NEW DELHI (AP) ? Bermuda-registered consulting firm Accenture yesterday opened a new research lab in the southern Indian city of Bangalore ? its fourth such facility worldwide, the technology consulting company said.

The Bangalore centre will focus on research in emerging technologies in systems integration and software engineering, the company said in a statement.

Bermuda-based Accenture currently operates one such centre in Sophia Antipolis in France and two in the United States ? one in Palo Alto, California, the other in Chicago, the company said.

The centre?s core group of 100 researchers and developers will have access to Accenture?s development network.

?In Bangalore, Accenture?s research team will be able to interact directly with the delivery teams responsible for some of the organisation?s largest and most complex systems integration projects,? the statement quoted Accenture?s chief technology officer, Don Rippert, as saying.

Accenture is one of the world?s largest outsourcing companies, with revenues of $15.5 billion in the financial year that ended August 2005.

It employs 133,000 people in 48 countries, including 15,000 in Indians who do a variety of tasks from back office work to writing software.