9:51
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Guest in
Editor’s Note, this is a guest post from John Lucas, Director of Park Operations for Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Gardens
Sustainability is a critical issue throughout the world today, and will continue to be for many generations to come. According to Wikipedia, sustainability is loosely defined as the capacity to endure – and this can be interpreted in many different ways as sustainability takes on social, economic, and environmental dimensions. The conservation of animal and plant life remains at the forefront of sustainability efforts, and is a mission and core focus of many Zoo’s around the globe that are responsible for the lives and well being of animals.
At the Cincinnati Zoo, the main vision is inspiring passion for nature and saving wildlife for future generations. Our commitment to conservation is showcased through our global science and wildlife conservation programs, sustainable approach to the management of our facilities, and dedication to education and public engagement in science and conservation at our exhibits. The Cincinnati Zoo features more than 500 animal and 3,000 plant species, making it one of the largest Zoo collections in the country, and we continue to set the standard for conservation, education and preservation of wild animals and wild spaces.
In order to be able to successfully carry out our mission and overall vision we need to make sure we can provide the best possible care to the animals, maintain and open new exhibits, and keep our visitors satisfied and returning on a regular basis to generate new revenue streams for an ongoing business. About a year ago, we had an opportunity facing the Cincinnati Zoo. More than 1.2 million people a year visit our exhibits, and that number was increasing on a consistent basis. Good news, but we had a bigger challenge longer term — How could we maximize the recent increase in attendance and raise guest spending? Additional revenue would allow our management to provide that additional care for zoo animals and add new exhibits to keep up with growing demand.
To keep our own facility running in a sustainable fashion, we needed to make sure we were maximizing our resources properly. We came to the conclusion that technology was an issue and this is when we turned to what some might think of as a non-traditional helping hand for a Zoo – business analytics. Almost immediately after going live with IBM analytics software – the growing mounds of information was turned into knowledge for our staff to improve operations. We were able to increase our in-park spending by as much as 25% by utilizing 360 degree customer views. We turned that information into customized offers and perks for our visitors that keep them happy and coming back, and are now able to arm our managers with real-time data that allows them to react to a dynamic and fluid business driven by seasonal weather patterns.
The results — business analytics has also allowed us to integrate our operations, which means we are running a more sustainable business ourselves. This has helped free up our staff’s time so they can focus on the day-to-day operations in a more meaningful way, while also focusing on the larger picture of ensuring our animals continue to receive the best care. Further, our revenue has increased 350K per year, which enables us to dedicate more resources to the well-being of the zoo animals. In the end everyone wins, our visitors are getting a more enjoyable experience and we can run a more efficient business that allows us to better promote our overall mission of protecting wildlife and promoting its education and conservation.
You can learn more about our story here: 
Posted by
Brandi Boatner in
As the unofficial theme song of New York City (Jay-Z & Alicia Keyes “Empire State of Mind”) plays, it sets the stage in an Expo Hall filled with thousands of people for the 100th National Retail Federation (NRF) Big Show event.
Jill Puleri, Global Retail Leader, IBM Global Business Services, kicked off the opening Super Session for the 2011 NRF Conference. Puleri addressed the crowd of retailers on the importance of capitalizing and understanding the smarter consumer.
Puleri’s opening remarks began with a history lesson on retail and IBM’s role in retail. She discussed how the consumer has changed over the last 100 years and how IBM has fundamentally changed retail with calculating and tabulating machines and the emergence and creation of the bar code. The point of the history lesson is “The consumer is smarter today than ever before,” states Puleri.
In understanding the smarter consumer, technology is a given. Today’s consumers are leveraging mobile devices, Web 2.0, and sharing information on multiple social networks. Consumers are more connected and vocal about their needs and wants. Content for consumers is viral, immediate and highly influential.
According to Puleri, the smarter consumer does not want to be sold to, they want to be served. Sales associates must become services associates where retailers must empower the consumer, placing them in the center of all retail operations.
Smarter retail means leveraging customer data. Retailers can use advanced analytics to better understand the consumer and what influences and motivates them to purchase goods.
As the NRF celebrates 100 years of excellence, retailers need to go back to the basic fundamental roots of retail- service. Service is the foundation of the personalized customer experience and IBM can help retailers offer that experience.
6:27
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
- Analytics
- Government Services
- Green 500
- new intelligence
- Retail
- Smart banking
- Smart Grids
- Smarter Buildings
- Smarter Cities
- Smarter Communications
- Smarter Energy
- Smarter Enterprise
- Smarter Food
- Smarter Healthcare
- Smarter Planet
- Smarter Public Safety
- Smarter Systems
- Smarter Traffic
- Smarter Transportation
- Smarter Utilities
- Smarter Water
- Smarter Water Management
- Smarter Work
There’s no shortage of contests for tech startups in this world, but IBM’s SmartCamp is different. The focus is on companies that aim to make the world work better, and is aligned with our Smarter Planet agenda. We launched the program last year in Dublin and conducted regional contests this spring and summer in Stockholm, Boston, Tel Aviv, London, and Silicon Valley. (This video tells the Silicon Valley story.) There are still two contests left, in Paris on Sept. 24 and Copenhagen on Oct. 7, before the finals in Dublin on Nov. 16. So there’s time for entrepreneurs to get involved. Check it out at www.ibm.com/ie/smarterplanet/smartcamp.
