With the Asia-Pacific region a key focus for its network computing agenda, Oracle has announced a commitment to invest $48 million towards developing a new corporate headquarters and a National Centre for Network Computing in Australia.
The new developments, to be based in Sydney, "redouble Oracle's commitment to the region" in the wake of the Asian economic crisis, said Ray Lane, the company's president and chief operating officer.
"We've seen this sort of thing come and go before," Lane said at yesterday's announcement, attended by key government representatives, including Senator Richard Alston, Federal Minister for Communication, the Arts and the Information Economy, and New South Wales Premier Bob Carr. "You cannot move in and out of economies on a whim," said Lane.
The Asia-Pacific region is particularly strategic for Oracle, at which it plans to target its low-cost network computing model.
"Less than 3 per cent of the world's population has access to information," Lane said. "The reason for that is because access to that information is extremely expensive."
Lane claimed network computing will make that access much cheaper, providing the two-thirds of the world's population based in the Asia-Pacific region with an opportunity to participate in the information process.