Big Data helps to Alleviate Diabetes with companies like Diabetizer
My brother has Diabetes. He has had it since he was young so I grew up with this disease in my family.
But a cure for diabetes could be imminent after scientists discovered how to make huge quantities of insulin-producing cells, in a breakthrough hailed as significant as antibiotics.
Harvard University has, for the first time, managed to manufacture the millions of beta cells required for transplantation.
It could eventually mean the end of daily insulin injections for the 347 million people globally living with Type 1 diabetes and it will provide new forms of treatment for those suffering with Type 2 diabetes.
In the meantime, take a listen to this set of BlueMix apps -- one of which is Diabetizer using "data" to help people with this disease. ( http://www.diabetizer.com/?lang=en )
VacantBoards uses Big Data and Analytics for the SmartCamp Lagos win!
Imagine a company that uses big data and analytic software to capture data on the flow of traffic to determine the value of advertising on billboards. A solution like that could help small businesses, as well as enterprise-level businesses, maximize their advertising dollars when selecting the right billboard.
You don't have to imagine that company, because we found them at a SmartCamp event! VacantBoards was announced the winner of SmartCamp Lagos!
VacantBoards developed the very solution I described above. Driven by big data and analytics, their solution is a game changer in the African advertising industry. And, even better, their solution is provided at the touch of your fingers through a mobile app! How powerful is that?!
Congratulations to VacantBoards and to the Lagos ecosystem for putting on another great SmartCamp!
Michael Sherman from UT Austin: people underestimate the power of Watson!
Michael Sherman is a student at the McCombs School of Business, UT Austin and winner of the recent Watson case competition on campus. He suggested a solution for Watson, the cognitive computer, that can navigate the vast amounts of accounting regulation: more than any human can process!
Learn more about Watson from our IBM SVP Mike Rhodin at TieCon this Friday in Santa Clara.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6d_NBA1nD8U]
Macy’s is dressing each customer with data and social!
I love this Macy's story of their use of Big Data and Social almost as much as I love shopping!!!!!
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vb1UJOxB1mY]
And read this case study! The highlights are:
- Macy’s wanted its online store to offer a more personalized shopping experience so they established a more engaging and data driven website.
- With IBM Big Data & Analytics, customer preferences can be combined with recent purchase histories to create personalized recommendations and promotions.
- The result, called "My Macy’s," is a sweeping initiative designed to embed a customer-centric philosophy into every aspect of the company’s operations.
http://www.ibm.com/smarterplanet/us/en/madewithibm/stories/#!story/20
At IBM Entrepreneur Week: 30 minutes you don’t want to miss! Eric Ries will ROCK it!
I am so excited! Did you hear?
Eric Ries @ericries, Lean Startup guru, will be a keynote speaker for the IBM SmartCamp Global Finals—happening during IBM Entrepreneur Week #IBMEW, February 3-7! Eric will talk about his new approach to business, called The Lean Startup, which maximizes a startup’s potential by using their resources more effectively. But that’s all I’m going to share here. Listen from Eric himself in the video below!
Register now for IBM Global SmartCamp Finals to hear from Eric in person at The Bently in San Francisco or watch via LiveStream. And don’t forget to take part in the other fabulous activities taking place during IBM Entrepreneur Week.
Check them out here!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yGwHPhssNoM&w=560&h=315]
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.