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The program involves sponsoring faculty awards at universities, erecting Linux competency centers where local application developers can hone their skills, and collaborating with venture capitalists to form indigenous start-ups that in turn could become the bedrock for local, autonomous IT activity.

"It is an even chance that someone in Russia or China will come up with the next big thing. It is...a war for the best and brightest." --Andrew Clark, director, IBM's venture capital group

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In 2004, IBM concentrated on establishing the program and spent most of its energy on the "BRIC" nations: Brazil, Russia, India and China. In 2005, the company will increase its efforts in those countries but will also begin outreach programs in Eastern Europe and elsewhere (..)

"The greatest opportunity for the growth of open-source software and Linux will be outside North America," said Stacey Quandt, an analyst at the Robert Frances Group.

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Everyone's going there (..) IBM's strategy differs slightly. The company is not primarily interested in selling services or software to local markets. Instead, it wants to identify and groom local talent that, ideally, will develop technology that IBM can then sell to its mostly existing customers in developed nations, Clark said.

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