IBM Announcement: The new Watson Ecosystem!
Today represents a milestone in the IBM Watson journey: the IBM Watson Ecosystem!
As you may recall, the Watson Technology is at the forefront of the next generation of cognitive computers: systems that can mine vast amounts of structured and unstructured data and share insights using natural language. Now, through the IBM Watson Ecosystem, you will have the opportunity to leverage this technology in the Cloud to build your own disruptive applications. We are initially focusing on the healthcare, travel and retail industries (in English language) but will be expanding this over time.
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So, how exactly can you partner with us to develop ground-breaking solutions?
We offer three options:
1) Application partners can leverage the Watson Developer Cloud to build solutions using the IBM Watson technology
2) Content partners can deliver knowledge and expertise through the Watson Content Store
3) Partners with strong skills in the areas the Watson Ecosystem covers can offer these through the Watson Talent Hub.
Organizations that are interested in collaborating with IBM to develop Watson-powered applications can learn more here.
Winning the war for Skills: IBM Announcement Analytics Talent Assessment
Last week, IBM co-hosted the Big Data & Analytics EdCon event (with Syracuse University School of Information Studies (iSchool) and University of Ottawa Telfer School of Mgmt), bringing together leading academic thinkers who are pioneering curriculum in the Analytics space. All are wrestling with how to strike the right balance among interdisciplinary topics to achieve the right blend of market-ready skills in their students.
Data is exploding!
We all experience the explosion of data from my fav social to sensors in factories. Due to this explosion,all companies need more data scientists, analytics professionals and Big Data trained decision makers who can not only crunch data, but turn it into effective strategy.
Creation of a skill gap.
There is a widely-discussed skills gap between the growing number of jobs being created to support Big Data & Analytics and the available talent pool to fill these jobs.This "skills gap" is a significant concern across industries. Our research uncovered a dramatic gap in analytics skills, with only 1 in 10 organizations believing it has the skills it needs to be successful.
Collaborate to win!
To narrow this gap, IBM is collaborating with more than 1,000 academic partners to develop curriculum that reflects the mix of technical and problem-solving skills that is necessary to prepare students for Big Data and analytics careers, across all industries.IBM has a unique, hands-on model for collaborating with universities to build degrees and coursework from the ground up via the Academic Initiative ( this is part of my new role as the IBM General Manager of Ecosystem Development! )
- We provide schools with access to IBM Big Data and analytics software
- We help faculty develop curriculum materials
- We build case study projects for students based on real-world business challenges
- We offer IBM experts who visit classes as guest lecturers
- We make available faculty awards, whose funding fuels new coursework on Big Data and analytics
- Faculty members become part of a global community of educators working together to educate the next generation
Announcing the Analytics Talent Assessment!
The Analytics Talent Assessment offers insight from IBM clients (see the press release below showcasing both Boeing and Nationwide) on what analytics skills drive positive business outcomes.
Using the IBM Analytics Talent Assessment, university students can now gauge their readiness for public and private sector Big Data and analytics careers and gain guidance on ways to develop and position themselves for these in-demand jobs through a simple online questionnaire.
The eight universities piloting the assessment (Fordham University, George Washington University, Illinois Institute of Technology, University of Massachusetts Boston, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, Southern Methodist University and the University of Virginia) are pioneers teaching Big Data & Analytics skills"
-- Fordham's dual track degrees, which are designed to train marketing analytics professionals
-- GWU's career-track courses support fields such as sports and marketing
-- IIT integrates Big Data and Analytics courses in their Stuart School of Business
-- UMass Boston offers an undergraduate and a graduate concentration in Business Intelligence
-- Northwestern University offers an MS in Analytics as well as an online MS in Predictive Analytics
-- The Ohio State University is partnering with IBM Academic Initiative to develop undergraduate and graduate big data and analytic programs
-- SMART projects with schools like SMU bring bring together a commercial entity with a real world problem that students can then apply analytic skills to solve
-- University of Virginia McIntire School of Commerce offers an undergraduate Business Analytics track and they continue to broaden their Big Data and Analytic programs.
This focus is essential for winning the war for talent. With the access of the technology and expertise for the assessment, this initiative provides the insight into today's state-of-the-art curricula, and provides the client insight, technology, and proven outcomes these skills can drive.
Your mother told you "Social Skills" mattered! She was right!
Your mother told you "social Skills" mattered! She was right! A Harvard Business Review survey showed that only 12 percent of companies using social media think they do so effectively. It will very important that companies train their employees on social usage, and hire the right set of people to drive social. For instance, not just community managers, but social analytics specialists, social innovation officiers, and more. Make sure you don't forget to focus on these skills!
And these skills need to extend into the board room. Meet the new C Suite! Full of T shapped Skills! Social and social tools means that CMOs need to know more about Technology, and that CIOs need to understand more about how to engage clients, and marketing. With CEOs, according to IBM's CEO Study, understanding that social will be the #1 way to engage clients by 2015, it is imperative that both roles learn more about the broader equation.
Social inside a company's 4 walls continues to outpace external. Why? Employee engagement drives client engagement. According to IBM's latest trend study, 43% of clients are now using social inside of their 4 walls. 41% use it more externally. This trend will continue as the economics drive the need for stronger employee engagement. Social drives higher engagement when employees can leverage social to innovate inside the company. But first they need the skills.
Have you developed a skills plan?
Social and your personality test!
You have to watch this one! This behavior way of blending recommendations will have a major impact on the market!
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A FRIDAY question - What is an inspirational leader?
A few people have me about inspirational leadership.
