IBM's Chief Steps Into 'Second Life' For Fast-Approaching Techno Future
Added: Nov 14th, 2006 7:06 AM

IBM's chief steps into 'Second Life' for incubator launch

By Martin LaMonica

IBM's chief executive, Sam Palmisano, is set to launch a $100 million
investment to incubate new businesses--and he will make the
announcement in both the physical and virtual worlds.

[...]

IBM has hosted internal online brainstorming sessions since 2001. For
the InnovationJam session in July, IBM for the first time invited
partners, customers and IBM employees' family members to participate.

Nearly 50,000 ideas were posted and then winnowed down, in part using
sophisticated analytical software. IBM hosted another jam to vote on
and refine the ideas. These were eventually reduced to 10, all of
which are being funded.

[...]

Where IBM is placing bets

Yaun said that the business proposals address near-term, medium-term
and long-term business opportunities, although the company didn't set
out with a plan to cover different time frames.

[...]

Medium-term projects are "Smart Healthcare Payment Systems," which use
smart cards to process medical claims; and "Integrated Mass Transit
Information Systems," a way to get real-time data for mass transit
systems.

Longer-term projects are "Electronic Health Records" and "Big Green
Innovations." In the second case, IBM intends to seek out emerging
environmental opportunities, such as using nanotechnology for water
filtration.

Other ideas include "Branchless Banking for the Masses," "3D
Internet," and a simplified online storage service dubbed "Digital
Me."

IBM will not necessarily launch a separate business around each idea,
but it will invest in these areas and potentially seek business
partners to commercialize them, Yaun said. 

[...]

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Cheers, Steve..

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