Bangkok--17 Sep--IBM Thailand
Providing Access to World Class Technology and Expertise and Helping Regions to Become Smarter, City by City
IBM today announced that the company has expanded its presence to thirteen non-capital cities in the ASEAN region including Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Da Nang in Vietnam and Makassar in Indonesia as part of its core growth strategy this year. The expansion demonstrates IBM’s commitment to a wide range of clients outside capital cities and metropolitan areas - from both the public and private sectors. With the expansion, IBM will increase its capacity to spur innovation among its clients, local government, business partners and across society as a whole.
Tim Wong, Vice President for General Business, IBM ASEAN said clients based outside capital cities see great value in information technology (IT) as a way to increase competitiveness. He cited the Faculty of Medicine, Chiang Mai University as an example where the university is working with IBM to connect all of its Information Technology systems and infrastructure to the university’s hospital, Maharaj Nakorn Chiang Mai, to improve patient care and boost academic excellence for its medical students in the northern province.
“Our strategy is to work closely with our clients in these cities and to empower them to drive innovation and business efficiencies while improving service and productivity. We are committed to strengthening our long-term relationships with government, educational institutions and businesses as well as expanding our partner eco-system,” he said at the inaugural GEO Academy Summit in Chiang Mai.
The three-day event was organized as part of a skills enablement program and networking session for IBM employees and its business partners across the region. IBM continues to build its network of over 700 business partners in non-capital cities and help them to expand their capabilities through skills enablement sessions and co-marketing activities.
At the Summit, IBM kicked off the first leg of its ASEAN Mobile Kiosk tour which brings directly to mid-sized clients based outside capital cities, a comprehensive set of offerings, including hardware, software and services. The Kiosk will be making its round in the ASEAN region for 12 months starting in Chiang Mai.
IBM also has an active program of citizenship in the ASEAN region. One of these programs is IBM’s Corporate Service Corps (CSC) initiative — a corporate version of the Peace Corps. During the past two years, IBM has deployed more than 20 teams of IBM employees from around the world to the Philippines, Vietnam and Malaysia to work on projects key aimed at increasing local and national competitiveness. Indonesia has been identified as the next destination for future CSC teams with the first team to start work in Surabaya later this month.
IBM has made substantial investments in ASEAN countries over the past years in terms of skills development through its Academic Initiative which offers no charge online resources to help community colleges and universities worldwide cultivate more competitive business and IT skills needed to meet the needs of new and emerging industries. Meanwhile, through its Service Science, Management and Engineering (SSME) initiative, IBM is promoting a new academic discipline designed to produce students with the combined business and technology skills needed to enter today's workforce to contribute immediately to their countries' economic and innovation agendas.
“IBM has been investing in ASEAN countries for over 70 years,” added Wong. “However, with this new wave of investment we are taking our presence in the region to the next level. By 2015, we will have over 30 branch offices in this region. We see strong opportunities for further development in the regions outside of major cities as business and government leaders capture the potential of information technology to transform their enterprises and work smarter.”
In Thailand, IBM announced the expansion of its business in the northern region by opening of a new office in Chiang Mai earlier this year. Kittipong Asawapichayon, Country Manager, General Business, IBM Thailand Co., Ltd. said, “We are committed to bring smarter technology and business solutions to our clients in the northern region by expanding our network of more than 100 local business partners here. We are focusing on industries such as healthcare, education, manufacturing, hotel and retail. We will also continue to invest in local skills development programs such as offering IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) training course to Chiang Mai University in July.”
For more information on IBM GEO cities, please visit:
http://www.ibm.com/id/city/
http://www.ibm.com/my/city/
http://www.ibm.com/ph/city/
http://www.ibm.com/th/city/
http://www.ibm.com/vn/city/
For more information, please contact:
Kamolwan Makkaroon
IBM Thailand Co.Ltd.
Tel: 02-273-4889
Email:
[email protected]