Singapore's National Environment Agency Collaborates With IBM To Improve Environmental Services Related To Air, Weather And Public Health

Harnessing advanced analytics to enable predictive insights and effective response to environmental events

For news release, click the link below:

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/38241.wss

Arizona's Desert Mountain Community Conserves Water with IBM Analytics

IBM's Intelligent Operations Center for Smarter Cities Gleans Insight, Increases Efficiency

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http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37984.wss

Recology Teams with IBM in Quest to Help San Francisco Become First City in North America to Achieve Zero Waste

News release from IBM.

IBM (NYSE:IBM) announced today a collaboration with Recology, San Francisco’s resource recovery company, to continue reducing landfill disposal by further improving recycling programs designed to help the city achieve zero waste by 2020.

For more, click the link below:

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/pressrelease/37874.wss

IBM and Bauman Moscow State Technical University Open Smarter Cities Development and Education Center in Russia

Collaboration will create new opportunities for students and support the development of Russian Cities

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ARMONK, N.Y. and MOSCOW - 25 Apr 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU) today announced the opening of a Smarter Cities Development and Education Center in Russia – the first of its kind in the region.

Located on the university's Moscow campus, the center will be home to a unique educational program giving students the chance to explore and apply IBM's latest technologies and solutions to improve the management of urban infrastructure and support the development of smarter cities. Aligned with the Russian government's priorities for the modernization and technological development of urban centers across the country, the center will support the development of IT skills crucial to Russia's innovation agenda.

"The launch of the new Smarter Cities Development and Education Center at BMSTU is a significant milestone for IBM in the Russian market and shows the maturity of the Smarter Cities vision," said Kirill Korniliev, Country General Manager of IBM in Russia and the Commonwealth of Independent States. "Skills are crucial for the development of smarter cities and by establishing this new facility we will open up new opportunities for young professionals and spur innovation in the field."

Students will be given the chance to explore how advanced technologies such as analytics software and mobile collaboration tools can help to integrate city systems such as water, traffic and public safety. A key component of the center will be IBM's Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities, which is designed to help cities of all sizes integrate city systems and apply intelligence to their operations through one central point of command. Some of the center's first development projects will look at how IBM's IOC solution can be integrated with data from  Russia's Global Navigation Satellite System, which already spans some 33 cities in Russia, to enable officials to better monitor and respond to city incidents.

"Creating this center gives rise to a new professional direction for our graduates," says Anatoly Alexandrov, Rector of Bauman Moscow State Technical University.  "This collaboration with IBM provides our graduates with skills that we believe will be in significant demand as Russia seeks to create Smarter Cities and increase its global economic competitiveness."

In the past two years, IBM has opened Smarter Cities centers in Dublin, Ireland in collaboration with Ireland's Industrial Development Agency and the University of Guadalajara in Mexico. The new center in Moscow is part of IBM's ongoing global effort to help students and city leaders develop expertise and apply innovative technologies to create smart solutions to tackle issues that have high social and economic impact for cities around the world.

About IBM

For more information about IBM Smarter Cities please visit: http://www.ibm.com/smartercities.

About Bauman Moscow State Technical University (BMSTU)

For more information about BMSTU please visit: http://www.bmstu.ru/english/.

IBM Analytics Help Sonoma County, CA Conserve Water

IBM Analytics Help Sonoma County, California Conserve Water

Automatic Leak Detection, Pressure Management Aims to Reduce Water Loss

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Sonoma County, CA, USA - 07 Mar 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) Research scientists and the Sonoma County Water Agency (SCWA), which supplies water to more than 600,000 people in the heart of Northern California’s wine country, have once again teamed up to address the pressing problem of water conservation. 

The new program, which builds on an existing IBM-SCWA water management collaboration, uses analytics technology to helpValley of the Moon Water District (VOMWD), a purchaser of wholesale water from SCWA, to reduce water loss. This is done by optimizing the setting of the pressure reducing valves at the entrance to their distribution network based on data from existing sensors as well as from SCADA, billing, pressure gauges, and flow loggers throughout the water system.          

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, much of the 880,000 miles of water pipes in the United States has been in service for decades – some for over 100 years – and can be a significant source of water loss. The World Bank estimates that worldwide costs from leaks total $14 billion annually.  

“We’re helping SCWA and Valley of the Moon to more efficiently analyze data, anticipate problems and manage resources,” said IBM Smarter Water Program Director Michael Sullivan.  “The ability to track water at such a granular level helps SCWA and Valley of the Moon make informed decisions about how to manage – and conserve – water along its entire lifecycle.” 

Developed by scientists at IBM Research – Haifa in Israel, the pressure management solution provides recommendations for water pressure adjustments based on usage, weather, and environmental conditions. The benefits of improved pressure management include reduced water loss, energy savings, and reduced wear on the infrastructure---alongside an improvement in the quality and turnover of stored water. 

 “We are proud to partner with IBM and SCWA on this First of a Kind Program to field test a non-invasive analytical tool to better manage water pressure and potentially locate leaks, said Krishna Kumar, General Manager, Valley of the Moon Water  District.  “I'm glad to see IBM taking the lead and employing its vast institutional strengths to forge unique public private partnerships to solve some of the pressing challenges faced by the water utilities all over the world.” 

Managing the pressure of a water system – comprised of pipes, valves, pumps, tanks and other equipment – is rife with complexity.  If a well stops working, some water tanks will not be filled. If pressure is increased to fill those tanks, other tanks may not be emptying as often as they should to maintain a proper exchange of water and maintain required water quality. Or, if there is a leak, reducing the pressure to one pipe will reduce the amount of water lost through the pipe, but it also means that some consumers may not have enough pressure in their taps at home. 

Prior to working with IBM, Valley of the Moon operations staff had to continuously – and manually –adjust the pressure of each valve to maintain optimal pressure across the system – a time consuming and inefficient process.  Now, IBM analytics provides the engineers with detailed information for recommendations of optimal settings for each valve based on what’s happening across the entire system so that valves can be quickly and easily adjusted as necessary. 

In addition to the pressure management work, IBM and SCWA are extending the new technology to also enable leak detection by comparing real-time information about the water system with expected and historical values. 

For more information about IBM Smarter Water, visit www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/water

For more information about IBM Research, visit www.ibm.com/research

For more information about SCWA, visit www.scwa.ca.gov

For more information on VOMWD, visit www.vomwd.com