Ahmedabad (Gujarat), India; September 15, 2022: IBM (NYSE: IBM) today inaugurated its new Software Lab, a state-of-the-art global innovation center at Fintech One, Gujarat International Finance Tec-City (GIFT City), making it one of the first global operations within the mega-development in the City. The center will focus on product engineering, design, and development of new products and solutions in the areas of Security, Sustainability Software, Data & AI, and Automation and collaborate with the technology ecosystem in the region to co-create solutions for the global industry.

The Lab was inaugurated by Shri Bhupendra Patel, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat in the presence of  Shri Jitubhai Vaghani, Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology, Gujarat, Tom Rosamilia, Senior Vice President, IBM Software, Nickle LaMoreaux, Senior Vice President and Chief Human Relations Officer, IBM, Sandip Patel, Managing Director, IBM India South Asia, Gaurav Sharma, Vice President, IBM India Software Labs, and Sudhir Mankad, Chairman, GIFT City and Tapan Ray, MD & Group CEO, GIFT City along with other dignitaries from the Govt. of Gujarat. 

Inaugurating the facility, Hon'ble Chief Minister of Gujarat Shri. Bhupendra Patel commented: “Gujarat has set exceptional benchmarks in its digital transformation story, and is serving as an emerging model for the country, supporting Hon'ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Digital India mission. We have a robust ICT infrastructure, and this Lab will play a key role in driving Gujarat’s digital economy by developing solutions that integrate global design techniques and agile methodologies. Having already transformed digital governance, we are now looking at the next era of possibilities. The opening of IBM’s Software Lab in GIFT City underlines the success of the Gujarat’s IT/ITeS Policy in attracting global leaders in technology and innovation to our state.”

Shri Jitubhai Vaghani, Hon’ble Minister for Science & Technology, Gujarat, added, “We have a vast pool of young talent whose competencies are aligned with the National Education Policy and who are highly skilled in digital technologies and are working toward providing the best of services to our citizens and businesses. As on date, we have operationalized 47 high skilled IT courses on subjects ranging from Cloud, AI, IoT and other emerging technologies. Designed as an agile, hybrid, and collaborative workspace with creativity, innovation, and knowledge exchange at its center, the IBM Lab will accelerate skills building and help create high-quality jobs for skilled young IT professionals.”

Commenting on the launch, Tom Rosamilia – Senior Vice President, IBM Software, said: “We are committed to innovating in India for the country and the world, and collaborate with government entities and businesses to create technology solutions that meet their aspirations. The new IBM India Software Lab will not only catalyze the state’s digital ambitions but also create new job opportunities for youth, strengthen the digital skills of its tech-savvy professionals, and accelerate the digital transformation of the state.”

Sandip Patel – Managing Director, IBM India, added: “Gujarat is rapidly emerging as the next investment destination for IT/ITeS sector. This is a direct result of the innovative IT/ITeS policy which has a vision of creating a good ecosystem including skill initiatives that specially focus on AI. We are especially encouraged by the Government’s special focus on promoting emerging technologies and initiatives such as the Gujarat AI center which will enable our vision for India to drive in-country innovation, by leveraging advanced technologies that will help unlock the true potential of digitization. The presence of our lab in the GIFT City, is a milestone development that will add to the competitiveness and business attractiveness of the state while also serving as a vital innovation hub globally. We bring our global best practices to Gujarat, especially in product design, engineering, and software development by drawing on the skills and talent here, we can together build a strong base for developing and delivering next-generation solutions.”

IBM India Software Labs (ISL) contributes extensively to IBM’s Technology business by designing, developing, and delivering next-generation software portfolio and cloud offerings to drive the digital transformation of businesses in India and globally. It also helps drive scale for IBM’s Hybrid Cloud Platform in collaboration with IBM’s Partner Ecosystem.

About IBM

IBM is a leading global hybrid cloud and AI, and consulting services provider, helping clients in more than 175 countries capitalize on insights from their data, streamline business processes, reduce costs and gain the competitive edge in their industries. Nearly 3,000 government and corporate entities in critical infrastructure areas such as financial services, telecommunications and healthcare rely on IBM's hybrid cloud platform and Red Hat OpenShift to affect their digital transformations quickly, efficiently, and securely. IBM's breakthrough innovations in AI, quantum computing, industry-specific cloud solutions and business services deliver open and flexible options to our clients. All of this is backed by IBM's legendary commitment to trust, transparency, responsibility, inclusivity, and service. For more information, visit www.ibm.com.