Fortune has a good article on how the research division of HP is trying to change it’s process model to put more emphasis on monetizing it’s innovations. HP Labs had previously operated as a loose organization of researchers working on as many as 150 personal interest projects without a stage for commercial development.

The new system will use a venture capitalist model where projects are given a set time to be developed and those that show promise are given more attention and resources. The projects that are underdeveloped or seem inapplicable to commercial environments are dropped.