IBM 2009 Annual Report: The Landscape For Growth
The 2009 IBM Annual Report was released yesterday.
It includes a letter from our chairman and CEO, Sam Palmisano, which very clearly articulates both where IBM has been over the past decade, and probably more importantly, outlines the direction it’s going this year and beyond.
I would encourage you to check out the full IBM annual report package online firsthand here.
In the letter, Sam outlines “the landscape for growth,” which suggests that IBM is positioning itself aggressively for an upswing in the business cycle.
Specifically, he outlines four key areas (which I’ll come to in a moment), but he prefaces it by stating that IBM doesn’t believe that clients will, as they may have in the past, simply invest in IT because history is destined to repeat itself and they’re going to open their wallets for the new, new IT thing as the recessionary clouds lift.
No, rather, he asserts that IBM’s position is that clients will invest where they believe they can gain value (preferably quickly), and where they can continue to gain efficiencies and competitive advantage.
And he asserts that IBM is well positioned as a company to uniquely take advantage of that opportunity.
Now, to the four areas of emphasis and IBM investment in 2010.
They include the growth markets, which have expanded their contribution to IBM’s geographic revenue by a point a year since 2005, and at least 8 points faster than major markets over the past three years.
Going forward, both mature and emerging markets are building out and integrating their physical and digital infrastructures, and infusing the resulting systems with intelligence. More than $2 trillion in fiscal stimulus has already been earmarked by governments around the world, and IBM is uniquely positioned to benefit from these large business and technology opportunities.
Second, data captured across a new spectrum of inputs (including data ranging from the “Internet of Things” [think sensors, RFID, etc.] and even the social media) is already leading to immense new business analytics opportunities.
Hence IBM’s $10B investment over the past couple of years in acquiring Cognos, SPSS, and investing in the 4,000+ strong Business Analytics and Optimization practice.
All this information—the knowledge of the world, the flow of markets, the pulse of societies—can now be turned into insight through sophisticated mathematical models — where once we inferred, now we know.
Where once we interpolated and extrapolated, now we can determine.
The historical is giving way to the real-time, and even the predictive.
Next, the opportunity presented by the Cloud and Next-Generation Data Center. As the planet becomes instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, the computing model is evolving to support it.
Think of it as the industrialization of IT.
Over the past generation, digital infrastructures have become complex and inefficient, so it’s time to optimize them through automation, creating systems that are highly tuned to the specific workloads they run and to new consumption and delivery models, such as clouds.
The data center is shifting from being a single physical place to something more like the Internet, a diverse set of services fueled by IT.
This provides far more choice and flexibility, which is of particular interest to the many businesses and governments that want simply to consume some services they once built, maintained and provided themselves.
And fourth, and finally, all of these growth strategies come together in the opportunity IBM calls the “smarter planet.”
This is not a metaphor. It describes the infusion of intelligence into the way the world actually works, the way that almost anything—any person, any object, any process or any service, for any organization, large or small—can now become digitally aware, networked and intelligent.
This means that industries, infrastructures, processes, cities and entire societies can be more productive, efficient and responsive.
IBM developed this agenda and strategic initiative in the summer of 2008, and launched it that autumn—at the peak of the economic crisis. We did so because we believed it represented a pragmatic way to address the very problems that were transfixing the world.
After just a year, it is clear that our belief was correct. The idea of “smarter systems” is resonating with decision-makers in both the private and public sectors. We are seeing these systems being implemented in every major industry and across every region of both the developed and developing worlds.
And they are creating measurable economic and societal value.
So, I would invite you to learn more and read the full report — it can certainly tell you where IBM went recently.
But, it’s the roadmap for building a smarter planet at a company on the verge of its centennial — which continues to be one of the most interesting, vibrant, and yes, even relevant places to work in the world and on the world — that it gets really interesting.
