October 13, 2005 Source: University of Ottawa:
http://www.media.uottawa.ca/mediaroom/news_details-e.php?nid=709 University of Ottawa, IBM Canada and Lenovo Canada announce $25 million agreement OTTAWA, October 13, 2005 — IBM Canada Ltd. and Lenovo (Canada) Inc. today announced a CDN$25-million agreement with the University of Ottawa that will provide students with access to advanced technology, research and career opportunities. The University of Ottawa will also dedicate a student lab for IBM and Lenovo products to be named the "IBM Lab of the Future", which will be located in the School of Information Technology and Engineering. As well, IBM and Lenovo will provide a combined contribution to the University’s fundraising campaign with an estimated value over $7 million over the five-year agreement. "With this technology and other value IBM and Lenovo bring, the University of Ottawa will become one of the most advanced schools in the country," said Gilles Patry, president and vice-chancellor, University of Ottawa. "As our major technology provider, IBM has played a crucial role in helping to advance the University’s primary mission of creating exceptional learning opportunities for our students." As part of the agreement, IBM and Lenovo will provide the University with a wide array of products and services including: ITS maintenance, Web and IBM Business Consulting Services, IBM zSeries mainframe server, pSeries and xSeries servers, IBM Shark and FastT storage products, ThinkPad notebook and ThinkCentre desktop computers, and a variety of IBM software, including DB2, WebSphere, WebSphere Commerce, Tivoli, Rational Rose, and others. The University will have access to IBM’s industry-leading software for use in teaching and research throughout the University. Its computer science students and faculty will also have access to cutting-edge research to work on various projects, and to the IBM Ottawa Software Lab, a world-class software development facility with 280 skilled developers. These opportunities will help to contribute to an enriched curriculum, which will in turn provide the students with increased co-op and career opportunities. ‘We’re partnering with an organization that shares our dedication to success and our commitment to Canadian innovation and technology leadership," said Dan Fortin, president, IBM Canada Ltd. "This agreement goes beyond providing our best technology. It leverages the broader value IBM and Lenovo can deliver. It strengthens our commitment to work together to enhance the student experience, and allows IBM employees to collaborate with some of the most innovative students and researchers from one of Canada’s leading information technology and engineering universities." "This agreement is a prime example of how Lenovo and IBM are continuing to work closely together to meet our customers’ needs," said Heather Ross, president, Lenovo () Inc. "By using Lenovo products, students at the University of Ottawa will be taking advantage of some of the most advanced technologies in personal computing." Today’s announcement builds on a relationship between the University and IBM that began ten years ago. It has since evolved to include such projects as LINUX mission critical systems, a student portal and online registration, and joint multiple research projects such as the Canada Century Research Infrastructure Project which uses IBM technology, DB2 and data mining tools. Another project was the Ontario Research Network on Electronic Commerce which uses large scale databases such as DB2 and WebSphere software. Under this new agreement, IBM will continue to collaborate on the research front – contributing technology and pursuing Shared University Research Grants, such as the $350,000 grant to the University of Ottawa Eye Institute in 2004, which focuses on diagnosing and finding cures for HIV and other diseases.
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