IBM Opens Up Source Code To China In ‘Secure Room’

IBM will allow the Chinese Government to view the source code of some of its products, in a bid to improve relations between the US technology company and Beijing.

The Wall Street Journal claims the source code will be viewed in a “secure room”. IBM is now the first major Western technology company to allow the Chinese government this level of access.

Controlled space

Officials from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will scrutinise IBM’s source codes in a “controlled space” that means the officials cannot take any source code away with them. However, which products’ source code is being viewed is not yet known.

Earlier this week, Apple took the first step to fight back against what it sees as overbearing government censorship in China by blocking its own news app in the country.

Users of the company’s Apple News app are unable to access it in China, including foreign visitors travelling from other countries, according to the The New York Times.

China is strict about the limits it places on foreign companies and news agencies, often heavily censoring news sites and foreign web pages.

In March, IBM announced it was preparing to open some of its technology to Chinese companies in a bid to help the country improve its IT industry.

The move is likely to help IBM find more success in a market which is undergoing constant moves in technology regulations.

Reuters news agency reported that IBM CEO Virginia Rometty told an audience at this week’s China Development Forum: “If you’re a country, as China is, of 1.3 billion people you would want an IT industry as well.

“I think some firms find that perhaps frightening. We, though, at IBM…find that to be a great opportunity.”

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