IBM said Monday it will spend €2 million ($2.6 million) on a new facility in Barcelona, to develop technologies for the European healthcare sector.

Big Blue plans to open the IBMHealthcareCompetencyCenter in September. The facility will use local talent from the Catalonia region of Spain to bridge the gap between the IBM Research Labs, IBM business consultants, and European healthcare companies and organizations.

Europe is an important target as the Armonk, New York-based technology company moves to expand its presence in the lucrative world healthcare market.

IBM has been working with the pharmaceutical industry on ways to use technology to develop treatments for afflictions such as HIV and AIDS, and with medical organizations on methods for managing and measuring healthcare delivery.

In Barcelona, IBM plans to further develop some of these initiatives, including the conversion of paper-based medical records and patient histories to electronic systems.

The company also wants to improve the interoperability of different systems, such as putting more scans and X-rays into electronic medical histories.

In addition, IBM hopes the center will succeed in broadening web-based access to healthcare systems, improving the privacy and security of medical records, and developing pervasive computing technologies that can be used throughout medical facilities.

“The center will help to boost innovation in the industry across Europe, building on the experience and expertise of our specialized healthcare consultants,” José Maria Joana, vice president of IBM Global Business Solutions, said in a statement.

Expanding Health Market

Aside from the European market, IBM has also been doing healthcare research in the United States. The company’s AlmadenResearchCenter in Silicon Valley has been working since 2004 on a National Health Infrastructure Initiative that will create an electronic medical record for every American.

In 2004, the company announced a $250-million global healthcare initiative to build its own investments in healthcare technology, along with partnerships with the Duke University Health System and the MoffittCancerCenter and Research Institute.

IBM has also been working on systems for biopharmaceutical companies and research organizations to store information on genotypes for genetic and biotech research.

Other tech companies, such as Microsoft, have also been focusing on the health, pharmaceutical, and biotech sectors to improve their market share and help spur development of new treatments (see Redmond Forms Biotech Alliance).

Contact the writer:MCohn@RedHerring.com