IBM turns 100, prepares for 75th year in PH in 2012

IBM Philippines is joining other IBM offices around the world in launching the company’s centenary celebrations, marking the 100-year anniversary of its founding on June 16, 1911 with a year-long initiative. “IBM in the Philippines will turn 75 years in 2012 thanks to Thomas Kevin Mallen, an Irishman and Ernesto D. Guzman, a Filipino who organized and incorporated Watson Business Machines (WBM) with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 20, 1937 with an initial capitalization of P25,200.00," said James Velasquez, country general manager of IBM Philippines. “To mark our history in the region and to show our commitment to the future expansion of our business, we will celebrate IBM’s Centennial in the Philippines with a number of activities including a day of service for the community in June when our employees will have the opportunity to apply their business skills and work experiences to address local critical community challenges and societal needs." Velasquez’ sentiments followed those of IBM big boss Sam Palmisano who said recently “Over the course of the last century, information technology has gone from a set of tools… to an industry… to a science… to a pervasive aspect of the modern world." IBM started off making clocks, scales and cheese slicers, in addition to the punched-card tabulator then went on to manufacture typewriters, vacuum tube calculators, magnetic tape, the first disk drive, the memory chip, FORTRAN, fractals, ATMs, mainframes, mini-computers and personal computers. More recently IBM has become known for its leadership in the area of supercomputers, services, software, and business analytics. “IBM’s inventions are the underpinnings of today’s technology industry," added Velasquez. “They illustrate how IBM has consistently adapted to remain relevant to the changing needs of the modern world while touching the lives of many worldwide." These achievements, alongside numerous Nobel prizes for IBM researchers, IBM’s leading position in the number of patents generated per year (over 5000 in 2010 alone) and a host of other achievements make IBM one of the most sought after and respected companies globally. — Newsbytes.ph