SXSW Interactive: Turbo’s Austin Tips ‘N Tricks
At the peril of having my close Austin friends and associates put a bounty on my head, but in the spirit of being socially media-inclined, I’m providing you with my list of favorite places to hang, eat, etc. I know I would be looking for such personal recommendations when on my own way to a town I may not be familiar with, and it’s the little recommendations that often go a very long way towards making or breaking a trip.
So, for those of you on your way to Austin later this week for SXSW Interactive, this is *my* recommendations and tips list and nobody elses!
Arrival At the Airport – I fly a lot. The Austin airport is probably one of the cooler one’s you’ll ever encounter. Most all the businesses and eateries are chapters of other local restaurants, so if you’re in the market for a Big Mac when you arrive, you’ll have to wait until you get into town.
Arrival Tip: Hint, keep an eye out for live music upon your arrival. Local bands sometimes play, gratis, right past the bookstore near where your go downstairs to get your baggage. Spend a couple of minutes supporting our local music scene while waiting for the baggage handlers downstairs to do their thing.
Transportation: You can get cabs downstairs outside of the baggage area. Look to your right as you walk out, and you should see a line of cabs. You can also take a city bus downtown — here’s the schedule for what we call the Airport Flyer, which typically runs every 40 minutes.
My suggestion: Find some other folks headed downtown and start your networking on the cab ride in.
Restaurant Recommendations:
Sushi: I’m partial to restaurants in South Austin (south of Town Lake, which is just south of the Austin Convention Center). If you want some of the best sushi in the world (I’ve eaten sushi around the globe, so no sushi bait jokes) then you have to go to Uchi on South Lamar. Make it easy on yourself and go with the chef’s menu (the “omakase”). Closer to the convention center, you can walk to Imperia or Kenichi. You can also use the Austin Sushi Bar Locator.
BBQ: I grew up in Texas, so I don’t eat just any ol’ BBQ. For my money, a tart, tangy BBQ sauce is as key as a nice smoked meat. If he would serve you, I’d just send you to my buddy George’s house. His smoked brisket is ungodly good. But, he only does that on special occasions.
So, I would recommend you get down to Artz Rib House on South Lamar. I’ve taken plenty of out-of-towners there and once they start in on those baby-backed ribs, they get this glazed look in their eyes. That’s always a good sign. Downtown, you can always try the Iron Horse (right by the ACC), Lamberts (more upscale) and Stubbs, all of which also have a respectable BBQ showing. But Artz is my fave. If you’re ready for a road trip, hit Coopers in Llano or, now, New Braunfels.
Mexican: Wars have been started over less than misguided Austin Tex-Mex restaurant recommendations. Since it’s already overcrowded, I’ll tell you one of my faves in South Austin is Polvos on South First Street (short cab ride from downtown). I eat frequently at La Reyna (the real deal, as far as Tex Mex goes…and it also seems to be good enough for the cast of “Friday Night Lights,” many of whom I’ve seen eating there during their shooting season).
You also can’t go wrong at any Maudie’s or any Chuy’s. I’ve also recently refamiliarized myself to Jovita’s, whose new menu lifts them out of the Tex-Mex only ghetto with some refreshing new, more healthy dishes (including their killer ceviche) and live music. Manuel’s on Congress is also a convenient upscale Mexican food mainstay downtown, as is Z-Tejas on West Sixth. Both have killer margaritas — just what the doctor ordered after a day filled with digital meme headfilling.
After Hours Fun:
The Austin Bats: I’m not sure exactly when the bats start flying. The Austin City Guide site says mid-March, so you may be in luck. At dusk, 1.5M Mexican free-tail bats leave from under the Congress Avenue bridge over Town Lake and head out into the Austin night to eat our bugs, and we love them for it, especially in the summer. It’s definitely something to see…bring your own garlic.
Live Music: Uh, hello, this is the live music capitol of the world You can’t throw a rock without hitting a live music venue, including a bunch of those places I listed as being great places to eat. We put live musicians pretty much anywhere we can fit them here in Austin (I did mention that part about them playing live at the airport?)
