IBM and The Weather Company: An IoT Platform for Enterprises
When IBM announced last October that we were going to buy The Weather Company’s product and technology businesses, reactions were all over the map—from “IBM’s buying a TV station,” (not true), to “IBM is buying into cloud computing,” (not necessary; already there in a big way), to “Watson is going to predict weather,” (sort of). […]
It’s Time to Radically Overhaul Approaches to Data Privacy
It’s an article of faith among many that Millennials aren’t concerned about privacy, but a recent survey of people between the ages of 16 to 35 in the United States and the United Kingdom showed just the opposite. Eighty percent told interviewers from Atomik Research that it was “vital” or “very important” that personally identifiable, […]
How Weather-Commerce Mashups Are Empowering Retailers
On the heels of the National Retail Federation (NRF) annual convention and EXPO, the retail industry is abuzz about what trends will dominate 2016. One of the fastest growing trends in retail today isn’t a new shirt, shoe or accessory, it’s the “data mashup.” This is the process of combining, correlating and analyzing different internal […]
A Revolution in Streaming Video
When colleagues and I started Clearleap in 2008, most people were getting their TV shows and movies the old-fashioned way, and cloud computing wasn’t much more than a blip on mainstream businesses’ radar. At the time, YouTube had taken off, but the major media companies had not yet awoken to the reality of streaming their […]
IBM Design Thinking: A Framework To Help Teams Continuously Understand and Deliver
Two years ago, after IBM executives decided to build a new application development platform for cloud computing, we tore up our old product development playbook. In its place, we developed a new approach: IBM Design Thinking. Following this new framework, IBM’s designers, developers, marketers and others combined forces to create Bluemix, which reimagines the cloud […]
The Future of Retail is Consumer-Connected and Cognitive
The retail business model is being disrupted and the industry knows it. In a recent study, 58 percent of retailers agree that businesses focused only on brick-and-mortar stores will not survive past the near future, and 72 percent of respondents stated that they believe one or more prominent merchants will disappear in the next one-to-three […]
Analytics-based Insights from Experimental Retail Lab in Shanghai
This week at the National Retail Federation’s annual “Big Show,” thousands of retailers are coming together to meet with and learn from their peers. Much of the conversation will focus on the future of this industry, which has already shifted so dramatically in the recent decade as technology has changed both business models and consumer […]
How Mobile Apps Are Improving Government Engagement
More than 90 percent of American adults own a cell phone, most of which are smartphones. On average, we have about 40 mobile apps on our phones, helping us search for things like where to eat and shop, or what the day’s forecast will bring. Government agencies are getting in the game too. Want to know […]
How Watson & Bluemix Helped Bring Our Ad Targeting Idea to Life
How crazy is it that a simple thought or thread of a conversation can develop enough momentum to change your life? We are a group of four friends and by profession, we are software developers. We have been working in the services industry for the past five years and programming has been our passion. A couple […]
The Next Grand Challenge: Computers That Converse Like People
Computer scientists have long dreamed of creating machines that can carry on free-wheeling conversations with people. So far, in spite of tremendous efforts in the field of speech recognition, natural language processing and other facets of artificial intelligence, even the most loquacious computers and smartphones are not yet great conversationalists. But that may change in […]
Inside IBM: The Inventors Who Are Creating the Era of Cognitive Computing
How many times have you been raving about a great movie and, suddenly, you draw a blank on the star actor’s name? Don’t worry, it happens to everybody. Well, in the not-too-distant future, when you get hung up, you may get a timely assist from a computer—one smart enough to complete your sentences for you. […]
IBM’s Cognitive Computing Innovation Surges
IBM’s work in cognitive computing emerged as a major factor among the patents awarded to the company by the US. Patent and Trademark Office. More than 800 of IBM’s 7,355 2015 patents are related to cognitive computing, a 52% increase from the previous year. Last year, IBM announced that it has realigned its entire business […]