Indian R&D to lead IBM's charge into mobile market

Stuart Corner
Tuesday, 22 April 2008 06:22

IT Industry - Strategy

In the world of mobile software and services IBM hasn't figured prominently. That is about to change with the announcement of a major research program that IBM says will enable users to do on a mobile "everything you can with a PC and much more."


The initiative was announced in India at a commemoration marking the 10th anniversary of IBM's Indian R&D labs. It will be lead by India but eight global labs in six countries will participate in a series of projects that will include:
- The Spoken Web - Voice-enabled mobile commerce;
- Instant Translation - Real-time communication between multiple languages through mobile devices;
- SoulPad - Enabling "any portable device to carry computing applications in your pocket";
- Social networking on-the-go;
- Good Samaritan - Mobile healthcare information made available in any emergency situation.

According to IBM the new program marks a significant expansion in the role of its Indian lab which has to date been focussed on the local market. "For the past 10 years, IBM's India Research Lab has worked with local clients and partners to shape India's innovation landscape, helping transform it into a significant contributor to the world economy. Now, the India research team will serve as IBM's catalyst for delivering new mobile web solutions to emerging markets around the world.... IBM is making major investments in mobile software and hardware platforms and has opened several worldwide telecom solutions labs focused on research and development."

India is an appropriate location for such research: mobile phone penetration is increasing rapidly among a largely literate population and recent research commissioned by Nokia shows mobile services as having a hugely transformative effect on India's economy.

Mobile devices far outstrip PCs in emerging economies such as India and are likely to become the main means of Internet access for much of the population. According to IBM, "much of the world's population is looking to mobile devices to tap into online resources to fulfil basic economic needs - in banking, e-commerce, education, transportation and government...Compared to PCs, the primary access mechanism to the world wide web, mobile phones have made a phenomenal penetration into this population segment. Low cost of ownership, the simple user interface consisting of a small keyboard, limited menu and voice-based access contribute to the success of mobile phones with the less literate. However, apart from basic voice communication, these people are not being able to exploit the benefits of information and services available to web users." CONTINUED