In-market Research

In the last two decades, the world’s water consumption rate has increased almost two times faster than the rate of population growth. Sources of fresh water are becoming scarce; some economists claim that water prices will eventually catch up with that of oil.

Compounding this issue are the many defects that exist in today's water management systems. According to the International Water Association, water leakage from distribution networks around the world averages approximately 15 - 30 percent of the total water flow. In addition, pipe bursts in a medium - sized city number as high as 250 ~ 300 annually, posing a great threat to the public infrastructure.

In light of this reality, IBM Research is collaborating with several water authorities from Asia Pacific and North America to develop a data analytics - driven asset management approach to water management. By introducing such “smarter” systems, water authorities are able to gain insights and then take prescribed actions to better maintain adequate supplies of fresh water. The system can reduce emergency situations and down time through predictive maintenance; increase production efficiency by automating tasks such as aeration and chemical dosing control; improve operational performance by optimizing routine tasks such as maintenance planning and pump scheduling; and achieve effective balancing of water demand and supply.

An application developed by IBM Research - China is in the area of pipe main fallure prediction. IBM researchers have developed a mathematical model that considers a comprehensive range of factors in predicting physical damage to a pipe managed system, including: physical features of the pipes themselves such as age, material, diameter, length, corrosion protection; historical failures; operational factors including water pressure and quality; and environmental factors such as weather, soil, and traffic. The result is a five to twelve times improvement in the precision of pipe failure prediction.

The core techniques employed in this water management solution also can be applied in other infrastructure and asset management areas. By varying the risk and impact factors, this data - analytic method can be used for preventative planning and maintenance management for other networks such as oil, gas or railways. By reducing the time, cost and labor required for oversight - while simultaneously minimizing the occurrence of negative incidents, we hope this technology can lead the way to a future of optimized infrastructure and asset management.

Each year nine billion gallons of fuel are wasted in traffic congestion. Across the globe, driver frustration and increasing pollution are causing urban transportation managers to rethink how transportation systems can be designed and optimized.

Collaborating closely with top institutions such as Tsinghua and Northeastern Universities
in China, scientists from IBM Research - China are using advanced analytics, network optimization, and simulation technologies to understand the flows of current traffic patterns and help resolve the increasing challenges of urban transportation systems.

First, transportation data is collected from multiple sources such as on - board devices, mobile phone logs, and public news information. Then, a Universal Transportation Model is created to describe the relationship between road networks, moving entities, events such as accidents or road closures and other traffic-related material. Next, transportation data is integrated to construct intelligence on dynamic vehicular travel demand and optimal travel routes. Finally, by using insights derived from the Universal Transportation Model along with the integrated transportation data, various solutions and services are recommended for adoption by urban transit managers and the public. Before approval of any new policies or systems, however, algorithms in the model test whether implementation of such policies would solve transportation challenges such as congestion, pollution, safety and security.

The results of this data - analytic, network optimization approach can be seen in multiple projects conducted by researchers in the field. In the capital city of one Southeast Asian country, IBM Research - China has collaborated with local mobile operators to generate real - time traffic maps and deliver them to smart phone users in the form of congestion alerts which include suggestions for alternative routes. And in a large metropolitan area in the Chinese province of Liaoning, officials are challenged by rapid growth in the number of vehicles and a complex environment of mixed road uses that includes pedestrians and electronic - bicycle traffic. Here, scientists from IBM Research - China are partnering with experts from other IBM business units to generate traffic insights and predictions which will serve as the foundation for development of new transportation services. These advances - such as bus arrival prediction and dynamic route guidance - can reduce overall congestion, decrease carbon emissions, lower commuting time for the general public and improve the service level throughout the public transportation system.

Modern - day companies are operating under increasing constraints. As if minimizing environmental impact, improving operating efficiencies and reducing costs aren't difficult enough, the challenges are compounded by their need to deliver a better experience for their clients.

By providing a deeper understanding of overall supply chain logistics, IBM Research - China developed “Green Supply Chain,” an analytical tool that helps clients optimize their business decisions for lower CO2 emissions, lower cost and improved service levels - or all three simultaneously.

Chinese shipping and logistics giant COSCO used Green Supply Chain to gain a better picture of its supply chain infrastructure. The tool can be used to evaluate the CO2 emissions of materials and aid in identifying alternatives; consider CO2 emissions when selecting suppliers for sourcing; determine CO2 emissions associated with manufacturing production processes; evaluate the environmental impact of warehousing and storage requirements; and analyze CO2 emissions for various transportation and distribution modes, shipment sizes and service levels.

After receiving a detailed analysis of its operations, COSCO reduced its number of distribution centers from 100 to 40, lowered logistics costs by nearly 25 percent and reduced CO2 emissions by 15 percent. From an environmental perspective, these reductions enabled COSCO to avoid 100,000 tons per year of CO2 emissions, while maintaining service levels for clients and incurring no additional costs.

The success of Green Supply Chain is based on open collaboration. Key technologies, such as large scale optimization and real - time simulation leveraged the experience gained from IBM's Shared University Research program with Tsinghua University on carbon effective supply chain simulation and optimization.

While information technology plays an increasingly important role in supporting business needs, many companies - especially those from emerging countries - cannot fully benefit from IT advancements due to cost and skill requirements.

One recent study in China revealed that over 43 million companies are suffering from significant underinvestment in IT. This statement is especially true for the sizeable small - and medium - sized business segment in China.