My favorite haunts: Saxon Pub on South Congress. Recommended shows there in the next week: Joe Ely (Friday 3/12), Ray Wylie Hubbard (Saturday 3/13), The Resentments (Sunday 3/14), Bob Schneider (Monday 3/15), and Bruce Hughes (Tuesday 3/16). Other great music venues near and far: Stubbs, Antone’s, Continental Club, Emos…just check out Do512.com for all the live music events. It’s SXSW season, for heaven’s sake, there’s more music than anybody knows what to do with, including we Austinites!
Finally, just go take a walk down 4th, 5th, or 6th streets and the capillary streets in and around there. There’s no shortage of after hours fun, and honestly, the SXSW Interactive parties can be a pain in the you-know-what (too crowded, hassle, etc.) It’s often better to find some of your friends and colleagues and just make your own party!
BLOGGER’S NOTE: If you found this post helpful, please be sure to share it out to your SXSWers!
Not Enough Ink
I think my Oscar picks came in at around fifty percent (of those categories I picked).
Don’t worry, I won’t give up my day job.
As the Oscar ceremony wound into the start of its fourth hour, I laughed at the fact how every year they talk about making the ceremony shorter. Yeah, right.
By the time they got to the supposed momentous event of the evening, Tom Hanks couldn’t have been more unclimactic and hurried in announcing that “The Hurt Locker” took the Best Picture award.
It went something like this: “The Hurt Locker!”…I’m outta here!
Talk about short shrift!
Kind of like CNET’s Dave Rosenberg’s recent observation about the state of the enterprise IT media.
According to Rosenberg’s analysis, major, enterprise-oriented IT firms making billions of dollars a year in revenue (Think Oracle, Cisco, IBM, etc.) are “largely ignored by business press” and that there are tech categories with enormous worldwide revenue (think storage, virtualization, etc.) that are “barely acknowledged.”
What can you say?
It’s not easy being green and efficient as big enterprise tech vendors like IBM assist companies around the globe to work smarter not harder, and helps transform their business IT operations into a value-added investment that brings their organizations new and actionable intelligence.
But then again, not everybody makes iPads or has a search engine (read Rosenberg’s analysis to learn more).
Speaking of iPads, as the availability date draws nearer and nearer, I’m having a moment of crisis and need to do a little crowdsourcing with my moral dilemma.
I owned one of the original e-book readers, and I really liked it. But my iPod Touch does just about everything I need it to do (including read books), and it’s so portable.
But, what if I could get rid of all those paper magazines that still show up in my mailbox every week, which I hate (and feel more and more guilty about) throwing out?
Take my poll and tell me what you think.
Turbo’s Oscar Party
Most years, it seems I never get out to see enough of the Best Picture nominees for the Oscars. And I’m a big movie fan.
This year, they have nine nominees for Best Pic, and I think I’ve seen about seven out of the nine (“Up” and “Precious” the only two I’ve not seen yet).
Of course, I just saw “A Serious Man” last evening on demand, and that one shot way up my personal list.
It’s kind of silly to try and pick just one flick for Best Picture, especially out of nine. But if I had to, I’d still have to caveat what the criteria were.
From the perspective of pure filmmaking, “Avatar” wins hands down. I was blown away and completely transported by that movie. It was magical.
For sheer relentless adrenaline and edge-of-my-seat compulsion, “The Hurt Locker” wins hands down. I’ve seen most of the movies about the Iraq war, but that one was incredibly disturbing to me and yet I couldn’t look away.
Back during the war, I used to have dreams about IEDs (all that media coverage!), and watching these guys run towards the potential explosions…that takes some serious…well, that’s a word for the audience to fill in…which was what I liked so much about Kathryn Bigelow’s direction.
I can’t rule out “Inglorious Basterds.” Tarantino delivered probably his best pic since “Pulp Fiction.”
And “A Serious Man” is a serious movie through a riotous 1960s Jewish lens that had me laughing out loud and a surprise ending that left me wanting more.
