Telegraph Media Group journalists are set to work with technical and commercial staff on short-term technology projects in Telegraph Labs, a new innovation unit opening at the Telegraph's Victoria offices this weekend.

The lab will house eight to 10 staff selected from across the company, who will work towards rapidly developing new, commercially-viable online products. Telegraph Lab's computer network will be separate from the main Telegraph system in order to sidestep the security restrictions on the main network, reports Press Gazette.

"It's meant as a space where we take people on four to six-week cycles, take them out of their day jobs and get them to focus on a specific thing, and get them to rapidly create something that we can put out there very quickly," said Paul Cheesbrough, Telegraph chief information officer.

A mobile version of Telegraph.co.uk will likely be in the works when the lab opens. According to Cheesbrough, the ultimate goal is to produce one new feature per month although he acknowledges failures are inevitable.
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"It is a safe place for people to work on things that might be high-risk and might be subject to failure, but that's alright as along as we learn things out of it," he said.

This type of approach reflects a growing trend towards a model of quick innovation, in which the potential gains from speed are seen to outweigh the risks of failure. The birth of the Publish2 Election News Network in February provides another example.
 
One of the main goals of the Telegraph project is to break down the traditional wall between editorial and IT. With this is mind, Cheesbrough has been hiring technology staff who have experience working as journalists.
 
"The holy grail is someone who's good at technology, who is good at journalism and who knows how to make the money."

Source: Press Gazette