forum Announces Technology Pioneers 2008: Arteris Selected

by Kurt Shuler, On Nov 29, 2007

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“From a highly competitive field, we are extremely pleased to have a community that is using innovation and technology to dramatically affect the way society and business operate and doing so in a markedly collaborative manner.”

–Peter Torreele, Managing Director, World Economic Forum

Arteris, Inc., provides technology for chip designers to address the on-chip communication challenge of System-on-Chip (SoC) semiconductors. It pioneered a concept called Network on Chip (NoC) which functions in a similar fashion as a computer network, but is used by engineers to manage the communication and ‘traffic’ on complex semiconductors, which increasingly contain multiple sub-components and functions on a single chip. Arteris’ solutions transport and manage the on-chip communications, increasing performance, reducing the number of global wires, and lowering power utilization while enabling the most complex designs. Industry experts agree that the NoC approach represents a necessary evolution in how today’s most advanced SoCs are designed, and Arteris has established itself as the early leader in this market.

The international company operates globally with headquarters in San Jose, California and an engineering center in Paris, France. The experienced management team, led by CEO Charlie Janac, has built several successful chip design and semiconductor companies during prior assignments. Arteris is backed by a group of international investors including Crescendo Ventures, TVM Capital, Ventech and Synopsys. More information can be found at www.arteris.com.

When the semiconductor manufacturing improvements start to reach their limits, new advances must come from novel semiconductor architectures and design methodologies to enable continuation of the dramatic improvements in economic and technology performance we have seen over the past 20 years. Arteris is pioneering a disruptive technology, Network on Chip, that is the enabling technology for the next generation of complex SoCs used in multimedia and wireless communication designs, said Charlie Janac, President and CEO of Arteris. We are very excited to be recognized by an organization as prestigious as the World Economic Forum.

Technology Pioneers are companies that have been identified as developing and applying highly transformational and innovative technologies in the areas of energy, biotechnology and health, and information technology. To be selected as a Technology Pioneer, a company must be involved in the development of life-changing technology innovation and have the potential for long-term impact on business and society. In addition, it must demonstrate visionary leadership, show all the signs of being a long-standing market leader — and its technology must be proven. Previous Technology Pioneers have included Business Objects, Cambridge Silicon Radio, Corel Corporation, Encore Software, Google, Mozilla Corporation and Napster.

The companies’ products and services include identity management on the Internet, understanding of individuals’ genetic information, robotic radiosurgery, pollution control materials, low-cost remote diagnosis solutions, virtual interface technologies, wiki-based projects and next-generation business intelligence solutions.

Twenty-three of the Technology Pioneers 2008 are US-based companies. Israel and the United Kingdom each boast three; Sweden and Switzerland two each; Canada, France, Germany, India, the Netherlands and Russia, one each. Technology Pioneers are nominated in three main categories: Energy/Environment, Biotechnology/Health and Information Technology.

The entire list of Technology Pioneers and interviews with the CEOs of the selected companies can be found here: http://www.weforum.org/techpioneers/2008.

This year the World Economic Forum received a record number of applications from companies around the world to become a Technology Pioneer. From a highly competitive field, we are extremely pleased to have a community that is using innovation and technology to dramatically affect the way society and business operate and doing so in a markedly collaborative manner. We are excited to welcome the Technology Pioneers class of 2008 to the larger community of the World Economic Forum and we are looking forward to the fruits that their collaboration will bring, said Peter Torreele, Managing Director of the World Economic Forum.

The selection criteria include:

  1. Innovation. The company’s technology must be truly innovative. A new version or repackaging of an already well-accepted technological solution does not qualify as an innovation. The innovation should be recent — not more than two years old. The company should invest significantly in R&D.
  2. Potential Impact. The company’s technology must have the potential to have a substantial long-term impact on business and society in the future.
  3. Growth and Sustainability. The company should have all the signs of being a long-term market leader and should have well-formulated plans for future development and growth.
  4. Proof of Concept. The company must have a product on the market or have proven practical applications of the technology. Companies in “stealth” mode and companies with untested ideas or models will not qualify.
  5. Leadership. The company must have visionary leadership that plays a critical role in driving the company towards reaching its goals.
  6. Status. The company must not currently be a Member of the World Economic Forum. This criterion applies to the parent company — thus wholly-owned subsidiaries of large firms are not eligible.

Arteris has made significant progress in commercializing Network-on-Chip technology including customer production of the world’s first System-on-Chip IC containing a Network-on-Chip (NoC) communication IP and selection by one of the top 10 semiconductor companies to deploy the Arteris NoC for a majority of their designs moving forward. Arteris has also deployed customer support capability in North America, Europe and Japan to meet the needs of global semiconductor companies.

About the World Economic Forum

The World Economic Forum is an independent international organization committed to improving the state of the world by engaging leaders in partnerships to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

Incorporated as a foundation in 1971, and based in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Economic Forum is impartial and not-for-profit; it is tied to no political, partisan or national interests. (www.weforum.org)

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