NEC Laboratories Europe, the European R&D centre for network technologies, was established as Network Laboratories in Heidelberg, Germany, in April 1998 and celebrated the landmark by holding a 10th Anniversary Symposium for around 50 invited representatives in various fields from universities and companies in Europe.

NEC Laboratories Europe maintains three facilities in Heidelberg and Sankt Augustin in Germany and in London, UK. The Network Research Division located in Heidelberg and Acton in London focuses on R&D for network technologies and standardization activities, while the IT Research Division in Sankt Augustin focuses on R&D for IT technologies.

On its 10th Anniversary, the Network Research Division of NEC Laboratories Europe can present numerous successes, including an IP Telephony Security Framework called VoIP SEALTM, Car-2-Car communication technology for Intelligent Transport Systems, and Identity Management technologies, which were developed jointly with NEC Central Research Laboratories, in Japan.

As well as celebrating past and current successes, NEC Laboratories Europe is also looking forward as demonstrated by the establishment in April of the Standardization Promotion Centre Europe (SPCE) at NEC Europe Ltd. in London, UK, which will conduct the company's standardization activities in Europe. The Centre has been set up in order to conduct strategic standardization activities in cooperation with NEC Laboratories Europe.