In order to unlock the billion-dollar government procurement market, IBM Corp will allow thegovernment access to its software codes, a senior executive said on Thursday.The company is the first overseas tech major to publicly announce such a move.
IBM agreed to let the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology and its certified institutes toexamine IBM products in a "cleanroom" to make sure they fit national information securitypolicies, said Steve Mills, senior vice-president of IBM software and systems unit.
Calling the plan "the ability to address 'secure and controllable' China initiative," Mills said thecompany's growth in China needs government sponsorship.
He did not specify if all the products the company sells in China will submit to the examination.
Charlie Dai, principal analyst at Forrester Research Inc, said the move demonstrated thecollaborative attitude of IBM to work with Chinese government and help in the digitaltransformation for Chinese companies.
"It also shows that IBM is under pressure to sustain its business growth in China, addressing thesecurity concerns of Chinese government and ecosystem expansion are two critical steps," Daisaid.
China is on full alert about information security threats since former US National Security Agencycontractor Edward Snowden unveiled massive surveillance schemes carried out by the USgovernment.
Information technology products purchased by government bodies and State-owned enterprisesall come under the category of government procurement sector.Industry regulators are vetting allthe items for possible security vulnerabilities.
