IBM's Smart Approach Urges for $1.2 Trillion Investment

Speaking at the IBM Smarter Cities Forum, Shankar Annaswamy,Managing director,IBM India said that it is estimated that USD 1.2 trillion capital investment is needed to meet projected demand in (Indian) cities to transform the cities going forward(quoting a McKinsey & Company report)
Investment of about $1.2 trillion is required over the next 20 years across areas like transportation, energy and public security to build cities of tomorrow, IBM India Managing Director Shanker Annaswamy said.

In its 'Smarter Cities Forum',New Delhi; the company showcased case studies from all over the world with live demonstartions of their softwares and systems from their India Sofwtare Labs.

"By 2050, it is estimated that 70 per cent of the global population would live in cities as people migrate to urban areas for better opportunities. This would mean that cities need to be planned in a way to effectively handle the situation. Technology can be used to support the system and transform cities," said Samuel J Palmisano, IBM Corporation Chairman of the Board.

IBM showcased its case studies with countries like Saudi Arabia, the US and Philippines on systems like water and waste management where they have already implimented their projetcs. In India, it is also working with Konkan Railways, Jet Airways and Wave City.

IBM has taken a center stage in focusing the 'Smarter Cities-Transforming India, City by City' initiative; by unveiling new social sentiment measurement capability (based on analytics technologies) to help cities gauge and understand public opinions on issues and services like public transportation.

IBM unveiled very definate patterns for our metro cities in terms of traffic data etc. It conducted a Social Sentiment Index to analyse traffic in India's three largest cities -- Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore -- and what citizens felt about it.

The analysis of data from publically available social media showed the worst traffic congestion is primarily caused by accidents and bad weather in the three cities together.

Social conversation in Mumbai about stress around traffic is about half as high as Bangalore and New Delhi, the analysis showed.

"Using social sentiment analysis, city officials can leverage a wealth of information from public opinion to make better decisions around investments," Annaswamy said.

Delhites chattered about public transportation, weather and the stress of commuting, while Bangaloreans show more concern for their overall driving experience, construction and parking issues, and Mumbaikars are talking about private transportation, accidents and pollution more often.

Conversation in Bangalore around parking is viewed three times more negatively than in the other cities.

"Like all rapidly growing cities across the world, there are infrastructure growing pains in many Indian cities," said Guru Banavar, vice president and chief technology officer, Smarter Cities, IBM. "However, when city officials can factor public sentiment - positive, negative or otherwise - around city services like transportation, they can more quickly pinpoint and prioritize areas that are top of mind for their citizens. This could mean more targeted investment, improving a particular city service, more effective communication about a service that is offered, and even surfacing best practices and successful efforts that could be applied to other zones of a city."

IBM currently has over 2500 engagemnets all over the world with 21 in India only.