It's probably fitting that the next step in alphaWorks's evolution commences on our tenth anniversary, as we usher in another decade of showcasing emerging technologies and now a new model for providing interactive online services.
alphaWorks was created in 1996 with the goal of unveiling some of the many innovative Research & Development projects from IBM development labs around the world. In those early days, the alphaWorks Web site made available a few technologies for users to evaluate. Little did we know of the impact that these complimentary downloads would have on both IBM and the technical community. For IBM's researchers, alphaWorks became the channel for reaching an early adopter audience that is instrumental in shaping the future technology landscape. For developers, it was a chance to get their hands on alpha code with which they could experiment in order to create their own innovations. From community adoption of alphaWorks technologies came successes in many areas, including the foundation and creation of standards in Java, XML, and Web services.
We've come a long way since that "rough and ready" Web site a decade ago, sculpting a unique business model that has allowed us to publish over 700 emerging technologies. We've seen numerous technologies evolve into products and others flourish in the open-source arena. We've established leadership in the recognition of emerging trends and have helped to build a community of many thousands of early adopters and innovators.
Today, our team team spans the country, from East coast to West coast and the hundreds of IBM innovators with whom we work are scattered around the world. On the heels of our tenth-anniversary celebration, our team was busy putting the finishing touches on our foray into the next phase of our mission: alphaWorks services. We still haven't gotten it all figured out, but, just as the Internet is evolving, so is our story. With interactive and completely browser-based services, our goal is to continue providing the latest breakthroughs from IBM R&D efforts. We invite you to try them out and tell us what you think. We hope that they will help you to innovate, collaborate, and reduce your development time.
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