And even “A Blind Side,” which was based on Michael Lewis’ book of the same name, touched my heart like no other movie this year, and Sandra Bullock stretched in a direction that seemed to surprise everybody. The girl can act, get over it.
Best Picture goes to “Avatar.” Best Director to Bigelow.
For performances, Jeff Bridge’s walks with an Oscar for “Crazy Heart.” A great performance in a great role, written for Bridges, and a sentimental Austin favorite — much of the music for the movie was co-authored by the recently deceased Stephen Bruton, an Austin musical mainstay who wrote songs for folks ranging from Kris Kristofferson to Willie Nelson, and whose Sunday night guitar/singing gig with The Resentments at the Saxon Pub, right down the street from my house, were hilarious and foot-stomping.
“Crazy Heart” was dedicated to his memory.
I’ve not seen enough of the flicks to call the other performance categories, but my gut says Bullock takes Best Actress, Penelope Cruz, Best Supporting Actress, Christopher Waltz, Best Supporting Actor, and Barry Ackroyd, Best Cinematography.
Mark Boal wins for Best Original Screenplay (“The Hurt Locker”), Nick Hornby for Best Adapted Screenplay (“An Education”).
All the hooplah starts later this PM. Don’t forget, this is Bawbwah Wah-Wah’s last series of pre-Oscar interviews, this time with Sandra Bullock and Monique as well as clips from Oscar interviews past.
And for you red carpet fans, though it was raining in LA yesterday, forecasters expect it to clear out so the paparazzi have a clear line of sight to the stars.
Me, I’m heading off to the movies on this rainy Sunday Austin afternoon.
Banking On IBM Industry Expertise
IBM has been relentlessly focused in recent weeks on the opportunity the smarter planet initiative presents to assist businesses in industry-specific contexts.
At Lotusphere in January, Lotus introduced its collaboration framework, which provided specific collaboration-oriented guidance across several industry-specific areas.
Last week in Las Vegas, IBM’s Mike Rhodin did the same for the integrated service management sector at IBM Pulse 2010.
Today, IBM announced that Whitney National Bank, with $12 billion in assets, has become a new banking customer and one that is utilizing IBM’s recently announced banking industry framework.
To compete in today’s dramatically altered financial playing field, banks must employ smarter banking strategies to achieve new levels of risk control, efficiency and customer service.
Whitney National Bank is using IBM technology across its regional banks to simplify its business practices, meet regulatory compliance and ensure transparency with customers.
Whitney can now extract key intelligence to obtain a full view of a customer’s transaction history — including a comprehensive analysis of sales trends and costs — to deliver more customized services and offerings. Increased visibility to this account data also empowers the bank’s customers to regulate their activities and expenses.
With industry consolidation, the number one priority of banks is to be able to assess liquidity.
After acquiring more than a dozen regional banks, Whitney National Bank faced the challenge of consolidating customer information and a host of disparate IT systems for checking and savings account management, online bill payment and loan processing.
Whitney National Bank is using IBM Cognos software to extract key intelligence to help it obtain a full view of its customer bases' behavior, including a comprehensive analysis of sales trends and costs, so it can deliver more customized services and offerings.
By integrating data from disparate IT systems, Whitney has been able to modernize its technology systems across regional branches to better manage risk and enhance customer service.
By using IBM’s Banking Industry Frameworks, Whitney National Bank is able to leverage pre-built industry-proven data and process models already employed by more than 250 financial institutions.
The bank is also migrating to IBM Power System with DB2 in its data centers in Allen, Texas and Prattville, Alabama.
Whitney National Bank is the latest example of how the right combination of hardware and software can be fine-tuned to meet the specific demands of banks.
Security By Design
My last post was about security.
This post is going to be about security.
The last post covered IBM’s recent X-Force Trends report which reported on the lingering and expanding security threats faced by organizations around the globe.
This post will address some of the antidotes IBM announced just yesterday at the RSA Conference in San Francisco.
