As technology continues to redefine how people live and work, pervasive computing is the next major step. The goal of pervasive computing is to connect people to other people wherever they are and to have seamless access to information and services regardless of where you or the services and information are located.

This can be accomplished with a new class of intelligent and portable device embedded with microprocessors to allow users to plug into intelligent networks and gain direct, simple, and secure access to both relevant information and services. The key is that these devices do not have to be overly complex but as simple to use as calculators, telephones or kitchen toasters.

Using the concept of pervasive computing, IBM is making a play for some piece of the very lucrative European wireless market. Two weeks ago, IBM invited more than 100 journalists to a one-day pervasive computing event in Paris. It used the opportunity to talk about its role in wireless computing and to give details about several projects it was involved in - all aimed at making its marketing slogan of "Wherever, whenever, however" a reality.

It announced it was working with Nokia, Motorola and Cisco, three companies that provide the infrastructure for wireless networks, to build new wireless data services for businesses. It also announced partnerships with Ericsson, Palm, Symbian and Intel to speed the deployment of software for mobile business.

"Europe is the epicentre of wireless and the mobile Internet," said Mr Michael Lawrie, IBM general manager for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. "We'll see the most exciting developments and applications in Europe first."

Mr Mark Bregman, worldwide general manager of IBM pervasive computing, said "wireless Internet - particularly in Europe - has caught fire". He said the Web in the United States "comes after television. In Europe, it's more of a tool to do airline reservations and banking transactions".

Two years ago, IBM began offering services under the pervasive computing category - it also includes phones that run on the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). Last year, IBM carried out 200 customer engagements in pervasive computing and 60 per cent of these took place in the fourth quarter of 1999.

In Paris, IBM revealed it had been chosen for a $1 billion (€1.03 billion) project to create the world's first living laboratory for broadband wireless Internet. Teaming with Sonera, Nokia, Symbian and Digia, IBM is providing hardware and software to deliver services such as movies-on-demand, online recruitment and even a virtual chapel.

In a project named the Helsinki Virtual Village, it is integrating existing business, arts, education and residential interests in Helsinki, Finland, into a virtual community, linked together by 3G wireless technology. "We're transforming the World Wide Web to a local level," said Mr Lawrie. "This is an example of how the mobile Internet is becoming a reality today."

The virtual village is a portal that links users together in a community intranet and provides them with access to local information at any time and from any place. "The goal of the Helsinki Virtual Village is to integrate all our communities and all the area's services into a single virtual community," said Pekka Sivonen, chief executive of Digia Inc. "By 2005, the Helsinki Vir- tual Village is going to cover 1,000 companies and more than 5,000 residents within a one kilometre radius."

IBM also announced in Paris that its WebSphere Everyplace Suite was now generally available. WebSphere Everyplace is server software that can help businesses to deploy wireless applications to devices such as wireless handsets, personal digital assistants and other Internet appliances.

Three banks have already implemented the software and a fourth is about to do so. In October, Svenska Handelsbanken of Sweden and Banesto (Banco Espanol de Credito) of Spain became the first European banks to offer banking via WAP phones using WebSphere Everyplace. Bank of Scotland became the third and Bankinter, Spain's fourth largest bank, will introduce the service soon.

In late February, Bank of Scotland gave WAP phones to about 50 consumer and business customers as part of a pilot project. The phones allow these customers do their banking through Bank of Scotland's BoSinternet.com service. They can also get news online through an arrangement with BT Cellnet's Genie Internet portal.

Mr Gordon Sharpe, director of e-business at Bank of Scotland, said the pilot customers have reacted well and have described the service as convenient, easyto-use and safe. "We invited them to join us," he said. "We're migrating our customers to WAP so they can take up any channel and any device to access us."

Users can press buttons on the phones to view their Bank of Scotland accounts, transfer money between accounts, and order currency and travellers' cheques. The bank plans to add stock trading, bill payment and messaging to the service. "For instance, we will be able to notify a customer if he is about to overdraw on an account," Mr Sharpe said.

IBM says that by summer it will have integrated Bank of Scotland's multiple channels - the call centre, ATM, post, branch, Internet and mobile phone - into one relationship-management warehouse to give the bank a unified view of each customer. When that consolidation is complete, the WAP phone service will become widely available, Mr Sharpe said.