IBM, Australian Government Agree to Five-Year, A$1 Billion Tech Deal

By Mike Cherney

SYDNEY--International Business Machines Corp. (IBM) said it won a five-year agreement with the Australian government to provide hardware, software and cloud-based services in a deal valued at 1 billion Australian dollars (US$740 million).

IBM already partners with some parts of the Australian government. The deal will expand the company's services to all government agencies, IBM said.

The company said technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain would also be made available, supporting Australia's goal to become one of the world's top three digital governments by 2025.

"We've had a relationship with the government for more than 40 years ... but this really brings our new technology to the forefront," David La Rose, managing director for IBM in Australia and New Zealand, said in an interview.

Mr. La Rose said IBM doesn't disclose revenue by region. The company, based in Armonk, N.Y., reported full-year revenue of US$79.1 billion in 2017, down 1%.

Write to Mike Cherney at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 04, 2018 17:14 ET (21:14 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2018 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.