In San Francisco, IBM detailed a number of new IBM Security Solutions, research initiatives, partnerships and client results aimed at meeting the rising demand by businesses and governments worldwide to secure digital and physical infrastructures.
Security, by Design
In my recent coverage of the IBM Pulse 2010 conference, I covered a session by IBM Chief Privacy Officer Harriet Pearson in which Harriet introduced the idea of “security by design.”
This approach stems from recognition of the fact that new computing paradigms and business models fundamentally require businesses to rethink how they deal with compliance, risk management and data protection. Central to IBM’s approach to addressing clients’ security challenges is a shift in focus from securing assets to securing critical services.
With integrated service management – tools that provide can provide a “command center” view into a client’s operations and potential areas of risk — IBM can help its clients design security into the fabric of the services they deliver, making security intrinsic to their business processes, product development and daily operations.
Yesterday’s announcements, based on IBM’s experience with hundreds of global clients and businesses, are designed to further expand on the vision that security, by design, is an enabler of innovative change.
IBM is introducing new software, systems and services to help global organizations securely adopt new forms of technology like cloud computing and new business models like telework, while addressing emerging compliance constructs.
New IBM Security Solutions include:
- IBM Secure Web Gateway Service 2.0 – IBM X-Force research indicates a dramatic rise in the number and complexity of Web application attacks. This new service enables greater protection against Web-based threats and enforcement of corporate IT policies while lowering overall management costs.
- IBM Managed Firewall Service and IBM Unified Threat Management Service – this new bundled offering allows clients to use select Check Point firewall and unified threat management devices while receiving IBM Managed Security Services for those devices for a monthly fee. This provides clients increased levels of protection without the burden of upfront capital expenditures for the devices.
- IBM Security Information and Event Manager 2.0 – this updated software helps to reduce costs by automating enterprise log management and central management, reduce insider threats and protect integrity by monitoring and auditing privileged user activities, and facilitate compliance efforts and streamline management with compliance management modules.
- IBM Security Content Analysis Software Development Kit (SDK) – rapid growth of the Internet and the constant onslaught of spam requires advanced filtering technology that is expensive to develop and maintain. This new SDK provides developers with up-to-date filter database and accurate analysis — along with an easy-to-implement application programming interface (API).
- IBM AppScan Source Edition – as organizations continue to develop and design products and services that are increasingly interconnected, they are also placing increased emphasis on securing the software that powers these products and services. This new edition of IBM Rational AppScan Source Edition AppScan can scan software source code and identify potential security and compliance vulnerabilities during the earliest stages of software development, when they are less expensive to correct.
- IBM Lotus Protector for Mail Encryption – for secure collaboration and communication, IBM is announcing a new software product called IBM Lotus Protector for Mail Encryption. Available in April, it extends IBM’s flagship messaging software, offering Lotus Notes’ native e-mail encryption feature to include any address accessible on the Internet — irrespective of e-mail system or client used by the recipient. IBM Protector for Mail Encryption addresses the Internet encryption challenge, in a simple and integrated way, unlike third-party “bolt-on” products that have historically been complex and expensive to deploy.
- IBM Security Privileged Identity Management and Compliance Solution – rising trend from attackers to use privileged user identities to gain access to core systems, increasing compliance mandates and high administrative costs all add to the difficulty of managing users and identities and blocking against internal and external threats. This combined solution provides threat prevention, identity management and meeting compliance needs through file integrity monitoring, separation of duties, role hierarchy, and intrusion prevention.
- IBM z/OS V1.12 – With the latest release of z/OS, IBM helps clients promote improved operations, availability, manageability, and security through self-learning, self-managing, and self-optimization capabilities. z/OS security functions, such as data encryption, encryption key management, digital certificates, password synchronization, and centralized authentication and auditing, can be deployed as part of enterprise-wide security solutions and can help mitigate risk and reduce compliance costs.
Institute for Advanced Security
In February 2010, IBM, the Security & Defence Agenda (SDA) and a coalition of international think tanks hosted almost 4,000 global experts from government, industry, academia, non-government organizations (NGOs) in a virtual dialogue on the world’s greatest security challenges.
