IBM announced today its plans to shift a $100 million investment over the next five years into a major research effort which it said aims at advancing mobile services and capabilities for businesses and consumers worldwide.
IBM added it is investing to create technology in its labs that bring "simple, easy-to-use services" to millions of people who have bypassed using the personal computer as their primary method of accessing the internet, and instead use their mobile devices for managing large forces of enterprise field workers, conducting financial transactions, entertainment and shopping.
Through this effort, the company said in a statement, it is aiming to drive new intelligence into the underpinnings of the mobile web to create new efficiencies in business operations and people's daily lives.
The three focus areas for IBM's research investment are: emerging market mobility, mobile enterprise enablement, and enterprise end-user mobile experiences. Analytics, security, privacy and user interfrace, and navigation would be concentrated on across the Research effort.
