A Smarter Planet

"We have designed our civilization based on science and technology and at the same time arranged..."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:11:58 -0500

“We have designed our civilization based on science and technology and at the same time arranged things so that almost no one understands anything at all about science and technology. This is a clear prescription for disaster.”

- Carl Sagan (via blogut)

chrbutler: Books and Libraries in the Digital Age: Robert...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:10:04 -0500

chrbutler:

Books and Libraries in the Digital Age: Robert Darnton discusses the ocean of digital information. From MIT’s Distributed Intelligence.

smartercities: testingdistance: Currently only 5% of Dubai...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 19:10:04 -0500

smartercities:

testingdistance:

Currently only 5% of Dubai residents use public transportation, but authorities are hoping to raise that number to 20% by keeping regular fares between 50 cents and $1.50, the same as the bus system.

Dubai unveils $7.6-billion mass-transit rail system — latimes.com

smartercities: Solar Plant on Chicago Brownfield: The Future of...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:09:23 -0500

smartercities:

Solar Plant on Chicago Brownfield: The Future of Electric Power: BusinessWeek

Half the states in the U.S. require utilities to generate a certain percentage of power from renewable sources, helping to fuel rapid growth in wind and solar power. Exelon is working with SunPower to put a solar photovoltaic plant on an old brownfield site on Chicago’s South Side. The 10-megawatt plant will have 32,000 solar panels and should be able to power between 1,200 and 1,500 homes.

"NYU is offering what could be a model for next-gen J-school, its Studio 20 concentration."

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 17:50:19 -0500

““NYU is offering what could be a model for next-gen J-school, its Studio 20 concentration.””

- Boston MediaNEXT (via studio20nyu)

Working Smarter in Australia

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:07:15 -0500

Working Smarter in Australia

Technology Gap

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:42:23 -0500

Technology Gap:

smartercities:

infoneernet:

Professors think they are doing reasonably well when it comes to using technology in the classroom, according to a survey released here this week by CDW-G at the annual meeting of Educause. Not everyone agrees with the faculty view of things. Consider these statistics from nationally representative samples of students and faculty members (at two- and four-year institutions, public and private). Asked about their use and their institutions’ support for technology, professors said the following:

75 percent said that their institution “understands how they use or want to use technology.”

67 percent are happy with their own technology professional development.

74 percent said that they incorporate technology into every class or almost every class.

64 percent said that they teach in what they consider to be a smart classroom.

Sounds like a technology savvy professoriate. But when students were asked whether their professors understand technology and have integrated it into their courses, only 38 percent said Yes. Further, when students were asked about the top impediment to using technology, the top answer was “lack of faculty technology knowledge,” an answer that drew 45 percent of respondents, up from 25 percent only a year ago.

And only 32 percent of students said that they believed their college was adequately preparing them to use technology in their careers.

Seen at Inside Higher Ed

emergentfutures: New Computer Simulator Helps Design Military...

Mon, 09 Nov 2009 11:29:00 -0500

emergentfutures:

New Computer Simulator Helps Design Military Strategies Based On Ants’ Movements

A researcher at the University of Granada has designed a new system for the mobility of military troops within a battlefield based on the mechanisms used by ant colonies to move using a commercial video game.

"Business school curricula mostly do not prepare students for this new digital world. Institutions..."

Sun, 08 Nov 2009 21:49:25 -0500

“Business school curricula mostly do not prepare students for this new digital world. Institutions recognize this, and many are catching up by offering courses and curricula in Internet marketing, digital media and new-media marketing. But the vast majority are not integrating these skills throughout. It’s much easier to create a standalone course than it is to take the Introduction to Marketing class and change it so that it integrates analytics into the research or finance portion, or search engine optimization (SEO) into the writing/communication section.”

- Teaching the Facebook Generation - BusinessWeek

A new screencast from the authors of IBM’s Truck2020...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 06:00:56 -0500

A new screencast from the authors of IBM’s Truck2020 Study, produced collaboratively with Screenr and hosted on the new IBM Institute of Business Value Channel on YouTube.

Download the complete IBM Institute for Business Value study (1.35MB)

Charts showing how much US residents pay for health care...

Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:26:00 -0500

Charts showing how much US residents pay for health care compared to people in other countries - Boing Boing

Four graphs created by the International Federation of Health Plans that compare how much US residents and people in other countries pay for health care. As Jay Livingston of the Montclair SocioBlog says, “Our Lipitor must be four to ten times a good as the Lipitor that Canadians take.”

adrifting: Will Florida be America’s shining example that 21st...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 23:32:11 -0500

adrifting:

Will Florida be America’s shining example that 21st century rail can work?

Boy, this would be nice!

IBM Launches Healthcare Research Center —...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:33:36 -0500

IBM Launches Healthcare Research Center — InformationWeek

Dallas facility will focus on how field data from hospitals and clinics can be mined to produce better patient outcomes.

IBM has opened a research center dedicated to developing tools that will allow healthcare professionals to more efficiently use data in medical decision making.

The company’s Health Analytics Solution Center, based in Dallas, will employ more than 100 experts in healthcare analytics, technical architectures, and other, related specialties.

Sony demos game controller to track motion and emotion | New...

Fri, 06 Nov 2009 09:56:00 -0500

Sony demos game controller to track motion and emotion | New Scientist

The latest games console arms race – to perfect hands-free, full-body game control – just got more competitive.

Sony has unveiled just such a system called Interactive Communication Unit or ICU, at the Vision 2009 trade fair in Stuttgart, Germany. It uses stereo cameras to watch a player and, like a pair of eyes, to judge depth.

Microsoft unveiled its own full body controller in the summer summer, Project Natal, due to be released for the Xbox 360 games console late in 2010.

New Scientist

What Will the Trucking Industry Look Like in 2020? |...

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 11:42:20 -0500

What Will the Trucking Industry Look Like in 2020? | Sustainability | Fast Company

IBM predicts that telematics could do everything from automatically slowing a truck down when it approaches a blind curve to diagnosing vehicle issues remotely for preventative maintenance. All of these technologies will decrease the number of truck accidents on the road. In turn, that will cut down on highway traffic and fuel burned by idling vehicles. Telematics could even decrease potential litigation costs by keep track of a truck’s every move.

IBM, the cloud, and Corent Technology, Inc. (via developerworks)

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:00:57 -0500

IBM, the cloud, and Corent Technology, Inc. (via developerworks)

"Cloud computing makes it easier for those in the education industry, including students, faculty and..."

Thu, 05 Nov 2009 06:00:53 -0500

“Cloud computing makes it easier for those in the education industry, including students, faculty and administrators, to gain immediate access to a wide range of new educational resources and research applications and tools. The IBM Cloud Academy will advance awareness and adoption of cloud computing, including best practices for education and research institutions.”

- Michael King, vice president, IBM Global Education Industry (via IBM Press Release - IBM Advances Cloud Computing in Education; Unveils IBM Cloud Academy

From old to new, and a smarter planet. developerWorks’...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:26:22 -0500

From old to new, and a smarter planet. developerWorks’ Scott Laningham stops while driving in West Texas to talk about the Smarter Planet demo series on developerWorks. He just couldn’t pass up the symbolism of the setting — old oil wells rimmed by miles of wind turbines. (via developerworks)

Truck 2020 Study: Author Screencast, Video Overview, Links

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 17:44:12 -0500

Truck 2020 Study: Author Screencast, Video Overview, Links

Get the Smarter Energy Widget for your blog, page or site, and...

Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:46:00 -0500

Get the Smarter Energy Widget for your blog, page or site, and help build the Smarter Planet that IBM is leading.