Search This Blog

Showing posts with label cities. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cities. Show all posts

Wednesday, April 25, 2012

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


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
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/.

Friday, February 24, 2012

News Release from IBM - Smart Growth

City of Zhenjiang, China and IBM Collaborate to Build a Smarter City

IBM Smarter Cities Solution Helps Zhenjiang Boost Economic Development and Tourism Plans
Armonk, NY & Zhenjiang, China - 24 Feb 2012: IBM (NYSE: IBM) and the City of Zhenjiang, China today announced that IBM is helping to transform the city’s public transportation system. Zhenjiang will use hardware, software, services and technologies from IBM's Research labs, all brought together through the IBM Intelligent Operations Center (IOC) for Smarter Cities – a solution that will serve as the central point of command for the city.
Zhenjiang is a renowned historical and cultural city in the eastern People's Republic of China (PRC), a region experiencing rapid economic growth.  Zhenjiang has an estimated population of three million people and has become an important regional transportation hub due to its location near the intersection of the Yangtze River and the Grand Canal, the longest canal in the world.  It is also considered a state model for environmental protection.

To bolster economic development, increase tourism and improve overall public welfare, the city initiated the “Smarter Zhenjiang, Smarter Tourism” project which includes plans to replace and upgrade more than 400 bus stations and over 1,000 public transportation vehicles. In conjunction with the system-wide upgrade, Zhenjiang will rely on IBM’s Intelligent Transportation solution to provide city managers with a consolidated view of the transportation network, and initiate a new bus scheduling system that will use analytics technologies to manage traffic patterns and over 80 routes across the city.

A First-of-a-Kind (FOAK) IBM Research-developed platform will increase traffic throughput and improve the efficiency of its public transportation system while anticipating traffic jams before they happen. The solution will build on services assets that simulate transit fleets and passenger flow across the transportation network, while tapping into IBM technologies that enable real-time bus monitoring and route and dispatch management for the vehicle fleet.

The overall solution will provide a comprehensive, real-time picture of the city’s traffic network to alleviate congestion, improve traffic management, maximize road capacity, rapidly respond to incidents and enhance the travel experience for citizens, business travelers and tourists.

“Building a smart city has become a strategic choice of the city's urban development as it creates profound impact on the city’s information management standard and contributes to the formation of a huge industrial chain,” said Mingnian Yin, Director of Reform Commission, City of Zhenjiang.  “Working with IBM, we will make our public transportation system faster and more efficient, while making our city a better place to live in.”

“Our collaboration with Zhenjiang exemplifies IBM’s commitment to supporting the government's agenda to build smarter cities in China,” said D.C. Chien, General Manager, IBM Greater China Group. “We expect this collaboration to help transform the transportation system, support the government's effort of building a harmonious society, and accelerate the economic growth and transformation of this vibrant country.”

According to Pike Research, by 2020 the Asia-Pacific smart city technology market will be worth $5.5 billion annually - a cumulative investment of over $36 billion between 2010 and 2020.  China represents the largest single market in Asia for smart city technology, roughly 30 percent of the total opportunity.

"It’s estimated that up to $30 trillion will be spent on transportation infrastructure globally in the next 20 years. Building new physical infrastructure only goes so far, especially with the ever-present debate on the best ways to maintain roads, rails and terminals in the face of strained budgets and resources. By integrating technology and intelligence into the physical transportation infrastructure, cities can improve capacity, enhance the traveler experience and make transportation systems more efficient, safe and sustainable for future growth,” said Gerry Mooney, General Manager, Smarter Cities, IBM. "With the IOC, Zhenjiang has access to advanced analytics technology that will make it easier for the city to predict potential disruptions so that they can minimize impact and deliver better services to people living in and visiting their city.”

IBM's Intelligent Operations Center and Intelligent Transportation solutions draw on experience gained from over 2,000 Smarter Cities projects with cities around the world, and assets from IBM's hardware, software, services and research divisions. With flexibility and scalability, the Intelligent Operations Center can be extended to support a wide range of city services such as water management and public safety among others.