IBM is making up to $3 billion (US) available to finance IT initiatives in key economic stimulus projects in Europe and Asia-Pacific through IBM Global Financing, the company’s lending and leasing business segment. Of that amount, $2 billion is earmarked for European projects.

The financing aims to help organisations still awaiting government funds move ahead with IT projects to build a 21st century technological and environmental infrastructure.

The new funding is in addition to $2 billion offered by IBM last month to help jump-start US economic stimulus programmes.

“There is a great connectivity among nations,: said John Callies, general manager of IBM Global Financing. “While the various stimulus packages in different countries were designed to keep their own economies on track, it is as joined economies that we can rise from this global downturn together. In this context, IBM Global Financing is extending its stimulus financing program to countries in Europe and Asia-Pacific to help global recovery.”

IBM has already been helping enterprises and local governments in these areas build their infrastructures to spur growth in key IT projects such as smart grid, health information technology and smart transportation. The financing will be targeted to companies and organisations in countries where government funds have been committed to help economic stimulus, create new industries and enable infrastructure improvements.

“The recession is going to drive many organisations, public and private, to make transformational changes in their IT environment,” said David Mitchell, senior vice president of Ovum, a UK-based IT research firm. “However, without access to the correct financing offerings, a significant set of opportunities will be lost and society-wide projects, like smart grid, will be substantially delayed.”

IBM has been actively involved in smart technology investments. In Denmark, for example, it has teamed with DONG Energy to implement an intelligent utility network. It’s also entered into agreement with three cities in Spain aiming to become smart cities.

• Drowning in big data? Take smarter computing for a spin
• Charity tracks CO2 to deliver sustainable help to Africa
• Arctic College visualizes, then builds, more efficient buildings
• Cutting websites cuts energy, carbon footprints
• New IBM solutions target ‘smarter commerce’
• HP aims for connected future in the cloud
• IBM expands Institute for Electronic Government
• Data centre energy management firm joins climate group
• Haiti publishing firm enters IT for e-learning
• Peru enlists IBM for cloud-based govt services