MIT, HP form digital alliance

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Hewlett-Packard Co. are set

to form a $25 million alliance to develop new ways to create and manage

digital information.

Under the memorandum of understanding signed June 2, the two organizations

will work together for five years to investigate new architectures, devices

and user interfaces for use in information-rich environments, as well as

new services for commerce, education and personal use.

The alliance establishes a stronger research team that will share

resources and HP equipment.

Future plans include projects within MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science,

the Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, the Media Lab, the Center for eBusiness@MIT,

the Internet and Telecoms Convergence Consortium and the MIT libraries.

HP and MIT have partnered before. In March, MIT libraries and HP announced

plans to build a $1.8 million digital archive. HP is also a founding sponsor

of the Center for eBusiness@MIT, committing $900,000 during three years.