This is the first in an occasional series of posts about The Next Era of Computing. IBM envisions a monumental shift over the coming years to a new paradigm where computing will be ubiquitous and machines will learn from their interactions with data and humans–essentially programming themselves. This quantum leap will be enabled by advances in artificial intelligence, data analytics, computing systems and nanotechnology. It will result in a smarter, better planet.
Ever since the dawn of the nanotechnology era, IBM scientists have been pushing atoms around in an effort to discover the possibilities of doing big things in the smallest of physical spaces. Continue Reading »
People power will come to life
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You will never need a password again
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Mind reading is no longer science fiction
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The digital divide will cease to exist
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Junk mail will become priority mail
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Read an in-depth blog post from IBM Research about the technology underlying the prediction.
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It’s conventional wisdom that educating people to have advanced skills is vital for improving economic competitiveness, but Bridget van Kralingen, the general manager for IBM North America, goes one step further: “I’d argue that if you create skills, you create jobs. Skills create jobs,” she said during a recent conference on U.S. competitiveness at Roosevelt House in New York City, which we live-blogged here and Tweeted at #uscompetes.
I’d add that if you create a large pool of people with analytics skills, you’re going to create a lot of high-value jobs. That’s one of the reasons that IBM is helping more than 200 universities worldwide develop programs and curricula aimed at preparing business, computer science and engineering students for careers in analytics. In the forefront of the movement is Northwestern University, which has introduced two new masters degree programs in analytics—one for traditional graduate students and another for adult professionals who are acquiring new skills.
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Some argue that in this era of austerity, the US government can no longer afford to launch bold new programs aimed at making the country work better. Not so. But it’s true that big projects have to be approached differently. These days, government needs to work collaboratively with businesses, universities and community organizations to get big stuff done and boost the dynamism of the US economy.
Today, IBM is convening a conference, US Competitiveness: the Next 100 Years, to generate ideas for rekindling America’s competitiveness in the years ahead. For live blogging from the event, check in between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. Please Tweet to #uscompetes.
The latest:
4:45 p.m. Close – Jonathan Fanton, Roosevelt House Fellow:
“A vision of a fair, just and humane society will advance our economic gains, if we can achieve it.”
We can’t count on government alone or industries to carry the burden of our reinvention.
We’re at an inflection point. All of us need to think differently We need to take responsibility for coming up with fresh thoughts for making our economy more vital.
“It’s individual initiative we have to find ways to unleash.”
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In 1933, when President-elect Franklin D. Roosevelt was recruiting former social worker Frances Perkins to be US secretary of labor, he invited her to his Manhattan house to discuss her policy ideas. One of the key items on her agenda was what she described as an “old age” insurance program. Roosevelt encouraged her to study the idea. Two years later the social Social Security Act was legislated by Congress.
Since then, Social Security has stood as one of the bedrocks of the American economy and a vital element of the country’s global competitiveness. Americans can rest assured that if they work hard and play by the rules, they won’t suffer severe privation in old age. It gives every worker a stake in the country’s success.
The Social Security Act was one of the bold strokes by government that helped define America’s place in the world in the 20th century—along with the Marshall Plan, the space program, the Peace Corps and the Internet.
Some people argue that in this era of austerity, government can no longer afford to launch bold new programs aimed at making the world work better. Not so. But it’s true that big projects have to be approached differently. These days, government needs to work collaboratively with businesses, universities and community organizations to get big stuff done. Sometimes this collaboration will take the shape of formal public-private partnerships, like when the US government and IBM teamed up to create the technical infrastructure of the Social Security system; other times not.
On Dec. 8, IBM is convening a conference, US Competitiveness: the Next 100 Years, to generate strategies for rekindling America’s competitiveness in the years ahead. The event will be held at Roosevelt House, where the president and Perkins conducted their fateful meeting. For live blogging from the event, check in between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. on the 8th. Please Tweet to #uscompetes.
When IBM began planning its centennial celebration more than two years ago, publishing a book was high on the corporate to-do list. But, rather than producing a traditional centennial book (a glossy coffee table volume full of self praise), the company decided to do something quite different. The goal was to tell the story of the evolution of progress over the past 100 years, drawing lessons from IBM’s history and times that would be useful not just to IBMers but to others in business, government and academia. Also, since many people still think of IBM as a computer hardware company, the book would reintroduce the company to the world. It’s now, essentially, a solver of complex problems.
The book, published in June in the United States and more recently in seven other languages, is Making the World Work Better: The Ideas that Shaped a Century and a Company.
To do the research and writing, IBM commissioned three journalists, Kevin Maney, Jeffrey O’Brien and myself. Mike Wing, IBM’s speech writer extraordinaire, was the editor. I believe that all four of us would tell you that making this book was one of the more interesting and intellectually challenging experiences in our careers.
Now we’d like to share the experience with you via the Making the World Work Better book club on Goodreads. From Nov. 28 to Dec. 9, we’ll be responding to questions from readers. The club is open to all IBMers, alumni and the general public. So please join us–and don’t worry if you haven’t finished the book yet.
How to join the club:
- Register for a free account on Goodreads.com or log in using your Facebook, Twitter or Google account information.
- On Goodreads.com, join the Making the World Work Better author Q&A group.
(note: if you are not logged in you may see the message “membership is restricted”)
Once you’ve joined, make the most of your experience:
- Discuss the book with other readers or add new questions for the authors.
- Invite others to join the group.
- Use the hashtag #IBM100book when you tweet about the book.
11:22
When Greg Chamitoff was a kid growing up in Montreal, Canada, in the late 1960s, he loved to watch the original Star Trek television series and he dreamed that one day he would become an astronaut. Chamitoff’s wish came true. He blasted into outer space in 2008 as a member of the Shuttle Discovery crew and spent six months on the International Space Station. Earlier this year, he flew on the final Shuttle Endeavor mission and took the last space walk in the shuttle program.
Chamitoff’s list of accomplishments is long, indeed. He has four engineering and science degrees, including a Ph.D. in aeronautics and astronautics from MIT. He worked as a college professor and, at NASA, wrote software programs for control monitoring, analysis and maneuver optimization for the space station. He has conducted cutting edge experiments in space, including, on the flight this year, a particle physics experiment aimed at unwrapping the mysteries of anti matter, dark matter and dark energy.
Yet when Chamitoff spoke to a group of IBMers earlier this week, he stressed the importance of differentiating between accomplishments and finding meaning in life. “What’s the purpose of my life? It can’t be just the sequence of milestones,” he said. One of his purposes is to inspire the next generation of young people to study science and engineering. “It’s tremendously important for the future of our country,” he says.
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- Analytics
- business analytics
- Education
- Government Services
- new intelligence
- optimization
- Smart Grids
- Smarter Buildings
- Smarter Cities
- Smarter Energy
- Smarter Food
- Smarter Healthcare
- Smarter Industries
- Smarter Planet
- Smarter Systems
- Smarter Transportation
- Smarter Utilities
- Smarter Water
- Smarter Water Management
- sustainability
Rio De Janeiro is a bustling metropolis in a booming country–and, increasingly, an example of how government and business leaders can cooperate to make cities work better. Join the live blog today for a second day of coverage of speeches, panels and hallway discussions.
Update:
Here’s Ginni Rometty, IBM’s senior vice president for Sales, Marketing and Strategy (and IBM’s next CEO) talking about how to build a smarter city.
