Smaller, Flatter, Smarter

Bob SutorIBM

We are at a new inflection point in the history of the IT industry, at a time when the world itself must

undergo significant transformations.

Our industry needs to put together the pieces, place some big bets,

get smarter, and take the next big steps.

With the huge buildup of computing and communication infrastructure, instrumentation, connectivity, and

processing power are now a given.

From an estimated 2 billion RFID tags in 2007, to possibly 30 billion produced globally in 2010.

By 2011, 1 trillion connected devices and 2 billion people on the Web.

In 2001, there were 60 million transistors for every human on the planet ...

… by 2010 there will be 1 billion transistors per human…

This year, IBM’s Roadrunner supercomputer broke the “petaflop” barrier – one thousand trillion calculations per second.

1,000,000,000,000,000/sec

So what do we with it?

Have we put it all to good use to solve the world’s problems?

Spreading the risk is not the same as understanding, tracking, and managing the risk.

Inefficient electrical grids around the world cause an estimated 381 kilowatt hours lost per person per year.

Forty-five percent of traffic on some streets in New York City is people circling the block looking for parking.

Congested roadways cost $78 billion annually in the form of 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons of wasted gas.

U.S. consumer product goods companies and retailers lose $40 billion annually due to inefficient supply chains.

We have the instrumentation, the connectivity, and the processing

power.

We have the convergence of traditional and now IT

infrastructures.

Do we move from “full of potential” to “intelligent” or “smart”?

Do we work to improve our lives and drive business growth, while

protecting the rights and freedoms of individuals?

Stockholm has deployed a smarter traffic toll system that reduced traffic 22%, dropped emissions 12-40%, and increased daily users of public transportation by 40,000.

German retailer Metro AG is using wireless tags to measure how long meat sits in refrigerated cases after it's cut and scanned. The tags constantly feed data to the market’s refrigeration area, letting workers know when the meat needs restocking.

The Beacon Institute for Rivers and Estuaries is creating a system that will provide minute-to-minute deep analysis of New York’s Hudson River via an integrated network of sensors and computational technology distributed throughout its 315 miles, allowing smarter shared use of this resource.

IBM is working with partners on several solar cell projects including solar magnification; flexible and thin CIGS technology; and silicon recycling from waste integrated circuits.

We can and need to do projects like these that require big bets and public-private partnerships around

the world.

The new political administration coming to Washington is likely more open to help make ours a

“smarter planet” than any before.

We need new kinds of leaders who can collaborate and cooperate globally and across disciplines.

We must deal with privacy and security concerns at the same time the smarter technology is built out.

Forget doing huge, integrated, intelligent systems using strictly

proprietary methods: open standards will be key.

[This] “is a way of encapsulating and conveying how IBMers think --

their dedication to progress and grounding in core values.”

Sam PalmisanoIBM Chairman and CEO

ibm.com