Separating new-tech hype from tangible value is rarely as easy as reading vendors’ press releases. Accenture PLC operates seven labs around the globe to dig up the facts for itself. Technologies currently under investigation are blockchain, quantum computing and artificial intelligence.

“I’ve lived a lot of winters of artificial intelligence; now I think, finally, maybe there’s going to be some spring,” said Marc Carrel-Billiard (pictured), global senior managing director at Accenture Labs.

High-performance computing, big data and deep learning algorithms have reached peak levels to fast-track AI into the real world, Billiard stated during the Accenture Labs 30th Anniversary Celebration in Mountain View, California.

Along with AI, Accenture Labs is currently researching blockchain distributed ledger technology, Billiard told John Furrier (@furrier), host of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile livestreaming studio. Accenture’s lab in Sophia Antipolis, France, is dedicated to uncovering novel uses for the technology.

“We want to take blockchain to the next level,” Billiard said. Blockchain can potentially fight scams and misallocation of donations to non-governmental organizations, he added. The technology might also provide digital rights management in manufacturing.

AL pursues more than profit

Accenture Labs recently collaborated with other companies in Vancouver to complete a quantum compute project. Accenture’s team worked with software company 1QB Information Technologies Inc. and biotechnology outfit Biogen Inc. on a quantum-enabled molecular comparison application. The application could improve treatment of multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Lou Gehrig’s Disease. The team had a six-month time allowance, but met its goal in two months, according to Billiard.

This year, Accenture Labs also launched its Tech for Good initiative. It seeks to take its commitment to real-world tech solutions to the political and social level. The project will apply tech innovation to issues like hunger in India and assistance for the blind via augmented reality, Billiard stated.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of the Accenture Labs 30th Anniversary Celebration.

Photo: SiliconANGLE