IBM will continue to climb the value chain, driven by people who have the strength and creativity to keep innovating
As Hong Kong embraced the new millennium, it began to shake off the slump caused by the Asian financial crisis that had begun in 1997. The rise of "dotcom" businesses was spurring investments in new technology like never before, and the economy was booming.
Synonymous with projects that help the wider community, IBM has continued to introduce new products, solutions and civic programs outside of its immediate client base. For instance, to help young people gain an insight into web-based enterprise and to nurture e-business leaders of tomorrow, in 2000 and 2001 IBM held the "Gen-I" Program, an e-business project design competition for university students.
Cross-border initiatives are also actively encouraged, through such schemes as the IBM Visitorship (China) Program, conducted jointly with The University of Hong Kong since 2001. Its aim was to pull together IT expertise from both Hong Kong and the mainland through regular exchanges. A fund was set up under IBM's name to sponsor the living expenses in Hong Kong of the successful applicants.
However, as is now well known, the sunny period did not last. The bursting of the dotcom bubble in the second half of 2000, the 9/11 terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, followed by the devastating impact of the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak in 2003, once again severely dented Hong Kong's usual can-do spirit.
As Hong Kong struggled to make headway through a particularly challenging low point, IBM threw its full weight behind rejuvenating business confidence and supporting a technology-savvy community.
Once again, through sharing its knowledge, expertise and in-depth analysis, in 2002 IBM unveiled the second chapter of its e-business Roadmap for Hong Kong. Under the theme "Breathing New Life into Hong Kong: A Technologically Empowered Society", IBM continued from the first chapter unveiled in 1999, outlining its vision for Hong Kong and the actions Hong Kong needed to realise the vision.
Senior executives, led by general manager Cordelia Chung, urged the adoption of grid computing techniques to establish a "community computing model", which would help reduce future IT investments and result in greater efficiencies from a rational distribution of computing power in Hong Kong.
Reflecting on the launch of the Roadmap, Ms Chung said: "It was very satisfying to see how senior government officials and members of the private sector took notice of our suggestions."
IBM's "Breathing New Life into Hong Kong" action plan involved encouraging commitment to open computing standards through the adoption of a broader range of software applications. It included promoting "pervasive trust," referring to strong security, privacy and digital rights management policies; improving IT budgets; raising government policies on IT; developing a more skilled IT workforce; and extending the community computing system to the mainland. |
