Hikvision USA Inc. and Hikvision Canada Inc., North American providers of video surveillance products and solutions, announced that Hikvision plans to establish an R&D center in Montreal and a research institute in California’s Silicon Valley.

“These two major investments underscore Hikvision’s R&D ‘glocalization’ (being global thinking local) strategy and the commitment to providing innovative, cutting-edge technology products tailored to the needs of our worldwide partners and customers,” said Yangzhong Hu, CEO of Hikvision. 

Expected to open in 2017, the Montreal Hikvision R&D Center will focus on engineering development. The Silicon Valley Hikvision Research Institute will focus on broad technology research. 

Jeffrey He, president of Hikvision USA Inc. and Hikvision Canada Inc., called Montreal the “ideal location for the new R&D center,” lauding the city’s “excellent talent pool and business-friendly environment.” The headquarters for Hikvision Canada is also located in Montreal. Likewise, He said, the high-tech hub of Silicon Valley is the logical location for the Hikvision Research Institute.   

Hikvision is well established in the SMB market in North America. In the past couple years, the company has focused on expanding into the enterprise market, putting in place a national enterprise solutions team with knowledgeable engineering, technical and sales support in regions across the U.S. and Canada, the company described.  

“The new R&D team will augment the services provided by the national enterprise solutions team,” said Eagle Ying, director of technology for Hikvision USA Inc. “Hikvision appreciates that solution requirements are different from region to region. The new Hikvision R&D team will be dedicated to furthering Hikvision innovation on the global scale.” 

Based in Hangzhou, China, Hikvision has more than 8,000 R&D engineers, one of the largest in the video surveillance industry, and it dedicates about 7 to 8 percent of its revenues to R&D. The North American R&D Center and Research Institute will be the first established outside China.