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Because of the continuing growth of technology-based industries in the Philippines, and the support that they get from the government, computing giant IBM plans to pour more investments in the country. IBM developer relations general manager James Corgel said the Philippines, particularly Quezon City, was one of the only 40 locations worldwide which was chosen to host an IBM Innovation Center. Corgel said this was precisely because of the country’s conducive technology environment.

“There’s a willingness to cooperate among government, universities and local players, and a willingness to do new things. There’s also a huge growth potential, as shown by the growth in Internet use in the country,” Corgel said. He added, “Our decision to choose the Philippines was also driven by the country general manager (James Velasquez), who was aggressive enough in saying that he wants a center here and here are the reasons.”

Corgel said the establishment of the Innovation Center in the Philippines was part of the company’s strategy of “localizing before globalizing.” “The Innovation Center is meant for the local market. There’s a need to provide education to the local business community, and we can do that through the center. People are curios, so we’re giving them a physical place where they could learn.”

He added, “It’s also a venue for technology enablement – putting knowledge to work. More important than just giving general awareness is providing the answer to the huge ‘now what?’ question. The Innovation Center is all about collaboration. It will help connect Philippine businesses to businesses in other countries,” he added.

For its innovation center at the University of the Philippines – Ayala Land Techno Hub, the company aims to provide small and medium businesses a venue to test their applications before they release them to the market. They could also get a chance to network with other businesses in various innovation center located around the globe.