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DUBLIN, IRELAND May 13, 2008 -- One hundred IBM (NYSE: IBM) employees from thirty-three countries, including Ireland, have been selected to participate in the company's new Corporate Service Corps program, part of the Global Citizen's Portfolio initiative announced by CEO Sam Palmisano, to develop leadership skills while addressing socio-economic challenges in emerging markets.
Twelve teams of employees will be sent to Ghana, the Philippines, Romania, Turkey, Tanzania and Vietnam in 2008 to work on projects that intersect economic development and information technology. The assignments were selected to use the skills IBM employees possess.

Elisabeth Dirnberger, IBM Business Consulting Services Workforce Manager, IBM Ireland, has been selected to participate in this new program. Elisabeth is hopeful it will not only broaden her business viewpoint, but also make a difference in the Philippines where she will be among eight other IBMers addressing how rural small and medium businesses will tap into regional and global markets.

“During my nine years of service at IBM, I have achieved a lot and I have acquired strong skills especially in relation to people development. The Corporate Service Corps is a new challenge for me and a terrific opportunity to give something back through volunteering and sharing what I have learned at IBM with people in the Philippines, helping them to develop their skills and offering practical advice on their business issues.”

Prior to departure, Elisabeth and her IBM colleagues will engage in three months of preparatory work to learn about local customs, culture, language, project goals and the socioeconomic and political realities of their destination countries. After their country service, employees will share their experience in their home communities and with the company.

More than 5,000 high-potential employees applied to the program and only 100 employees were selected, making this one of the most competitive employee programs ever created by the company. IBM has committed to enabling 600 of its emerging leaders to participate over the next three years.

"It's a corporate version of the Peace Corps," said Stanley S. Litow, vice-president of corporate citizenship and corporate affairs, IBM. "What we as a company get is leaders with a broader range of skills that can function in a global context. What the individual participant gets is a unique set of leadership opportunities and development experiences. And what communities get are IBM's best problem solving skills. It's a triple benefit."

IBM participants are grouped in teams of eight representing different countries and business units. An important design point for the program is to provide high performance employees the chance to build networks with people they might never interact with. This will also enable employees to bring different perspectives and expertise to solving problems, as well as encourage interaction with people from different cultural backgrounds and traditions.

In today's globally integrated economy the most successful leaders will be global citizens, able to understand and effectively collaborate with people from a wide range of backgrounds and perspectives.

About IBM's Corporate Service Corps

The program is part of IBM's Global Citizen's Portfolio announced last summer, a suite of investments and programs to help IBM employees enhance their skills and expertise in order to become global leaders, professionals and empowered citizens in the 21st century workforce. It includes matching accounts for lifelong learning and enhanced transition services to create second career opportunities.

After a competitive bid process involving 32 global non-governmental organizations (NGOs) focused on volunteer placement of private sector professionals, IBM teamed with three: Citizens Development Corps based in Washington, D.C., Canada-based Digital Opportunity Trust, and Australian Business Volunteers. The NGO partners are a key part of the program's success, helping to identify the right projects and local organizations where IBM's emerging leaders, and the skills they currently possess, can have the most impact.

"The difference that I've seen with this corporate program is that it's more than sending a handful of employees every year to a country. It's making a real commitment to send hundreds of employees, year over year, to the same country. I think that you have an ability to make much more of an impact with such focus," said Michael Levett, president, Citizens Development Corps. "In addition, the IBM volunteers will learn an enormous amount about how business is done in these countries and the cultural aspects, they also will learn a lot about themselves and how to challenge themselves."

Following is a list of countries and highlights of each mission:

• Ghana - Kumasi: improve business processes and provide training for a network of small and medium enterprises trying to scale up their business models.
• Philippines - Cagayan de Oro and Davao City: create management information systems to track progress of loan and grant beneficiaries from the Philippine Development Assistance Program.
• Romania - Timisoara and Sibiu: identify small and medium enterprises with high growth potential requiring business training to tap into regional and global trade networks.
• Turkey - Izmir: help local chambers ofcommerce and city councils to promote economic, social and democratic development.
• Tanzania - Arusha,: assist a global microfinance organization with market research and strategic plan development for expanding operations and services to entrepreneurs seeking microloans and business training services.
• Vietnam - Danang City: support the rapid development of small and medium enterprises with the Danang Chamber of Commerce through the creation of training programs in information technology management.

IBM has also hosted audio interviews with the three non-governmental organizations the company has teamed up with to identify the projects and areas of the world where IBM skills can best be applied. To learn more, listen to the interviews found on www.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/23743.wss with the following:

• Deirdre White, VP and COO of Citizens Development Corps
• Janet Longmore, President of Digital Opportunities Trust
• Michael Lynch, CEO of Australian Business Volunteers

For more information on IBM please visit www.ibm.com

Press Contact details:
Jim O’Keeffe
IBM Ireland, Media Relations,
+353 86 8542054 /+353 1 815 4124
okeeffej@ie.ibm.com

Text 100 Press Contact
Simon Fitzgerald
+353 1 631 6054/631 605