Courtyard Houses: From Bronze Compasses to Global Reach

Chapter 358 The Layout of the Information Age

Lin Yan's gaze shifted to the other end of the long table and landed on Albert.

"Albert," Lin Yan began, "your battlefield is in Europe, and your mission is equally crucial, but its nature is completely different from Alexander's."

Albert nodded slightly, indicating that he was all ears.

"Alexander needs to establish footholds in Silicon Valley and Wall Street, while you need to infiltrate the closed industrial centers and standard halls of Europe."

Lin Yan's fingers unconsciously traced the outline of the European map on the table. "You must understand and integrate into their cultural core of valuing systematicness, rules, agreements, and centuries of accumulated craftsmanship, and then transform this advantage into the 'rule-making power,' 'high-end equipment power,' and 'industrial benchmark power' that we will rely on for our future survival."

He paused, letting the concept settle, before beginning to dissect this grand European blueprint point by point.

"First, and this is your future trump card: communication standards. These are the 'grammar rules' of the future information world. Whoever controls the standards controls the discourse and a continuous stream of patent revenue."

"Starting next year, in 1975, your primary task is to fully commit to and deeply integrate into the GSM system that Ericsson and Nokia are developing. The goal is to ensure that our core patents become an indispensable part of the GSM standard essential patent pool through funding, joint laboratories, and patent cross-promotion. In the future, we should benefit from every GSM mobile phone produced globally. This is a clear objective."

"At the same time, we need to maintain a covert line," he added, "maintaining contact with Motorola and Siemens on other standards such as analog cellular to ensure comprehensive intelligence. We also need to look further ahead and fund European academic institutions to conduct early research on third-generation mobile communications technologies, such as WCDMA, to sow the seeds for the next decade."

"The second point is the real tough nut to crack, and it's also the pinnacle of your mission—to conquer high-end equipment, especially the 'heart' of the lithography machine."

Lin Yan's tone turned serious. "This is crucial to whether we can reach the top in chip manufacturing. One of your ultimate goals is Zeiss in Germany. I need you to establish a partnership with them that goes beyond ordinary business."

"We could consider establishing a deep joint venture 'Advanced Optics Joint Laboratory' to fund their research in microscopic optics and even space optics, which may not yield commercial returns in the short term but are crucial for extreme precision. The goal is to acquire the core technologies and know-how required for the objective systems of extreme ultraviolet lithography machines, and to secure priority supply and joint development commitments from Zeiss. This is directly related to the success or failure of Singapore's 'Project Aurora'."

"At the same time, we need to keep a close eye on a Dutch company called ASML. If it emerges, we need to become a key strategic investor in it so that we can influence its technology roadmap and ensure that its equipment is deeply compatible with our future processes. In addition, we also need to weave those German and Swiss 'hidden champions' in the fields of precision measurement and vacuum equipment into our network."

"Third, we will build an academic and R&D network to control the source of innovation."

Lin Yan continued, "Our penetration targets shouldn't be limited to enterprises. The theoretical foundations and derivative technologies generated in places like CERN, the Fraunhofer Society, and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Automation (INFRA) are often the harbingers of industrial transformation. We need to get our funds and personnel in there. At the same time, in conjunction with our 'scholarship' program, we should establish bases in top universities like RWTH Aachen University and ETH Zurich to systematically identify, attract, and send Europe's top engineers and scientists to Singapore."

Fourth, we need to develop industrial infrastructure and automation to prepare a "toolbox" for our future large-scale manufacturing.

Lin Yan pointed to the next item on the task list: "Industrial software and automated control systems are the brain and nervous system of the future smart factory. Invest in or acquire controlling stakes in leading European companies in PLC, CAD, and early-stage ERP software, such as Siemens and SAP. Also, for key materials like specialty photoresists and high-purity gases, we must ensure a stable supply and technical cooperation channel from Europe."

Finally, Lin Yan emphasized strategic synergy and risk control. "Everything you acquire must ultimately serve the manufacturing base in Asia. Maintain close coordination with Lin Yi. Your primary task in the European network of monks is to delve into internal corporate R&D meetings and closed-door discussions of standards organizations to obtain the most original technical drafts and decision-making logic. At the same time, in Europe, you need to carefully cultivate an image as a responsible partner who 'respects the rules, is committed to long-term technological cooperation, and promotes the globalization of European standards' to mitigate potential barriers to technological protectionism."

After Lin Yan finished speaking, he leaned back, giving Albert a moment to process his thoughts, and then slowly said, "Albert, I won't use simple financial statements to measure your work. Your success or failure will be judged by several key historical moments: When the world's first GSM network call was made in 1991, were there any core patents that we couldn't circumvent? When Singapore's wafer fabs urgently needed to break through process bottlenecks, were they able to obtain world-class optical solutions from Europe in a timely manner? Does our global R&D system continuously flow with proven cutting-edge ideas from top European laboratories? And in the industrial and academic circles of Europe, are we regarded as a 'trustworthy and indispensable deep partner,' rather than a mere buyer or competitor from the East?"

Albert looked up from the documents in his hand: "I understand, young master."