Conversations for a Smarter Planet: No.1 in a Series
A need for change is a need for smart.
With the growing need for change across the planet, business
leaders everywhere have a unique opportunity to transform the
way the world works.
We’re at this point because the financial crisis has jolted us awake;
alerting us to the nature and dangers of highly complex global
systems. But it’s not our first such jolt. The new century has
delivered a series of wake-up calls on a single theme: the reality of
global integration.
Climate change and energy. Global supply chains for food and
medicine. Security concerns from identity theft to terrorism. All
issues of an increasingly connected world. All arising this decade.
As the world continues to become more integrated, we see that
being connected isn’t enough.
Fortunately, something is happening that holds new potential: the
planet is getting smarter. Intelligence is being infused into how our
world works. Into systems, processes and infrastructure that enable
goods to be developed, manufactured and exchanged. Services
to be delivered. It facilitates the movement of everything from money
and oil to water and electrons. And so helps billions live and work.
How is this possible?
First, the world’s becoming instrumented. Imagine a billion transistors
for each person. We’re almost there. Sensors are embedded
everywhere: in cars, appliances, cameras, roads, pipelines; even
in medicine and livestock.
Second, our world’s becoming interconnected. Soon 2 billion of us
will be on the Internet — but systems and objects can now ‘speak’
to each other, as well. Think of a trillion connected, intelligent things,
and the oceans of data they will produce.
Third, those instrumented and interconnected things are becoming
intelligent. They are being linked to powerful new backend systems
to process their data, and to advanced analytics capable of turning
it into real insight, in real time.
With computational power in things we wouldn’t recognise as
computers, any person, object, process, service or organisation
can become digitally aware, connected and smart.
Given all this low-cost technology and networking, what wouldn’t
you enhance? What wouldn’t you connect? What information
wouldn’t you mine for insight? What service wouldn’t you provide
for a customer, citizen, student or patient?
The answer is, we will do all these things. Because we can — and
because we must. Consider:
• UK firms lose £2.5 billion each year through energy inefficiencies.
• Up to 50% of food is wasted or lost between field and fork in
developed markets.
• One in five people in the world lacks safe drinking water.
• And, of course, we’ve seen what’s developed in financial markets;
a system where institutions could spread risk, but not track it.
All of these things are solvable on a smarter planet.
Smarter infrastructures are helping cut IT energy usage by
almost 60%.
Smart food systems are using RFID technology to trace foodstuffs
from the farm through the supply chain to store shelves.
Smart systems are transforming energy grids, supply chains and
water management, and the security of currency exchanges.
There’s tremendous need for positive change in the world. And we
have the resources to deliver it. Over the coming weeks, you’ll hear
more from IBM on ways to make our planet work better.
Let’s build a smarter planet. Join us and see what others are
thinking at ibm.com/think/uk
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