IBM and KACST unveil research pact to advance machine translation Technology and IP development

IBM (NYSE:IBM) and KingAbdul Aziz City for Science and Technology (KACST), the Saudi Arabian nationalresearch and development organization, today announced a multi-year agreement tocollaborate on advancing machine translation technologies, advancing intellectualproperty development and establishing a National Women Software Development Centre.Under terms of the agreement, KACST will purchase an IBM Blue Gene supercomputer toenable KACST scientists to perform complex simulations and computational modeling.

This agreement is one of several joint research projects undertaken between KACSTand IBM.

Machine Translation Technologies IBM researchers, business consultants and KACST scientists will work together tofurther enhance the IBM Machine Translation Engine into a powerful translationengine to translate Arabic to other languages. This project deals with naturallanguage analysis and computational methods for language translation. Technologiesused for machine translation, such as syntactic parsing and word sensedisambiguation, are commonly used in other applications of natural languageprocessing.

IBM will provide education services to KACST researchers on the functionality andfeatures of statistical machine translation technology which was invented by the IBMResearch team. IBM's Research and Development team will build the machinetranslation system with the initial basic system capabilities of several millionwords that will form the basis of the translation learning process. During thisstage of the project, the IBM team will design, construct, and test the machinetranslation application based on the existing IBM Translation Engine tool.

Intellectual Property Development As part of the collaboration, IBM will apply its patent and intellectual propertymanagement expertise to help KACST develop tools and processes to effectively turnits inventions into patents, manage its intellectual property portfolio and maximizeopportunities for commercialization of its R&D breakthroughs in global markets. ThisIP management initiative supports KACST's overarching goal to foster a prosperousinnovation culture and create a thriving business ecosystem based on innovation.

"The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is committed to building a vibrant knowledge-basedsociety that advances scientific research and promotes technology transfer betweenresearch institutes and industry," said Dr. Turki bin Saud bin Mohammad Al Saud,Vice President for Research Institutes, KACST. "Our relationship with IBM -- aleading global technology company, world-renowned research organization, andintellectual property policy leader with unparalleled IP capitalization expertise --will enable KACST to accelerate our research and development goals." Specifically, IBM's Intellectual Property and Licensing team will providemethodologies and guidelines for developing a patent filing and portfolio managementstrategy that is consistent with KACST's objectives.

"Strategic Intellectual Property management and innovation drives long-termsustainable growth in today's knowledge-based economy," said Takreem El Tohamy,Country General Manager, IBM Middle East & North Africa. "Working together in theseadvanced areas of scientific research and intellectual property will expand theimpact of IBM's thought leadership in emerging markets and open new businessopportunities for KACST." National Women Software Development Centre IBM and KACST will collaborate on establishing a national Software DevelopmentCenter aimed at becoming a world-class organization with highly-skilled femalespecialists acting as a catalyst for the growth of the software development industryin the Kingdom, and delivering solutions to domestic and global clients.

The Center will create a unique opportunity for female Saudi software professionalsto grow their technical skills while providing high-quality services and products tolocal and global clients. The staff will benefit from a hands-on trainingenvironment as well as the opportunity to draw on best practices from IBM under theinitial mentorship of accomplished IBM scientists.

Nanotechnology IBM will continue to work with KACST in the field of nanotechnology. In February,2008, IBM and KACST signed a multi-year joint research agreement where scientistsfrom IBM and KACST are working side-by-side at the IBM Research labs in YorktownHeights, NY and Almaden, CA and the KACST / IBM Nanotechnology Centre of Excellencein Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The IBM Blue Gene supercomputer which KACST will purchase as part of the new R&Dagreement will enable advances in nanotechnology projects related to the criticalareas of energy, water and materials. In the area of renewable energy, KACST andIBM are jointly developing an Ultra-High Concentrator Photovoltaic Technology(UHCPV) that can operate at a target of 2000 suns concentration. They will also worktogether to develop a thin film Silicon photovoltaic (PV) technology that seeks toreduce the cost of PV by reducing the amount of Silicon used, as well as to utilizearbitrary substrates rather than expensive silicon wafers. In the area of water,KACST and IBM are working on new nanomembranes for water filtration and desalinationthat show greatly improved performance over current technologies.(C) 2009 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)

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