Technology in emerging markets
Published: 15 Feb 2005 16:30 GMT
We look at where the gaps are in our ability," he said. IBM uses what it calls its GAP (growth alliance program) procedure to identify indigenous talents -- online game technology in South Korea, for example, or semiconductor design in China -- and plot it against international demand.
IBM may buy some of the companies it helps foster, but most of them become members of Big Blue's partnership program.
Unlike Intel, IBM does not invest in local companies. However, it partners with US ventures that do, such as Draper Fisher Jurvetson.
To Russia with love...and capital
Nation-building isn't easy. Russia, for example, has long been seen as fertile ground for the technology industry, but Western investment there has been lukewarm.
"For all of Russia's problems, they have a pretty good educational system," said Esther Dyson, editor-at-large at EDventure (which is owned by CNET Networks, publisher of ZDNet UK). Notable companies in the country include Yandex, a search company that is the Russian equivalent of Google, and PIK RFID, which makes chipless RFID tags.
At the same time, governmental, legal and social instability have prompted most Western investors to shy away. So far, Westerners in Russia have put most of their money into natural resources. Both sides of the coin will be discussed at the US Russia Technology Symposium, which is taking place at Stanford University later this week.
The start-up concept remains somewhat vague in Russia, too.
"Entrepreneurship is not the way you think about technology," Clark said of the mindset there. "You work for the government or a quasi-governmental body." Nonetheless, he added, "Russia is kind of the unrecognised treasure."
To better familiarise themselves with the situation, IBM executives in Clark's group participated in a tour of Russian start-ups last year in order to identify promising ideas and individuals. They also recruited venture firms Landmark Capital and Draper Fisher Jurvetson to help them in Russia.
Western investment in local Russian companies, which is still a trickle at best, is likely to follow the model pioneered when Israel was emerging as a technology centre. Employees will stay in Russia, but the financing, corporate headquarters and some top executives will relocate to safe harbours like the Cayman Islands or Delaware, which enjoy pro-business laws and conditions.
"This is a governance model that is more suitable to investors," Clark said; "99.9 percent of the company is in Russia, but the risk is lower."
More developed emerging nations pose problems, too. In Latin America, for instance, standard contracts are somewhat rare, Clark said. As a result, parties getting involved in deals do not have as clear an idea of their risks and potential liabilities as in the United States.
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