IBM launches centenary celebrations

MANILA, Philippines - IBM Philippines joined other IBM offices around the world in launching IBM’s centenary celebrations. Marking the 100-year anniversary of its founding on June 16, 1911 with a year-long initiative.

IBM will engage local communities and thought leaders with a series of activities themed around changing the way the world works.

“IBM in the Philippines will turn 75 years in 2012 thanks to Thomas Kevin Mallen, an Irishman, and Ernesto D. Guzman, a Filipino who organized and incorporated Watson Business Machines (WBM) with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 20, 1937 with an initial capitalization of P25,200,” said James Velasquez, country general manager, IBM Philippines.

“To mark our history in the region and to show our commitment to the future expansion of our business, we will celebrate IBM’s centennial in the Philippines with a number of activities including a day of service for the community in June when our employees will have the opportunity to apply their business skills and work experiences to address local critical community challenges and societal needs.”

Velasquez’ sentiments followed those of IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer Samuel J. Palmisano who said recently “Over the course of the last century, information technology has gone from a set of tools… to an industry… to a science… to a pervasive aspect of the modern world.”

Throughout its century of existence, IBM has played a leading role in transforming business, science and society. These areas form the basis for the three themes driving IBM’s Centennial: Reinventing the Modern Corporation, Pioneering the Science of Information and Making the World Work Better. Together they provide a basis for understanding how the rise of information technology has changed society and the world.

IBM started off making clocks, scales and cheese slicers, in addition to the punched-card tabulator then went on to manufacture typewriters, vacuum tube calculators, magnetic tape, the first disk drive, the memory chip, FORTRAN, fractals, ATMs, mainframes, mini-computers and personal computers. More recently IBM has become known for its leadership in the area of supercomputers, services, software and business analytics.

“IBM’s inventions are the underpinnings of today’s technology industry,” added Velasquez. “They illustrate how IBM has consistently adapted to remain relevant to the changing needs of the modern world while touching the lives of many worldwide.”

These achievements, alongside numerous Nobel prizes for IBM researchers, IBM’s leading position in the number of patents generated per year (over 5,000 in 2010 alone) and a host of other achievements make IBM one of the most sought after and respected companies globally. With 400,000 employees working in over 170 countries, IBM is focused on helping its clients and ultimately the world become better with the use of advanced innovative technologies.