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Humans are found everywhere on Earth. Yet how did we get here? Where did we come from? And why do we all look so different? IBM and National Geographic are mounting the Genographic Prioject, an ambitious attempt to help answer these fundamental questions. The five-year study will use one of the largest collections of DNA samples ever assembled to map how the Earth was populated.

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The Nature Conservancy began the “Great Rivers Partnership” to help protect freshwater resources, transforming the way large water systems are preserved and protected. Now, IBM has joined the effort, providing high-performance supercomputing that allows researchers to simulate the behaviour of river basins around the world. Information will help inform policy and management decisions that conserve the natural environment, and benefit the people who rely on these resources.

The project will initially focus on the large river systems: the Mississippi River Basin in the United States, Brazil’s Paraguay-Paraná River System, and China’s Yangtze River.

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What if the idle time of each of the world’s estimated 650 million PCs could be linked to focus on humanity’s most pressing issues? What if scientists could access this extraordinary computational power and dramatically accelerate the pace of research from years to months? In November 2004, IBM launched World Community Grid with the goal of creating the world’s largest public computing grid to benefit humanity. With more than 326,000 members, 744,000 devices and 113,000 years of run time – and growing, World Community Grid is enabling research into projects such as FightAIDS@Home and Help Defeat Cancer to be completed faster than ever before.

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An extraordinary partnership between the Egyptian government and IBM has created Eternal Egypt, providing worldwide access to 7,000 years of Egyptian history. The project combines the most important locations, artifacts, people and stories from Egypt's history into an interactive multimedia experience. It’s the richest repository of information and media about Egyptian cultural history available on the web today, with more than 20 million site page hits so far.

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KidSmart helps pre-school-aged children with limited access to educational technology get a head-start on their academic development. The program combines IBM technology with software from Riverdeep in a Young Explorer Computer Centre and to date more than 33,000 Young Explorer computers have been donated in 57 countries serving more than 2.5 million children.

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TryScience is aimed at children aged 8 – 16 years of age to encourage them to get involved with science. Built by IBM and our partners, it is the first worldwide virtual science museum and provides interactive games, over 50 science and maths experiments and links to science centres worldwide.

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Through IBM MentorPlace, IBM employees around the world are providing students with on-line academic assistance and career counselling. Because communication occurs through a secure, Web-based tool created for the program, IBM employees are able to volunteer their time and talents easily and conveniently. More than 6,000 IBMers in over 35 countries are currently participating in the program.

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IBM is partnering with educators and not-for-profit organisations around the world to encourage open-source technology applications that help those who have difficulty using computers and the Internet. The initiative is opening doors for those with vision, motor, learning and cognitive disabilities. It represents a milestone in the development of easy-to-use technology that enables people to customize the Web in ways that work best for them.

In February, 2008, IBM launched Power Up, a new 3D Internet, multi-player engineering virtual world energy-themed game. It applies virtual world gaming technology to engage students in solving real-world problems. Focusing on energy, engineering and diversity, the objective of the game is to generate clean energy—while racing to save the planet from ecological disaster.

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IBM’s Transition to Teaching program is helping address the critical shortage of math and science teachers by leveraging the brains and backgrounds of some of its most experienced employees. Through Transition to Teaching, IBM is enabling its employees to become fully accredited teachers in their local communities when they choose to leave the company. These employees are engaging in on-line course work and in more traditional courses and mentoring while remaining at IBM.

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"The Forbidden City: Beyond Space and Time" will present the history and splendor of China's Forbidden City to a global audience. The project, undertaken by IBM in partnership with The Palace Museum, will bring Chinese culture to the world by creating a virtual on-line recreation of the Forbidden City and associated sites in Beijing. This on-line environment will be a fully immersive, interactive world that corresponds architecturally and historically to the vast grounds of the current Palace Museum, allowing visitors to experience three-dimensional representations of cultural artifacts and places such as the majestic Hall of Supreme Harmony.

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