If we are going to spend billions of dollars to fix our ailing infrastructure, let’s make sure we do it right. Here are the technologies to make that happen. (via Smart Roads. Smart Bridges. Smart Grids. - WSJ.com)
The economic stimulus package signed this week includes more than $4 billion for smart grid infrastructure. Michael Valocchi, of IBM, and Tim O’Brien, of the Evergreen Utilities & Telecommunications Fund, discuss what opportunities there are here for businesses and investors. (via Video - CNBC.com)
American Superconductor Corporation will work with the US Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and its National Wind Technology Center (NWTC) to “validate the economics of a full 10 megawatt (MW) class superconductor wind turbine.”
“Sametime 3D” is an ongoing IBM Research and Lotus initiative to integrate enterprise business applications with virtual world applications. The demonstration shows the integration of Lotus Sametime with OpenSim. Users of Sametime within an enterprise can invite meeting participants using group chat, select a virtual meeting space type (formal conference room, theater, collaboration space), upload files and generate a meeting space “on demand”. Users are authenticated through internal authentication tools used for IBMs internal network. In-world functions include presentation viewer, brainstorming wall, monthly calendar view, sign in board, an action wall for documenting plans and a meeting content export capability. Sametime voice chat can be used to enable voice discussion during in world meetings. Future research under consideration includes additional reporting capabilities, enhanced voice integration, integration with other virtual world platforms, development of additional in world tools to support collaboration, and integration with 2D applications.
IBM Research and Lotus Sametime 3D- Phase 2 (via IBMLabs)
IBM revamps its infrastructure offerings just as the Senate is expected to approve billions in IT spending.
First came the lofty pronouncements. Now, comes the products—and the timing couldn’t be better. Since November, IBM Chief Executive Sam Palmisano has been making futurist statements about the need for a “smarter” national infrastructure, using information technology to upgrade the nation’s roads, electric grid and health care system in a bid to increase their efficiency; to make America more internationally competitive and to create thousands of jobs.
IBM on Monday put its chief’s words into action, announcing a broad update of its products and services aimed at building those intelligent systems and dealing with the massive amounts of data they would create. Such projects could include adding millions of sensors to the nation’s power grid or digitizing every American’s health records.
(via IBM’s ‘Smart’ Moves - Forbes.com)
An estimated two billion people will be on the Web by 2011—and they’ll be doing more than talking. Video on demand, IP television and Internet TV will account for nearly 90% of consumer IP traffic by 2012. When people talk, it will be to many more people—via social networking sites, whose memberships will top 500 million in the next three years. (via IBM - Conversations for a Smarter Planet: 10 in a Series)
The deluge of data from the trillions of smart objects is creating an insatiable demand for bandwidth. The infrastructure has had to grow up and keep up, sometimes at great struggle when you consider that:
Half of the world still lacks solid communications services.
Less than 20% of all connected users have access to third-generation (3G) mobile and high-speed communications services with seamless, ubiquitous, secure connectivity. (via IBM - A smarter planet - Telecommunications)
“We have talked about a new department on cyber-physical systems (CPS), and we should move quickly and boldly on this proposal. Our CPS department should go far beyond the next generation of networked embedded systems. We should focus more on intelligent systems that integrate the physical world and cyberspace, real and virtual societies, and human and artificial intelligence.” (via Digital Library)
Smarter infrastructure is by far our best path to creating new jobs and stimulating growth. We at IBM were asked to map this out by President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team, and our research shows that a $30 billion stimulus investment in just three areas — smart grids, health-care IT and broadband — could yield almost one million new jobs within one year. That’s possible because these kinds of infrastructure have significantly greater economic and societal multiplier effects than traditional infrastructure like bridges and highways.
