IBM Adds To Its "Smarter Cities" Initiative With Acquisition

Financial terms of the planned acquisition were not disclosed. IBM said it expects to complete the deal, which is subject to regulatory approvals, by the end of the month.

Curam's applications help health and human services, workforce services and social security agencies and organizations manage welfare, social insurance and other social programs. The company's Social Industry Platform software provides a single view of benefits and services available across multiple government agencies and private non-profit organizations, improving the delivery of those services while reducing costs.

Under the Smarter Cities initiative IBM markets IT that helps government agencies analyze data and coordinate resources to better deliver services to citizens. In June IBM debuted its Intelligent Operations Center software that provides city managers with a unified view of all city agencies. Also under the Smarter Cities umbrella is analytic software for crime and fraud prevention from i2, which IBM acquired in October.

IDC puts the market for such information technology at $34 billion this year, growing 18 percent a year to $57 billion by 2014.

IBM and Curam have collaborated on federal, state, local and provincial government projects since 1999, IBM said, and more than 90 percent of Curam's customers use IBM's WebSphere middleware and nearly 70 percent use IBM hardware. Curam's software is certified for use with the IBM Government Industry Framework and it's already part of the IBM Global Business Services Integrated Case Management system.

"After 13 years of experience working with IBM, we know our companies are an excellent fit," said John Hearne, CEO, Curam Software, in a statement. "Many of our clients already use IBM technologies and services, and they will benefit from working with Curam and IBM as one. Through IBM’s global reach, we can grow our client base by bringing the benefits of Curam's Social Industry Platform to citizens around the world."

Curam will be integrated into IBM's Software Group, IBM said.

Curam ("care and protection" in Irish) was founded in 1990 and has some 700 employees. Along with its Dublin, Ireland headquarters the company has offices in Herndon, Va.; Toronto; Frankfurt, Germany; Canberra, Australia; and Bangalore, India.