IBM South Africa today joined other IBM offices around the world for the global launch of the IBM centenary celebrations. Marking the 100-year anniversary of its founding on 16 June 1911, with a year-long initiative, IBM will engage local communities and thought leaders with a series of activities themed around changing the way the world works.
“IBM has been present in South Africa for more than 25 years,” said Oliver Fortuin, country manager. “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 South Africa 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.”
Fortuin's sentiments followed those of IBM's Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, Samuel J Palmisano, who said: “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.”
Over its century of existence, IBM has played a leading role in transforming business, science and society. These areas form the basis for the three themes driving IBM's Centennial: reinventing the modern corporation, pioneering the science of information and making the world work better. Together they provide a basis for understanding how the rise of information technology has changed society and the 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 Fortuin. “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 5 000 in 2010 alone) and a host of other achievements, make IBM one of the most sought after and respected companies globally. With 400 000 employees working in over 170 countries, IBM is focused on helping clients to succeed in using advanced technologies to become more innovative, efficient and competitive.
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http://www.ibm.com/press/ibm100
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