Advance your enterprise with industry-focused thinking
A smarter planet, while global by definition, happens on the industry level. It is driven by forward-thinking organizations that share a common outlook: They see change as an opportunity, and they act on possibilities, not just react to problems.
Since introducing the smarter planet concept, IBM has collaborated with more than 600 organizations worldwide that each do their part in making this vision a reality.
Banking
In a competitive landscape that favors the fastest and the smartest, financial services firms that invest in building sophisticated insight and predictive analytics will be better positioned to emerge as market leaders.
Communications
A combination of empowered consumers, new competitors and a sharp increase in demand for mobile and data services has conspired to thrust this crucial sector into a constant state of change.
The following thought leadership presents the IBM point-of-view on the next stage of a smarter planet, industry by industry, including new challenges, new tools and a path to meeting the future head on.
Education
Education will be the critical determinant of success for our communities in the 21st century. Student learning can be enhanced by insight from data that identifies at-risk students, skills gaps and recommended interventions.
Electronics
With billions of people connected by nearly a trillion devices, there is a wealth
of untapped data that electronics companies are just starting to understand. Now is the time for electronics companies to convert data into insights.
Thought leadership for industries
Smarter Cities
Smarter, More Competitive Cities
Banking Communications Energy & UtilitiesTransforming the energy value chain
Government & Public SafetySmarter analytics for government: the importance of infrastructure for insight
Energy and utilities
For most energy and utility companies, success will be achieved through transforming the utility network, improving generation performance, and transforming customer operations.
Government
This is a new landscape for public governance, one that requires much more than simple, temporary fixes. Governments still will be required to provide leadership and services that address the evolving needs of 21st century citizens.
Healthcare
Healthcare organizations will need to develop new competencies to redefine value for their stakeholders. As value becomes understood as a measure of health and well being, organizations that respond will succeed.
Insurance
Insurers need to manage actuarial, financial, operational and IT risk in a holistic
manner—finding synergies between them to help increase business agility and lower costs.
Media & Entertainment
In an industry that already trades heavily in digital information, it’s not surprising that data will support the crucial transformation of both the operations and customer value propositions of media companies.
Oil and gas
Depending who you ask, oil and gas companies are expected to increase productivity, at lower cost to consumers, with less market volatility, all while managing the international political dynamics and protecting the environment.
Retail
The key to retail success remains the forging of closer ties to the customer. Simply put, the retailers that truly understand their customers are able to offer a compelling and seamless brand experience—and, ultimately, to succeed.
Transportation
The travel and transportation sector is on the verge of a transformative change. For the first time, we can monitor, measure and manage transportation operations in real time, for more informed decisions to drive better outcomes.
On a smarter planet, we want to change the paradigm from react to anticipate
How to lead and win in the era of “smart”
Watch a replay of the speech by CEO Ginni Rometty (00:58:17)
Read the essay that started our journey to a smarter planet five years ago (622KB)
For five years, IBMers have been working with companies, cities and communities around the world to build a Smarter Planet.
We've seen enormous advances, as leaders are using an explosion of data to transform their enterprises and institutions through analytics, mobile technology, social business and the cloud.
We've also seen how this new era is starting to create winners. They’re changing how their decisions are made. They're redesigning how their teams work, reassessing how to serve their customers, and changing the very nature of business.
It's the ability to harness data that gives these leaders their competitive advantage in the era of "smart."
Today, conventions once universally held are giving way to new perspectives, new ways of working, and new solutions across industries. Roles are changing. And more than ever, leaders need a partner to help them adapt.
We don’t make decisions on instinct. Now we use analytics.
You live in a social world. But do you work in one?
We used to do business at the office. Now the office comes with us.
Your data center used to be on the ground. Now it's in the cloud.