IBM buys Irish software company

US computer giant IBM said Monday that it has bought Curam Software, an Irish company that makes programs used by government agencies to deliver social services to citizens.

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

IBM said Curam software is used in more than 80 government agency projects around the world including by health and human services, workforce programs and social security organizations.

IBM said it was buying the Dublin-based Curam, which was founded in 1990 and has some 700 employees, "to help governments improve the efficiency, effectiveness and accessibility of social programs for smarter cities."

IBM said Curam's products allow cities and governments a "single view of benefits and services available across agencies, levels of government and private and not-for-profit organizations."

Curam software "also allows government and providers to focus on lowering overall program costs by ensuring that the benefits and services provided address core issues and that people become more self-sufficient," IBM said.

"We are working to help cities and governments at all levels transform the way they interact with citizens while improving efficiency," Craig Hayman, general manager of IBM Industry Solutions, said in a statement.

"We all have stories to tell about standing in long lines or making countless phone calls to gain access to government services, but it doesn't have to be that way," Hayman said. "Together with Curam, IBM can transform the way citizens do business with government in a way that benefits everyone."

IBM last year opened a "smarter cities" technology center in Dublin which works with municipal authorities, universities, and businesses to develop new ways of making city systems "more connected, sustainable and intelligent."

(c) 2011 AFP