IBM has unveiled a new platform for developers based on open source technologies, announcing plans to release 50 projects designed to spur a new class of cloud innovations around mobile, analytics and other high-growth areas. The developerWorks Open platform is a cloud-based environment for developers to collaborate using IBM technologies and technical expertise. developerWorks Open is the next step in IBM's strategy to help businesses innovate using cloud computing systems.
The IBM projects will target healthcare, mobile, retail, insurance and banking. IBM is also open sourcing several analytics technologies. The plans provide an expanding set of choices to promote enterprise mobility, also including collaboration between businesses and consumers. For example, in its MobileFirst portfolio IBM open sourcing apps include:
• IBM Ready App for Healthcare, tracking patient progress for at-home physical therapy programs via mobile device.
• IBM Ready App for Retail personalizing the specialty retail store shopping experience through direct line of communication.
• IBM Ready App for Insurance using Internet of Things sensors to synch home with utilities.
• IBM Ready App for Banking to address the business owners’ mobile needs.
"IBM firmly believes that open source is the foundation of innovative application development in the cloud," IBM Vice President of Cloud Architecture and Technology Dr. Angel Diaz said in a statement. He added, "With developerWorks Open, we are open sourcing additional IBM innovations that we feel have the potential to grow the community and ecosystem and eventually become established technologies.”
Currently, IBM participates in and contributes to more than 150 open source projects that include Spark, OpenStack, Cloud Foundry, Open Contain Project, Node.js, CouchDb, Linux, Eclipse and an already established relationship with Apache.