Nearly a Century On, IBM Still Makes News

ALKHOBAR, 25 May 2004 — Summer vacation time is almost here and the schedule of roadshows and IT events across the region is running at full throttle. With Ramadan coming in October, many Saudi organizations will be putting together their preliminary 2005 budget plans early in September. This means that vendors must get their major products and applications noticed in the coming few weeks or they probably won’t be purchased by the Kingdom’s leading enterprises in 2005. The smartest vendors actually project how much they would like to earn in 2005 from their largest clients and then they pay those businesses and organizations a visit during the summer months, after the roadshows, to discuss how those goals can be met.

The latest major international vendor to strut its corporate stuff was IBM Middle East. Yesterday morning IBM unveiled a new middleware software-based model that brings together the unique qualities of web-based computing and traditional PC desktop environments, providing customers with a single, more flexible and secure way to access, share and manage business applications and data. IBM Middle East held a launch event in Dubai for regional customers and business partners, where experts from IBM’s Worldwide Software Group briefed them on a new model of ‘choice’ for enterprise desktops and a new direction for the region’s software market.

“The environment in the market now is such that people want to use several different client devices throughout their work day — whether laptops, desktops, PDAs, mobile phones-to access key information — use business applications and collaborate with co-workers, customers and business partners. This is exactly what we are addressing with this announcement,” said Bashar Kilani, head of software group, IBM Middle East. “We’re also giving organizations a new client management model that is platform-independent, and one that will allow them to centrally manage and deploy these key business applications and data to a range of devices in a secure, efficient and cost effective way.”

IBM’s new server-managed client model enables customers to centrally manage, provision and immediately deploy key business applications and data to a range of client devices as needed. Using new software component technologies, IBM is combining the low total cost of ownership and immediate deployment qualities of web applications with the rich functionality of traditional PC software. As a result, customers will no longer have to deal with separate and distinct applications on the web and their desktop PCs — receiving the benefits of a single model of client computing.

In addition, IBM’s software model enables businesses to manage a wide variety of client devices and extends access to new and existing applications and data to these devices. As a result, people can use virtually any client device they choose — across a wide range of operating systems — to collaborate with people and access and manage key business information and applications whenever and wherever they need it.

IBM’s open middleware is designed to support clients running Windows, Unix, Linux, MacOS and operating systems for wireless and embedded devices such as Symbian. In addition, IBM’s model for managing clients is inclusive as it fully supports a wide range of applications running on “thick” clients — such as desktops running productivity applications — fully protecting customers’ investments in these resources. For those interested in the full details of IBM’s new middleware software-based model click to www.ibm.com/investor/press/may-2004/10-05-04-1.phtml.

IBM features prominently in a new book that has just become available in the Middle East. “Tareek tatowar al Computer wal Internet,” or “Computers and the Internet: History and Development,” by Richard Hayek, was created as a reference volume targeted toward Arab youth.

Hayek is the IT editor for Al-Ittihad newspaper in Abu Dhabi, UAE. A few years ago he noticed that there were no books in Arabic detailing the history of computing for a young Arab audience. High schools and universities in the Arab world had a very limited number of publications about computers and no publication gave a definitive history of computing complete with photographs and other illustrations.

“Computers and the Internet are two of the most important scientific inventions that humans have benefited from in the past century. Now the development of nations is measured by the level of their use of computers and the Internet. Computers and the Internet are essential parts of modern life,’” said Hayek. “While Arabic libraries have many books about various sciences, I noticed a dearth of resources on the history of computers and the Internet. I hope that my book will contribute to the knowledge base in Arab communities and educate the average reader through words and pictures about the major events in the digital revolution.”

“Computers and the Internet: History and Development,” runs 240 pages in Arabic and includes many colored illustrations. The book is divided into seven chapters, starting with events in the time before World War I and traversing historical developments in computing and the Internet through the 1990s. Chapter 7 focuses on 31 individuals famous in the computing world. One of the most famous of those personalities, Vinton G. Cerf, the co-designer of the TCP/IP protocol, commonly referred to as the “father of the Internet,” wrote the foreword to Hayek’s book.

“I find myself enthusiastic about this book and I hope it becomes a motivation for the Arab youth to contribute more to the computer programming and Internet sectors,” wrote Cerf. “A new age has dawned in the late 20th century in technological development represented by the digital economy. This will become a main pillar of business in this century and force the Arab world to follow the information revolution and be part of this (digital) economy, especially in efficiently extracting information through the World Wide Web.”

It can only be hoped that Hayek’s effort will meet with success and encourage more young Arabs to use their talents to further ICT development in the Middle East. To contact the author for further information on obtaining the publication, send an e-mail to [email protected].

Young Arab inventors and developers with great ideas need funding and that may become available for the first time. The founding meeting of the Gulf Venture Capital Society (GVCS) was held last month in Bahrain. More than 100 investment organizations and conglomerates in the region attended the event. GVCS (www.gvcs.i8.com) is a non-profit professional society for Venture Capital and Private Equity based in Dhahran, Saudi Arabia to serve all Gulf countries. GVCS’s role is to promote a risk-taking investment culture and entrepreneurship.

The meeting included an open discussion among the founders to look into effective ways and strategies for GVCS to provide the expected value to its members and the region. Subsequently, four teams were formed to address the by-laws and organizational structure of the Society; income and sustainability; videoconferencing; and the proposed first annual conference to be held in 2005. The election of the board of directors will take place by the end of 2004. In the meantime, GVCS will conduct at least one course, and possibly other activities, to promote and develop the concept of private equity and venture capital in the region.