The IBM La Gaude Study and Research Centre (Centre d'études et recherches IBM La Gaude) was a computer research laboratory for
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation (using the trademark IBM), nicknamed Big Blue, is an American Multinational corporation, multinational technology company headquartered in Armonk, New York, and present in over 175 countries. It is ...
in
La Gaude
La Gaude (; ) is a commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in southeastern France.
History
To the south of the village, a restored Roman stele is close to the Aurelian Way, the Roman road that passed near the present cultural centre.
...
, just west of
Nice
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionCôte d'Azur
The French Riviera, known in French as the (; , ; ), is the Mediterranean coastline of the southeast corner of France. There is no official boundary, but it is considered to be the coastal area of the Alpes-Maritimes department, extending fr ...
(French Riviera) on France's southeastern coast. In the 1990s, it became a presentation centre for IBM Business Solutions. IBM left the site in 2015.
World's first computer-controlled business telephone systems
French IBM engineers developed the world's first computer-controlled
business telephone system
A business telephone system is a telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing the range of technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX).
A business telephone system differs from ...
s at IBM La Gaude.
1962 laboratory relocation from Paris to La Gaude
IBM moved its French research and product-development laboratory from
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
to a spectacular, purpose-built, 35,000 square-metre building, designed by the architect
Marcel Breuer
Marcel Lajos Breuer ( ; 21 May 1902 – 1 July 1981) was a Hungarian-American modernist architect and furniture designer. He moved to the United States in 1937 and became a naturalized American citizen in 1944.
At the Bauhaus he designed the Was ...
, in 23 hectares of rough countryside near the village of La Gaude overlooking Nice and
Nice airport
Nice ( ; ) is a city in and the prefecture of the Alpes-Maritimes department in France. The Nice agglomeration extends far beyond the administrative city limits, with a population of nearly one millionIBM 1750, 2750 and 3750 Switching Systems (world-wide the first electronic computer-controlled business telephone systems widely called
PABX
A business telephone system is a telephone system typically used in business environments, encompassing the range of technology from the key telephone system (KTS) to the private branch exchange (PBX).
A business telephone system differs from ...
IBM 270x
270x is a generic name for a family of IBM non-programmable communications controllers used with System/360 and System/370 computers.
The family consisted of the following devices:
* IBM 2701 Data Adapter Unit
* IBM 2702 Transmission Control
* I ...
modem
The Democratic Movement (, ; MoDem ) is a centre to centre-right political party in France, whose main ideological trends are liberalism and Christian democracy, and that is characterised by a strong pro-Europeanist stance. MoDem was establis ...
s, and other IBM products.
In 1963, IBM La Gaude established a satellite link to IBM Endicott in the USA — at 3,300 words per minute.
Relocation from La Gaude
On 25 October 2007, more than 200 employees demonstrated against the transfer of personnel to
AT&T
AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...
.
In August 2015, some 530 IBM staff moved from La Gaude to the new IBM Innovation Center Nice in the high-tech district by the