Cybersecurity was identified as a significant potential threat to international peace and stability, and a number of experts called for the creation of a cybersecurity agency to increase public and private sector collaboration and educate global leaders on cyber issues.
In order to address such concerns, the company is launching the IBM Institute for Advanced Security to help clients, academics, partners and other businesses more easily understand, address and mitigate the issues associated with securing cyberspace.
The Institute will collaborate with public and private sector officials in Washington, D.C., and provide access to a wide range of resources to help the government more efficiently and effectively secure and protect critical information threatened by increasingly malicious and costly cyber threats.
As part of this effort, IBM is bringing to bear expertise from its software, services, systems and research arms to help governments and businesses around the world safeguard themselves from new and existing threats.
For instance, the U.S. Air Force recently selected IBM to design and demonstrate a highly secure cloud computing infrastructure that can support defense and intelligence networks.
The IBM Institute for Advanced Security will provide a collaborative setting for public and private sector officials to tap IBM’s vast security expertise so they can more efficiently and effectively secure and protect critical systems and information threatened by increasingly malicious and costly cyber threats.
IBM’s approach will help public and private organizations avoid the trend of adding security on after the fact by providing them the education, expertise and resources to design security into the foundation of their infrastructures.
IBM Tivoli general manager Al Zollar spoke at yesterday’s RSA conference. His keynote presentation is now available via podcast, in which Zollar addressed “The Decade of Smart Security.”
Gone Phishin’
So no sooner am I back from the IBM Pulse 2010 conference than IBM releases the results from its latest Annual X-Force Trend and Risk Report from 2009.
Hold on to your passwords, folks…we’re gonna be in for a bumpy ride!
The latest report’s findings show that existing threats like phishing and document format vulnerabilities continued to expand last year, even as clients have generally made progress in improving their overall security.
The IBM X-Force research and development team has been cataloguing, analyzing and researching vulnerability disclosures since 1997.
With more than 48,000 security vulnerabilities catalogued, it has the largest vulnerability database in the world. This unique database helps X-Force researchers to understand the dynamics that make up vulnerability discovery and disclosure.
The latest X-Force reveals three main threats: Malicious Web links, Phishing attacks, and document reader/editor vulnerability disclosures (most notably, PDF docs!).
The report also found that:
- New vulnerabilities have decreased but are still at record levels.
- Critical and high vulnerabilities with no patch have decreased significantly year-over-year in several key product categories.
- Vulnerability disclosures for document readers and editors and multimedia applications are climbing dramatically.
- New malicious Web links have skyrocketed globally.
- Web application vulnerabilities continue to be the largest category of security disclosures.
- Attacks on the Web using obfuscation increased significantly.
- Phishing rates dipped mid-year but rose dramatically in the last half of 2009.
- Phishing still takes advantage of the financial industry to target consumers.
“Despite the ever-changing threat landscape, this report indicates that overall, vendors are doing a better job responding to security vulnerabilities,” said Tom Cross, manager of IBM X-Force Research. “However, attackers have clearly not been deterred, as the use of malicious exploit code in Web sites is expanding at a dramatic rate.”
General manager for IBM’s Tivoli group also chimed in on the report, and more importantly, how IBM could help.
“IBM continues to invest in strategic research like this report to create value for our clients and the security industry,” said Zollar. “With insight from our X-Force research team, our professional and managed services offerings, and our software, we can help enable the most secure IT infrastructure while meeting clients’ risk, governance and compliance requirements.”
You can register to download the full report here.
Live @ Pulse 2010: The Podcast Recap
Scott Laningham and I did an early morning podcast recap of IBM Pulse 2010, and then I promptly headed to the airport and back to snowy Austin.
In our recap, Scott and I discuss the key themes, announcements, and news coming out of IBM Pulse 2010…all in 8 minutes and 47 seconds!
