IBM in a joint
announcement Sept. 24 with the local government of Dongying,
China, introduced a
project under the banner of its Smarter Planet initiative that will make use
of cloud computing in an effort to improve economic development in the region.
The municipality of Dongying
will deploy IBM's new CloudBurst software and services package to run the
region's planned Yellow River Delta
Cloud Computing Center.
The cloud system will provide software development and test resources for
software startup companies via a self-service Web interface, IBM said. In
addition, the cloud later will be expanded to become a government services
platform for the Dongying economic development zone as well as an R&D
platform for eco-friendly oil cultivation.
Dongying is home to China's
second-largest oil field and has relied on manufacturing and oil production as
staples of its economy for generations. The city wants to use the CloudBurst
system to promote e-government and to support the city's transition from an industrial
to a services-based economy, IBM said.
"The national policy to develop the Yellow River Delta marks new
opportunities for Dongying, and meanwhile raises newer and higher requirements
on informationalization," Li Jinkun, vice mayor of Dongying, said at a
news conference.
"The Smarter City
initiative proposed by IBM is the blueprint of a new city
that we are trying to develop and keep improving. Dongying expects to become a
real 'City of Digital Innovation' with the help of IBM Cloud Computing,"
Jinkun said.
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