There are two things recent events have shown us these past weeks: how small and interconnected our world is. And that change is unavoidable.
Once our economies have stabilized, we will need to heed the call for change and address the systemic inefficiencies in our world's infrastructures - the processes that underpin the way billions of people work and live - and make our planet smarter.
Consider:
How sick our healthcare system is: costs have pushed nearly 100 million people below the poverty line.
How dirty our water is: one in five people do not have access to drinkable water.
How wasteful our food chains are: U.S. consumers throw away $48 billion worth of food a year.
Through the power of technology, there is a lot we can actually change now. For the first time in history, the most powerful computers on earth can be affordably accessed by almost any business or organization and applied to any model to analyze just about any workload. Almost any object can become digitally aware and interconnected - or "smart." And every single one of these interactions represents a chance to do something better, more productively.
We have just scratched the surface. Right now, IBM is working with thousands of forward-thinking companies, governments, universities and institutions to make our smarter world a better place to live where...
Smart roadways reduce traffic
We helped Stockholm implement a road charging system that reduced traffic by 20% and emissions by 12%.
Visualization means smarter water usage
We are working with the Nature Conservancy to use computer modeling of river basins to make better policy decisions.
Sensing is believing
We are helping clients across a variety of industries use RFID and sensing technologies to ship goods more effectively; enhance worker and child safety; monitor patient care.
IBM Chairman Sam Palmisano recently outlined the possibilities of a smarter planet to business and government leaders
