Dublin, Ireland Adopts Smarter Approach on Its Road to Recovery

Ireland’s capital, Dublin, is one of the oldest in Europe. Because its city council wants to maintain the city’s historic fabric, city policy today prevents new roads from being built in some of the most historic areas. But with traffic congestion worsening, the city sought an efficient solution to its traffic woes. To that end, it’s partnered with IBM to collect and analyze data to help tackle its congestion, all part of a push towards making Dublin a Smarter City.

Ireland’s capital: an IBM Smarter City testbed

Today, journey information is released and updated by Dublin city council every minute, enabling residents to go online and find the quickest route to their destination. In addition, research is being conducted in Ireland on similar problems that might be tackled by joining up existing databases. The work is part of IBM’s Smarter Planet initiative, part of which emphasizes applying analytics to solve pressing problems. Read more in The Guardian.

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- Posted by Regan Kelly. Part of our June 2013 theme on the environment and sustainability.

Why the World Thirsts for Smarter Water Management

Whether too much or not enough, the world needs a smarter way to think about water

Around the world, one in eight people lack access to safe water supplies.

That’s 884 million people. The planet is thirsty. Not just for a drop to drink, but for information about how we can be smarter about water in the first place.

The world’s water system  is vulnerable. Essential for health, food, energy, manufacturing and transportation, the global water system is suffering from stress, deteriorating quality, aging and insufficient infrastructure. Managing this critical resource requires a smarter approach to deliver improved outcomes across the water management lifecycle. Using information and analytics, governments, cities, utilities and businesses must take immediate action to deploy a smarter approach to water management to solve the world’s water crisis.

With advances in technology — sophisticated sensor networks, smart meters, deep computing and analytics — we can be smarter about how we manage our planet’s water. We can monitor, measure and analyze entire water ecosystems, from rivers and reservoirs to the pumps and pipes in our homes. We can give all the people, organizations, businesses, communities and nations dependent on a continuing supply of freshwater—that is, all of us—a single, reliable, up-to-the-minute and actionable view of water use.

But that’s just the first drop. Learn what IBM is doing to address this global issue.

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Related:

Visit the interactive Smarter Water experience

The Sights and Sounds of Smarter Water: check out the video playlist

Get  the report: Fixing the Future – Why we need smarter water management for the world’s most essential resource

Solutions

The CreekWatch App: Snap a photo, save a stream

Women in Technology: Make A Difference by Joining IBM

Join other exceptional women who are making a difference.

At IBM women have been making contributions to the advancement of information technology for almost as long as the company has been in existence. Today, women represent approximately 30 percent of IBM employees worldwide and more than 22% of our global executive population is made up of women, two-thirds of whom are working mothers.

Did you know?

• IBM was named among Top 10, 2013 NAFE Working Mothers Top 50 Companies for Executive Women.
• IBM is a three-time Catalyst Award winner, recognizing innovative approaches for developing women.
• Working Mother magazine has named IBM one of its 100 Best Companies for 27 consecutive years.
• IBM is represented by 15 women in the Women in Technology International (WITI) Hall of Fame.  (see also Diane Pozefsky, Ph.D, 2011 and Joanne Martin, Ph.D, 2012)

Are you looking for a new challenge, inside a progressive organization that values and rewards collaboration, innovation and creativity?  If you want to focus on today’s most exciting technologies — Social, Mobile, Analytics, Cloud — the opportunities are endless and you can make a difference at IBM.

Learn more: Careers for Women at IBM

And apply for jobs:  Job Opportunities for Women in Technology

Why Work at IBM?

More:

• Why IBM?
• IBM Video Series Celebrates International Women’s Day
• IBM Vice President, Gill Zhou, Is a Model for Working Women in China
• Some Wise Words for Your Career, Life and Destiny, from Rebecca Munyuki, IBM South Africa
• IBM’s Pioneering Woman and 1st Executive:  Anne Van Vechten (Part 1), (Part 2)
• IBM Research Chief Scientist for Social Business, Irene Greif, Wins Technical Leadership Award
• Middle East and Africa Inspirational IBMers – Natasha Pillay-Bemath

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Check out these hot jobs today, and be sure to stay tuned for more to come.

- Posted by Regan Kelly and Julie Yamamoto

1st Quarter 2013 Earnings: How Did IBM Do?

- from IBM.com

IBM today announced first-quarter 2013 diluted earnings of $2.70 per share, a year-to-year increase of 3 percent.  Operating (non-GAAP) diluted earnings were $3.00 per share, compared with operating diluted earnings of $2.78 per share in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 8 percent.

