Smarter Planet[1] is a corporate initiative of the information technology company IBM. The initiative seeks to highlight how forward-thinking leaders in business, government and civil society around the world are capturing the potential of smarter systems to achieve economic growth, near-term efficiency, sustainable development and societal progress.[2],[3]
Examples of smarter systems include smart grids[4], water management systems[5], solutions to traffic congestion problems[6], greener buildings[7], and many others. These systems have historically been difficult to manage because of their size and complexity. But with new ways of monitoring, connecting, and analyzing the systems, business, civic and nongovernmental leaders are developing new ways to manage these systems. IBM's strategy is to provide or enable many of these technology and process management capabilities and, outside of the realm of technology, to advocate for policy decisions that, according to the views expressed by IBM's management in interviews[8], speeches[9], op-ed articles and opinion advertising[10], and other public venues, could "make the planet smarter."
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In November 2008, IBM’s Chairman, CEO and President Sam Palmisano, during a speech[11] at the Council on Foreign Relations, outlined a new agenda for building a "Smarter Planet". The speech emphasized how the world's systems and industries are becoming more instrumented, interconnected and intelligent, and that leaders and citizens can take advantage of this state of affairs to improve these systems and industries.
In January 2010 Sam Palmisano gave a follow-up speech[12] to the Chatham House called the "Decade of Smart". He highlighted dozens of initiatives in which leaders created smarter systems to solve the planet's most pressing problems. The speech aimed to inspire others to follow the leads of these innovators by helping to create a smarter planet.
IBM has created an advertising campaign[13] to support its Smarter Planet agenda.
In 2008 and 2009, IBM ran a series[14] of full-page advertisements in newspapers such as the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal. Each of these "op-ads" featured an essay about a system or industry that IBM claims can be made "smarter" through the application of technology.[15]
IBM, under its Smarter Planet advertising campaign is supporting TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Talks.[16]
IBM has found that many of the challenges the planet faces are concentrated in cities. Cities struggle with traffic congestion, water management, communication technology, smart grids, healthcare solutions, and rail transportation, to name a few. For this reason, IBM has created its Smarter Cities[17] portal, which tracks progress on these issues in several key cities around the world. One such city is Dubuque, Iowa[18]
Premiering on April 15th 2010 at London's British Film Institute in the UK, IBM launched a film series to tell the story of smarter cities. The series, Cities: Our journey to a smarter future [19], focuses on the different challenges currently facing cities, and include contributions from various constituents who together can bring about progress.
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