This growth of the Business Center in Second Life is significant because it offers multi-language support across the world, allowing customers to visit IBM virtually and see products and solutions in 3D. It offers a place for IBM sales people, clients, and partners to meet, learn, collaborate, and conduct business together, without the time and cost of travel. Visitors have the opportunity to connect with a real IBM representative 24 hours five days a week.

"This is important to visitors in Taiwan because it means that they can communicate in Mandarin and have a culturally relevant experience," said David Chen, Manger of ibm.com, Taiwan.."Customers will be able to take virtual tours of areas which are normally not available for viewing, such as a data center. The combination of 3D virtual experience, our existing 2D web site, and real IBM people to conduct business is designed to make customers' business experiences more effective."

The Business Center in Second Life now has nine areas: Reception; Sales Center; Technical Support Library; Innovation Center; Client Briefing Center; Conference Center; Country Pavilions; Exhibition Areas; and Activity Spaces. Accessible through Second Life, it is unique because it is staffed by real IBM sales representatives from around the world, not robots or kiosks, who can chat with visitors in several languages and build business relationships.

If someone wants to buy hardware, software or services or needs help solving a business problem, the IBM sales avatar will either help them or ensure that they are connected with the right IBM expert inside or outside of Second Life. Signing contracts, paying, or exchanging sensitive information would take place by telephone or through the Web.

"Social networking has exploded in popularity. People are used to meeting each other on-line in for fun. We've applied that idea to the business world and added a third dimension," said David Chen.

"Virtual world participation and social networking is skyrocketing in Asia. It is, after all a top spot for 3-D gaming. Why not 3-D business, too." added David Chen. IBM's Business Center in Second Life's technical support library gives visitors access to technical information including Redbooks and Systems Journals.

One advantage of going to a virtual world to get your information is that finding it can be faster and easier than just navigating a web site. In the Business Center in Second Life you can browse the 3-D book shelves, view a 3-D book or just ask the librarian, just like in the real world.

The center has had over 17,000 visitors since it opened..IBM staff speak 15 languages, including English, Dutch, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, French, Canadian French, Hebrew, Turkish, Bahasa Malaysia, Hindi, Cantonese, Mandarin and Korean.

The Business Center in Second Life is an innovative compliment to IBM's web site, www.ibm.com, which has three million pages of original content, the equivalent of all the pages of the books in a small town library.

IBM has been recognized for giving its clients a positive online experience. In 2007, ibm.com was ranked the number one web site of any U.S.-headquartered company and seventh worldwide by the FT Bowen Craggs Index. To view, visit http://www.bowencraggs.com/ftindex. In addition, small and medium businesses ranked IBM number one in the online experience it offers, according to industry analyst firm Compass Intelligence. It analyzed 40 web sites including those of major information technology companies including Dell, HP, and Microsoft.

More than 230 IBM researchers, consultants, and developers use virtual worlds to experiment with and develop social networking tools and to design new ways of learning and doing business. IBM has approximately 50 other virtual islands in Second Life for purposes such as research, onboarding of new employees, developer support and IBM internal and client meetings.

About IBM
    In early 2004, IBM took an unprecedented step: we opened up our annual technology and business forecasting processes to the world with the first Global Innovation Outlook. The GIO is rooted in the belief that the very nature of innovation has changed in the early days of the 21st century. It is increasingly open, collaborative, multi-disciplinary and global. This shift means that the truly revolutionary innovations of our time --- the ones that will create new markets, redefine old ones, and maybe even change the world for the better - require the participation and investment across multiple constituencies. The GIO challenges some of the brightest minds on the planet --- from the worlds of business, politics, academia, and non-profits - to collaboratively address some of the most vexing challenges on earth.

In 2007, the GIO focused on two new areas that represent trillions of dollars in economic activity, have far-reaching societal impact and are ripe for innovation:
* the challenges every organization and individual faces resulting from the changing nature of content creation, distribution and ownership
* and investment strategies and policy implications as the African continent more fully enters the global economy