IBM and Tsinghua University Joint Venture Delivers Object Technology
Solutions for Commerce on the Web

Leading Chinese universities to offer OO curricula

SHANGHAI, CHINA, May 14, 1996 . . . At CompuNet Expo '96 IBM and Tsinghua
University announced that their joint venture, the Advanced Systems
Development Corporation (ASDC), will begin delivering, in June, reusable,
object-oriented software components and application packs, which will be
marketed over the Internet. The initial OpenDoc** offerings form the
building blocks for many cross-industry business applications, including
objects that range from tables and charts to lists and address files.

More than 50 additional components and application offerings will be
delivered by year-end, providing capabilities such as an "intelligent
dialer" for mobile workers, VisualAge* development parts, Java*** applets,
and other OpenDoc components.

IBM also announced that as a result of equipment donations, staff support,
grants and scholarships, valued in excess of $25 million, more than 20
leading Chinese universities will begin offering object-technology
curricula later this year. To support the wide adoption of object
technology in China, the State Education Commission of China and IBM have
agreed to launch a nationwide joint effort to develop object curricula.

Mark Bilger, director, IBM Object Technology Market Strategy, commented on
the ASDC joint venture: "We've been extremely fortunate to be able to take
advantage of the strong skill base at ASDC; the joint venture has exceeded
our expectations," he said. "The new components, which will start rolling
out shortly, will be an important step in translating innovative object
technology into a profitable and productive business opportunity."

"A significant advance of world software technology is underway and we are
very pleased to work with IBM on software components," said Rui Ji Ling,
Tsinghua University professor and general manager, ASDC. "These components
will be based on cutting-edge OO technology and will promise a brand new
environment to ease and improve commercial application developers. Our
joint venture has had benefits for both IBM and Tsinghua," he continued.
"It has given us access to the most advanced software technology and
experience that we can share with a new generation of Chinese
information-technology professionals."

OpenDoc, the basis of the initial ASDC components, provides a robust
software-component architecture that enables independent software vendors
(ISVs) and other developers to build or customize applications with
software components, while reducing costs and speeding time to market.
OpenDoc has been adopted by the Object Management Group (OMG) as its
distributed document components facility specification.

Full-Function Components

The ASDC suite of OpenDoc components will be available initially on the IBM
OS/2 operating-system platform. Components for other platforms, including
AIX* and Windows*** operating systems, are planned. The new components
include Person; Table/List Box; Push Button Control; Notebook; Chart; and
three containers for Forms, Orders and AddressBook parts.

Human resource and merchandising are among the diverse applications that
typically use functions provided by the new components. In a merchandising
application, for example, the Person component may be used to capture
customer records that include names, addresses, dates and types of
purchases. This information can be organized alphabetically or by account
number using the Notebook component.

The Table/List Box component can aggregate data on sales, orders, and
customers by geographical area, for example, and group information in
lists to aid in sales-trend analyses. With this component, users can also
present numerical data in spreadsheets, or structured tables of rows and
columns. Similarly, the Chart component can present information, such as
seasonal sales, as bar, pie, or linear graphs. The Push Button Control can
initiate a new application activity, such as online order entry, upon the
completion of another function.

University Support

IBM has established Object Technology Centers at China's leading
universities, which are being equipped with the latest IBM hardware and
software, including state-of-the-art object technology tools such as
OpenDoc, VisualAge, and others. The national project to develop object
technology curricula in China will be led by Professor Yang Fu Qing, of
Beijing University, and several other leading Chinese academicians from
universities and the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with experts
from IBM and leading Western universities.

Through partnerships with the universities and the Academy of Science's
Software Institute, IBM will soon begin translating, publishing and
distributing object technology publications in China.

"This university partnership project with the State Education Commission is
intended to enhance the capability of higher education in China,
particularly in the field of computer sciences," said K. S. Ip, director
of University and Education Programs, IBM Greater China Group. "The
project has major significance to China, IBM and the computer industry,
and we are hopeful that graduates trained on the state-of-art technology
will help meet the rapidly increasing demand for professionals in the
large Chinese IT market."

Electronic Component Commerce

Beginning in June, a mini-application demo will showcase functions in the
AddressBook, Person, and Button components through Club OpenDoc, the
online resource for code, news, tips and information on OpenDoc. Club
OpenDoc can be accessed on the World Wide Web at
http://www.software.ibm.com/clubopendoc.

The new components will be bundled into application packs to make it easier
for developers to use complementary parts, or made available as separate
components. They will be marketed through the Reusable Software Component
Market, which is sponsored by IBM and owned and operated by CyberSource
Corp. Through this electronic object store, vendors and object developers
can sell or purchase components quickly and conveniently, 7 days a week,
24 hours a day. Users can access this service at
http://components.software.net. Pricing will be announced at general
availability in June.

Additional Information

Tsinghua University, founded in 1911, is China's largest university and
based in Qing Hua Yuan, a western suburb of Beijing. Tsinghua is
world-renown for its high academic standards, contributions to national
industrial research and development and high-technology programs.

The Advanced Systems Development Corporation, located in Beijing, was
founded in 1994. ASDC works closely with IBM China to deliver leading-edge
client/server and object-oriented solutions.

IBM, the world's largest software provider, creates, develops and
manufactures the industry's most advanced information technologies,
including computer systems, software, networking systems, storage devices
and microelectronics. For additional information regarding IBM software,
visit the IBM Software home page at http://www.software.ibm.com.

Please Note: Questions about the content or currency of this press release
should be directed to your local IBM representative.
 
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