OKI’s Berlin Lab research and development centre in Berlin, Germany opened on 1 June 2025. The new centre has been established to strengthen photonics technology, one of OKI’s core technologies, to a world-class level as part of OKI’s Technology Strategy, while helping to resolve emerging social issues through its global real-world deployment.
The R&D centre will conduct joint research with leading research organizations in the EU, centred on Germany, where photonics technology is advancing. OKI and its research partners are hoping to dramatically accelerate efforts for improving the performance and functionality of edge devices that have been developed by OKI, such as optical fibre sensors and compact laser vibrometers. Additionally, collaboration with EU businesses involved in photonics clusters and optomechatronics* will promote technological complementation, which will then allow OKI to gain a technological edge through real-world deployment in areas like infrastructure, manufacturing, and healthcare. Based on these activities, OKI will verify the value of its research and development achievements in the EU, then expand them globally to APAC and other regions.
Located within an incubation facility in Berlin, the new centre is to house researchers, who are engaged in joint research with external research organizations, and technology marketers, who promote the real-world deployment of optomechatronics technologies. The center is also to have a showroom for showcasing OKI’s latest technologies, providing visitors with the opportunity to deepen their understanding of the technologies involved.
According to Yoichi Kato, Senior Vice President, Chief Technology Officer, and Head of Technology Division: “OKI Berlin Lab can enable OKI to strengthen core technologies through joint research with leading research organizations and photonics clusters in the EU.” He also stated that OKI will continue to tackle global challenges, with the aim of deepening innovative technologies that will shape the future as well as implementing their real-world deployment.
In its Technology Strategy announced in November 2023, OKI proposed the Edge Platform technology concept as the solution platform for resolving social issues quickly. Based on this concept, OKI established a technology exploration base in Silicon Valley in 2024 to enhance collaboration with startups as open innovation activities.
* Optomechatronics: A technology term combining “optics” and “mechatronics” (a combination of mechanics and electronics); refers to advanced manufacturing technologies that integrate optics with, mechanical and electronic control technologies.
