[Ict4devwg] IBM Expands Presence in Vietnam

[Vern Weitzel]

Subject: [vnnews-l] FDI/IT: IBM Expands Presence in Vietnam
Date: Sun, 24 May 2009 15:57:16 -0700
From: Stephen Denney <srdenney at gmail.com>
To: vnnews-l at anu.edu.au

http://www.pcworld.com/article/165378/ibm_expands_presence_in_vietnam.html

IBM Expands Presence in Vietnam
Dan Nystedt, IDG News Service
May 22, 2009 6:10 am

IBM opened a new technology center and announced two research pacts
with universities in Vietnam on Friday, saying it sees promise in the
developing nation.
IBM's first Innovation Center in the Vietnam aims to help local
developers create new technologies for digital infrastructure projects
in banking, telecommunications, energy and government, the company
said in a statement. It will offer training workshops, consulting
services and assistance to researchers working to bring new
technologies to market.
There are incredible opportunities in information in Vietnam as the
country embraces technology in its transformation from an agricultural
to an industrial nation, IBM said.
Vietnam last week unveiled a US$8 billion government stimulus package,
most of which is targeted at infrastructure and development projects.
The new innovation center is located in Ho Chi Minh City, formerly
known as Saigon.
Technology multinationals often build such technology centers in
developing countries to encourage local innovators to create software
using their developer kits and attract business from governments and
local companies.
IBM runs 43 Innovation centers worldwide.
IBM said it will also launch the first Vietnamese language version of
IBM developerWorks, a part of its Web site that provides resources to
software developers and other IT professionals.
The company signed two agreements to work with Vietnam National
University in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi on separate technology
projects. In Ho Chi Minh City, IBM will work with academics to
establish a new university cloud computing center and cloud
curriculum, while in Hanoi, IBM will help with the establishment of a
new department aimed at improving various segments of the services
industry called service science management and engineering.
The initiatives are partly a "response to accelerated IT growth in
Vietnam," IBM said. Internet use is already widespread and continues
to increase in Vietnam, IBM said, while the country's IT sector has
grown at 20 percent annually in recent years.
There were nearly 21.2 million Internet users in Vietnam at the end of
April, 2009, according to the Vietnam Internet Network Information
Center.