In the span of a century, IBM has evolved from a small business that made scales, time clocks and tabulating machines in 1911 to a globally integrated enterprise with more than 400,000 employees with a strong vision for the future. The stories that have emerged throughout the company's history are complex tales of big risks, lessons learned and discoveries that have transformed the way we work and live.
From its very first patent in 1911 around punched cards, to today's patents for analytics and scientific advances in core computing technologies, IBM inventors have always been pioneers pushing the limits of technology at any given time to create the next innovation in information technology. IBM's contributions are the underpinnings for today's technology industry and illustrate how the modern world has been transformed by them.
It requires a constant state of renewal and reinvention and a business model that ensures a constant stream of innovation whatever the state of the global economy. This agility has allowed the company to make seismic changes in business, society and technology, progressing and advancing industries like no other by focusing on three things:
-- Reinventing the Modern Corporation - anticipating the challenges of global business and collaboration - from building an equal opportunity workforce 11 years before the Civil Rights Act of 1964, to being the first technology company to acquire a consulting firm.
- Pioneering the Science of Information - creating technological discoveries that transform our lives, from the first electronic calculator and programmable computers, to the chip powering the leading gaming consoles (including Playstation 3), to the Watson computer smart enough to battle champions on the popular TV game show, Jeopardy! - Making the World Work Better - using the information revolution to improve our world by creating cleaner air and water, better crime-fighting systems for cities, and lower incidence of AIDS, influenza and other infectious diseases.-PR