Following is a guest post from Rick Singer, IBM vice president of client experience, which includes our work with major sports properties:
Here’s a frustrating scenario for a sports fan at any kind of tournament: you’re outside the stadium and hear a cheer break out, but don’t know what action just happened on the court. At this year’s U.S. Open Tennis Tournament, all you have to do is take out your iPhone and use the IBM “Around Me” application to point your phone at the stadium and “see through the walls” to get up to speed on the score and match statistics.
Around Me is an augmented reality application, developed by IBM, for iPhone users at this year’s US Open that allows fans to get a glimpse of what’s happening on the court and also to find the closest restroom, first-aid stand and pizza vendor in the food-court. Now when you take a quick break to get one of those giant tennis balls at the Chase booth, or need a hot dog, not all is lost (in fact, Around Me could’ve found you that hot dog). It works by blending the iPhone’s camera functionality with the global positioning system (GPS) that is embedded in the tennis fan’s iPhone. All of this is supported by a smart infrastructure of IBM technology at the Open and backed up by our data centers. See here for a video that shows how IBM mobile technology is making the U.S. Open smarter:
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Of course, augmented reality and geo-location are great for enhancing the tennis experience for fans at the Open, but what’s also interesting is the implication for future innovation in mobile technology that goes beyond sports. IBM researchers are developing applications for mobile computing that span industries and solutions like Smarter Healthcare, Smarter Retail and Smarter Finance.
In healthcare, IBM is developing methods to transmit a patient’s vital signs from a mobile device back to a central location running analytics to evaluate and predict things like heart attacks. This kind of mobile web technology could actually save lives. Routine healthcare visits might also be done remotely in the future through sensor technology transmitted by mobile devices – these types of systems could even allow for more current and accurate patient records than what we have today.
In retail, IBM is looking at ways that vendors might leverage data from telecom providers to capture customer information and better reach potential clients. With data about what a consumer has recently purchased, who their social networks are and their current location, a retailer might be able to know, for instance, that a consumer likes golf clubs, has friends who like them too, leaves work in midtown at 6:30pm and passes by the sports store on his way home. In this way, retailers can target the right consumers in the right places at the right times through mobile tracking and mobile advertising.
In finance, IBM is evaluating the types of payment systems that will exist in the future. For example, with digital wallet technology for mobile devices, the role of banks will shift within a new ecosystem. By combining the data analytics that banking institutions will be able to utilize, along with mobile advertising for retail and GPS tracking capabilities, IBM sees the dynamics radically shifting in the future.
Today, we’re making a Smarter U.S. Open with mobile web technology… tomorrow, we could be making people’s lives better and helping to spur new business opportunities.
Posted by
Steve Hamm in
For a business, listening to customers can come in a lot of forms–from handling complaints in a call center to conducting focus groups. But customers communicate in another way that can be just as valuable: Through data. You just have to know how to interpret what they’re saying.
Michael Haydock, an IBM math-whiz PhD who also happens to be a former CEO of supercomputer maker Cray, develops sophisticated systems for interpreting data. Today, he opened the kimono on his work, releasing a forecast of retail electronics and appliance sector growth in the U.S. this summer. Haydock’s prediction: Sales at physical retail outlets will rise a healthy 4% in June, July, and August from last year’s totals.
There’s no shortage of business data analysis and forecasting in the world, but what makes Haydock’s approach different is he’s bringing a level of rigor to the process that until now was primarily employed in academic studies. He uses statistical and analytical software to evaluate both the long term sales trends and seasonal ups and downs. His “secret sauce,” he says, is applying a methodology to the data called Holt-Winters Triple Exponential Smoothing. He charts 64 potential paths for sales going out 18 months, then chooses the most likely path. Checked against real sales performance, his technique is correct 98.8% of the time. He’s very happy to report that he was able to correctly predict the path of electronics retailing sales in the aftermath of the global financial meltdown in 2008.
Why is this level of accuracy important to retailers? With super-accurate forecasts they can make better decisions about inventory and staffing levels. And, in a tight-margin business like retailing, every basis point counts for a lot. “The moral of the story is you can’t study your customer too much. That data is the valuable corporate asset,” says Haydock.
A lot of decisions in retailing are made based on the gut instincts of smart people with a lot of experience to draw from. These days, though, retailers are listening to the data, as well.
Posted by
George Faulkner in
As you may have noticed from the last post, IBM’s Sam Palmisano visited the Chatham House stage in London today having delivered a speech titled ‘Welcome to the Decade of Smart.’ Throughout tonight (and over the coming days) we will be posting content and links to images and video from the event here, as they become available.
From the post-event materials being distributed:
On January 12, 2010, Samuel J. Palmisano, IBM Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officers, addressed business and civic leaders at Chatham House in London. In his remarks, he described how forward-thinking leaders in business, government and civil society around the world are capturing the potential of smarter systems to achieve economic growth, near-term efficiency, sustainable development and societal progress.
Links:
Launch a video of the speech: Sam Palmisano at Chatham House
Launch a video of the Q&A from Chatham House: Q&A from Chatham House
Today, Steve Lohr of the New York Times published a brief article about the speech that takes a look at the past year of Smarter Planet work from IBM.
Paul Glader of the Wall Street Journal published an article today as well that examines aspects of IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative.
