Microsoft installed its first ‘Garage’ in Hyderabad to encourage employees to come up with new products and solutions relevant to the modern age such as Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and quantum computing.
The huge facility of 8,000 sq. ft. is the Microsoft’s second biggest unit of the type worldwide with the Redmond facility in US being the largest. The initiative of ‘The Garage’, a workplace to promote innovative creations among employees has been in force since 2014 but a specifically designed space for the purpose was not yet dedicated to the workers. The newly erected workplace in Hyderabad possesses three dedicated lab sections more specifically a hub for hackathons and workshops, a makerspace and a reality room.
“The Garage is a platform for our employees that supports and encourages a culture of experimentation, working together across organizations and technology to explore ideas and build prototypes, adding value to existing products,”
said Jeff Ramos who operates as a partner director at Microsoft Garage.
The Garage was first introduced to Microsoft in its headquarters back in 2009 but has since spread out to their units in Vancouver, Silicon Valley, Israel and Beijing. Ramos also fueled additional speculations around ‘The Garage’ by stating that the company is going to install another in their offices in Bengaluru this year itself but would not say more.
“We have a huge team in India and they are contributing immensely to our offerings. The Garage programme in India will be a connector to bring together people across roles, skills, and experience to lend their passion to create solutions unique to this market,” he said.