The emergence of the Web and cloud computing model enables IT services to be delivered to a massive number of companies in a cost - effective manner drastically different from conventional IT systems. It enables smaller businesses to avoid the urden of soaring IT expenses and helps achieve business agility and rapid growth.

At Wuxi Software Industry Development Co., Ltd. (Wuxi iPark), scientists from IBM Research - China have helped build a cloud service platform, allowing independent software vendors (ISVs) to dramatically reduce costs and to accelerate development of business applications by acquiring technology as a service. Built on a software service research project, it includes cloud - based software engineering as a service (SEaaS), software service technical incubation, operational and hosting services as well as market monitoring. It integrates technologies and concepts from cloud computing, software - as - a - service (SaaS) and software engineering. As service subscribers, ISVs located in Wuxi iPark can leverage an Innovation Incubation Platform to conduct project incubation, development and testing. These ISVs - which are often small start-up businesses - can remotely access a vast resource of computing capabilities at any time, just as they use utilities and other shared services, with service fees imposed according to usage. This new business model allows ISVs to reduce their IT investment and related maintenance and free up capital and other resources for business activities such as sales, marketing and support. The new cloud computing offering is also targeted at helping ISVs reach new markets by providing the ability to sell their software solutions hosted as Web - based services to customers around the world. The cloud services delivered via this platform enable the end - user companies to enjoy a new generation of low cost and secured business application services to better serve their dynamic business needs.

In addition, municipal governments in China have collaborated with IBM to successfully build their SaaS operations, and IBM teams are working with industry partners to promote Web - delivered cloud service platforms in key industries such as telecommunications, healthcare and retail. In the near future, these regional and industry - specific platforms will be interconnected to form a network of service cosystems, resulting in better IT infrastructure for these industries and for China as a whole.

Chronic diseases are reaching epidemic proportions worldwide. According to a World Health Organization report, deaths from these diseases, including heart, disease, stroke, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases and some cancers - a count for 60 percent of all deaths worldwide. In China, deaths from chronic diseases are increasing continuously and becoming a severe economic burden. From 2005 to 2015, estimated losses in national income due to premature deaths caused by heart disease, stroke and diabetes are predicted to jump from $18.3 billion to $131.8 billion.

Researchers from IBM Research - China are building a smarter healthcare system for improved chronic disease management and prevention by leveraging research on various aspects of evidence-based medicine, such as clinical and translational research, clinical decision support, and connected health.

One such breakthrough is the Evidence - Based Patient Centric Care (ePC3) system developed as part of a first - of - a - kind project in partnership with Peking University People's Hospital. Currently, patients' medical records are scattered across various healthcare providers, often leading to cumbersome patient referral procedures that waste time, money and precious medical resources. Through ePC3, People's Hospital will be able to create longitudinal electronic health records (EHR) to track patients over time. These records will then be shared among and updated by patients' healthcare providers throughout treatment cycles. To provide standardized treatment to patients with chronic disease, ePC3 is applying evidence - based medicine to manage clinical processes and to provide decision support for clinicians at the point of care. By creating longitudinal EHR for patients throughout treatment cycles, and by analyzing the effectiveness of medical treatment based on guidelines, the system helps improve the quality of care significantly while reducing the costs.

Another breakthrough is an electronic medical record system deployed with the Guangdong Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The system integrates complex medical information into a single, cohesive record that can be easily shared. Known as the Clinical and Health Records Analytics and Sharing (CHAS) system, this first - o f - a - kind system incorporates advanced semantics technology from IBM to analyze the scientific meaning of specific terms used in individual patient records and is able to standardize those terms, regardless of format, terminology or language. This results in simplified data tracking and rapid data access for healthcare providers. With information on both Traditional Chinese Medicine and Western medicine in a single location, hospital personnel can analyze the effects of both disciplines and determine the best treatment plan for each condition, thereby resulting in better clinical outcomes.

Reference:
Preventing Chronic Diseases: A Vital Investment, WHO, 2005

In the 21st Century, extensive use of renewable and distributed energy resources will be vital to reducing carbon emissions and energy losses throughout the electricity network. Traditional electrical grids-which rely heavily on fossil - fuel - based generation and long - distance electricity transmission - consume high levels of natural resources and are reaching full capacity, as evidenced by blackouts during peak demand.

At IBM Research - China, scientists are investigating and validating next – generation technologies that can enable the integration of renewable and distributed energy sources such as wind, solar and hydro. A “micro grid” testbed-a low - voltage distribution system with small wind turbines, solar photovoltaic modules, storage devices and controllable loads-has been built to facilitate this research.

The micro grid system will monitor, predict and control the future energy value chain based on leading - edge mathematical modeling, statistics, simulation and optimization technologies. It will help develop solutions to currently challenging energy problems such as monitoring and predicting power generation in fluctuating environments; controlling and dispatching energy sources and storage devices to meet electric demand; boosting local reliability while reducing carbon emissions; enabling end - users to reduce or shift energy demands, and optimizing electric vehicle charging in accordance with available wind or solar energies in a balanced way. By relying on local power generation and by structuring smaller grid areas to be isolated from the rest of the grid if a failure occurs, the micro grid could represent the solution to boosting the reliability of the electric grid of the future.

Working with Tsinghua University, research institutions and industry partners, IBM Research - China is dedicating itself to simulating and building small collaborative micro grids that will be interconnected with each other, as well as to the main grid. This system of systems will help enable a future in which distributed networked, and automated power systems will supply sustainable and renewable energy under the greatest climate and environmental challenges.

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