This is my video blog trying to express what it means to me. I'd love to hear your thoughts too!
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GET BOLD, Live Social !
My favorite Get Bold readers!!
A few weeks ago I had the privilege and pleasure of speaking (virtually!) at the Women’s Toolbox Conference that took place in Beverly, Massachusetts. I gave the attendees some of my favorite tips on how to integrate social into their business strategies, and they also received complimentary copies of my book Get Bold--because that’s exactly what I want them to do!
Then I challenged my readers to go online and let the world know if they are really ready to #GETBOLD with their business. They did a great job declaring how they plan to #GETBOLD! Here are some of my favorites:
I will Get Bold in my business by building the sales engine. We provide high quality language translation services and we need to get the word out about us. The sales engine will include top people, clear metrics, and increased sales.Wendy Pease Rapport International - http://rapporttranslations.com/
I will Get Bold in my business by nurturing my communities, sharpening my skills, and helping fellow entrepreneurs stand out from the crowd through smart, targeted marketing! Sandra Larking Metaphor Maven - http://themetaphormaven.com/
I will Get Bold in my business by being open and honest about my own experience of being $50,000 in credit card debt to help others learn how to get out of debt, think of debt differently and make sure they never get back into debt. Maureen Campaiola The Debt Free Project - http://thedebtfreeproject.com/
I will Get Bold in my business by Imagining. Clarifying. Executing.Helping emerging women entrepreneurs generate six-figure incomes by managing conflict and doing business like a woman ..She E.O [not CEO] Deborah Thorne The Information Diva - http://theinformationdivaonline.com/
Connect 2014! IBM's Largest Social Event! Join me!
Connect is coming! YEA!
With Halloween behind us, it's no surprise we're seeing Black Friday previews online and Christmas tree displays in stores. (I've actually seen displays as early as September!) This abrupt change of season is a reminder that 2014 is quickly approaching, bringing more changes. But as far as I can see, the changes on the horizon look very good.
For starters, the Connect 2014 Conference, January 26 - January 30, is expanding to reflect the growing breadth of what it means to be a social business. In addition to the strategic social business content we saw last year and the Technical Program, Connect 2014 will include the Kenexa World Conference - focused on empowering HR, your workforce and your business. This addition addresses exactly what we are seeing in the marketplace; in order to be competitive, your business strategy needs to consider social, mobile, cloud, a smarter workforce, digital, smarter commerce and analytics. And even more importantly, businesses have to figure out how to integrate these game-changing technologies into a seamless customer experience.
We're also getting an earlier look at the sessions for Connect 2014. The content team recently shared some IBM abstract submissions we can expect to see on the agenda, including IBM Sametime 9: From On-Premises to Mobile, Cloud and Beyond, Getting Beyond Theory and into Practice: Deploying Mail and Social Business in the Cloud and IBM Digital Experience Platform: Strategy and Roadmap. I'm told they will continue to release additional session titles on a regular basis. So stay tuned!
And in keeping with the theme of early holiday shopping, the conference team recently extended the early bird discount until December 13, 2013. With news like this, maybe Santa will want to start his shopping early too!
Socialytics! Ready, Set, Social Business Agenda!
Top 5 Questions on Social!
I was just looking at the Top 5 questions companies have about Social Media and in the Top 5 is "How do I create a social strategy?" In fact 83% say this is THE most important question to answer.
Companies around the world are now focused on becoming Social Businesses, estimated to be a $100B market by 2015. In the past, Social Media was top of mind for marketing and PR executives, with the focus on leveraging social tools like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and communities as a new form of media. As these social techniques have advanced, businesses are now applying their value to more than just marketing and public relations but to all processes in a business – including Human Resources, Marketing, Sales, Customer Service, Supply Chain and more. A Social Business is one that uses these social techniques in all of its business processes.
It's GLOBAL!
As I have traveled around the globe to over 78 countries, this trend is a global one. According to the GlobalWebIndex Survey of over 51K web users, use of social tools is now mainstream in all countries but Japan having over 50% of their population using the tools. Communities are the number social tool being used, with Facebook is the dominating communities, except in Russia, Netherlands, Japan and China where local brands dominate. So with this major focus, how does your company start the journey?
So how do you do it?
Based on working with thousands of clients, below is a way to create your personalized Social Business Agenda.
A - Align your goals and culture to be ready to become more engaging and transparent. Do not underestimate the task ahead of you. Culture eats strategy for lunch. Take a look at IBM’s Social Computing Guidelines as a way to get started!
G – Gain Social Trust focuses on finding your fans, friends and followers, and forming best friends from your tippers or most influential clients or outside parties. It dives into what social trust is all about and how you instill it.
E – Engage through experiences focuses on how a company can engage its clients and employees and dives into gaming, virtual gifting, location based, mobile, or other stellar experiences to drive that engagement.
N – “Social” Network your processes. Since this is about business, figuring out how to add social technqiues to your processes is critical. Think about customer service — adding in Twitter to address your customer’s concerns. Or Crowdsourcing for product innovation, or Communities for incrementing your marketing processes around Loyalty!
D – Design for Reputation and Risk Management! This is the #1 areas of focus for the C level — managing the risk of having your brand online, your employees being your brand advocates, and even your clients becoming your marketing department! I think the value outweighs the risk .. but see how to develop a Disaster Recovery plan as you plan for the worst, and expect the best!
A – Analyze your data! Social analytics are the new black! You need to see the patterns of sentiment, who your tippers are, and listen daily !
Social Selling Tip: Celebrate your clients
This video blog is the last in the series of our Social Selling series.
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