Listen to the IBM Pulse 2010 Podcast Recap (MP3, 8:47)
Live @ Pulse 2010: Chesapeake’s Smarter City
At today’s IBM Pulse 2010 event here in Las Vegas, IBM and the City of Chesapeake, Virginia, announced how they’ve partnered to build a “smarter city,” one in which intelligent city-wide systems enhance public services, including public works, public utilities, public safety, and even its parks and recreation initiatives.
The use of IBM technology in this effort is enhancing services delivered to the public ranging from maintenance and operations of traffic signals and water systems to the management of the City’s Fire and Police Departments.
As a result of these efforts, the City of Chesapeake is consistently improving the quality of life for its citizens.
The Background
The City of Chesapeake is one of the larger cities in Virginia, covering some 353 square miles. It’s a diverse community, with suburban, urban, and rural areas, with with a business community that is equally diverse.
It includes more than 80 foreign-based companies from 19 different countries, and a city that has more miles of deep water canals, including the Intracoastal Waterway, than any other city in the U.S.
IBM software manages the maintenance of equipment and facilities for the Chesapeake Public Works Department, including the people and trucks using brine for snow removal at the City of Chesapeake Expressway Toll Plaza
The size and location of the city makes it a complex infrastructure to manage. These unique challenges can be addressed in part by using technology to collect and analyze data that can be used to improve how transportation, utility management, and public safety systems react to constantly changing conditions.
A Comprehensive Plan for a Smarter City
In accordance with its comprehensive plan, the City of Chesapeake is paving the way to a smarter future by currently investing more than $1.2M U.S. in capital improvement projects affecting community facilities, economic development, and other key departments.
“Technology is the power tool of today,” said Peter R. Wallace, CIO of the City of Chesapeake. “We’re using IBM Software to give staff the data and tools to continually improve processes, which is essential in this economy. The City of Chesapeake is less than 50 years old, but those founders inherited hundreds of years of infrastructure. Until now, we haven’t had a quick or convenient way to look at the City’s assets and make smart decisions. To succeed, we must be efficient in the way we work and transparent to our citizens. IBM is helping us accomplish those goals.”
IBM’s software is connecting city systems, and providing the various city departments with a transparent view of what’s going on at any given time. By analyzing the data and sharing the findings across departments, the city is able to detect and react to potential problems more quickly.
IBM: A Vision for Smarter Cities
A recent IBM Institute for Business Value report entitled “A Vision of Smarter Cities” asserts that the digitization of data within a city’s core systems will enable city managers to collect data on the efficiency of processes that could not be previously measured, like wastewater treatment. This, in turn, will lead to more informed decision-making and planning from city leaders.
Michael Fitchett, the City of Chesapeake Systems Development Coordinator and a former city firefighter, discussed at a press conference today hosted by Tivoli general manager Al Zollar his team’s efforts in building a smarter City of Chesapeake.
“When we went live in December 2008 with IBM Maximo asset management software, I never thought I’d be up here talking about a smarter city initiative. The system has allowed me and my team to see a lot of different facets and look across the entire environment of the city and to, in turn, provide our citizens with better services.
“My CIO looks at me everyday and says “ATA” — Accountability, Transparency, and Agility. I have a mayor who walks into the room and asks what our motto is: ‘We’re open for business.’”
Fitchett explained that he had strong management support, and that every day he is looking for “efficiencies and effectiveness” and explained what he considers to be the essence of a smarter city:
“Making sure we’re getting needed data out to our field personnel so that they can make real-time decisions: Working on a broken water main, perhaps having a video feed down that pipe to see proximity locations and able to analyze and instantly make critical infrastructure decisions.”
“The City of Chesapeake serves as a great example of how cities can take advantage of technology to provide citizens and businesses with a better, smarter place to live,” said Bill Sawyer, vice president of operations, IBM Maximo software. “By using these IBM technologies to better manage critical systems like water management and public safety, the city is both improving the quality of life for its citizens today and building a more sustainable future.”
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