First-quarter net income was $3.0 billion, down 1 percent year-to-year. Operating (non-GAAP) net income was $3.4 billion compared with $3.3 billion in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 3 percent.

Total revenues for the first quarter of 2013 of $23.4 billion were down 5 percent (down 3 percent, adjusting for currency) from the first quarter of 2012.

“In the first quarter, we grew operating net income, earnings per share and expanded operating margins but we did not achieve all of our goals in the period. Despite a solid start and good client demand we did not close a number of software and mainframe transactions that have moved into the second quarter.  The services business performed as expected with strong profit growth and significant new business in the quarter,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and chief executive officer.

Virginia Rometty, IBM President & CEO

“Looking ahead, in addition to closing those transactions, we expect to benefit from investments we are making in our growth initiatives and from the actions we are taking to improve under-performing parts of the business.  We remain confident in this model of continuous transformation and in our ability to deliver our full-year 2013 operating earnings per share expectation of at least $16.70.”

Read more in the official press release.

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- Posted by Regan Kelly

IBM Working with U.S. Congress to Drive Innovation

Christopher Padilla, Vice President, Governmental Programs, IBM

- by Christopher Padilla, at Building a Smarter Planet

This week, nearly 200 of IBM’s senior leaders representing all 50 states are on Capitol Hill to urge action on policies that will drive innovation and economic competitiveness. With more than 300 congressional delegation meetings, our executives are addressing a range of issues critical to U.S. business.

As public-private collaboration becomes increasingly critical to overcoming challenges that no single sector can handle alone, we look forward to working with U.S. congressional leaders on these important issues.

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- Posted by Regan Kelly

 

Infographic: Big Data Is Growing, Moving, and Making the World Go Around

A Mobile App to Cut Down on Wasted Water: IBM Launches WaterWatchers in South Africa

In this blog post at Building a Smarter Planet, contributor Ahmed Simjee

Smarter Planet Leader Ahmed Simjee, IBM South Africa

details an initiative he is spearheading in South Africa – WaterWatchers – aimed at using mobile phones and crowdsourcing to cut down on leaks and wasted water.

The WaterWatchers app launched last month in Gauteng Province, home of Johannesburg and the capital city, Tshwane. With 12.3 million residents, the province represents 23% of South Africa’s population. The app launch was timed to coincide with the United Nations’ World Water Day, March 22. If you’re in South Africa, you can download the app.

Read the post

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Related:

World Water Day

How Can Technology Help Conserve Water? Join Friday’s Chat

Water is one of our most essential resources. Of all the water on Earth, only 1 percent can be used by ecosystems and people. As the world’s population increases to an estimated 8 billion in 2025, the demand for water will rise too.

It’s time we get smarter about water.

Join in the Smarter Friday chat on World Water Day, March 22, as IBM Smarter Water Architect Eoin Lane discusses how technology can help us with water: http://on.fb.me/11iZe4q

Related:

• Friday, March 22 is World Water Day. Find out more.
• Building a Smarter Planet: A Smarter Planet blog
• Smarter Planet at IBM.com
• Smarter Planet Tumblr

The Replay: Watch Ginni Rometty’s Historic Speech to the Council on Foreign Relations

In case you missed IBM CEO Ginni Rometty‘s historic speech last week before the Council on Foreign Relations, there’s good news: the replay is now available for you to watch anytime.

Ginni Rometty

In these early days of the 21^st century, Big Data, analytics, cloud, mobile and social technologies are transforming our world.  This new era of computing provides the instrumentation, interconnection and intelligence that make it possible to build a smarter planet.

But, in order to do so, countries, cities, corporations and individuals need to rethink how they go about achieving their goals. Watch the speech, followed by a Q&A session with the audience.

Join the conversation by using the hashtags #IBM and #CFRlive.

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Greater IBMers, let us know your thoughts in the Leave a Reply field below.

– Posted by Regan Kelly, Editor/Community Manager, The Greater IBM Connection

IBM CEO Virginia Rometty to Address the Council on Foreign Relations

On Thursday, March 7, Ginni Rometty will be addressing members of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Virginia Rometty

The event will be broadcast live on Thursday evening at 6 p.m. EST. Get the details and watch it here.

You can see a replay and read more about the speech on the Smarter Planet blog, where you can also join the conversation.

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– Posted by Regan Kelly, Editor/Community Manager, The Greater IBM Connection