IBM to Collaborate with Leading Singapore Institutions

IBM has announced a research collaboratory in Singapore, where researches from IBM will collaborate with Singapore local institutions to improve urban services. This is one of the project which will come under IBM Smarter Planet strategy.

From the news,

IBM will work with several agencies including the Economic Development Board (EDB) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to develop decision support tools to help Singapore more effectively manage its resources. As part of these efforts, IBM also intends to drive research collaborations with an ecosystem of research institutes and universities in Singapore.  

The collaboratory will enable world-class researchers in Singapore and IBM's mathematical experts, renowned for applying advanced analytics to solve real-world issues, to share skills, assets, and resources to achieve common research goals.

Singapore is one of the most advanced cities with extremely high demands placed on its urban infrastructure (water, transport and energy) due to its geography, size, population and dependence on neighbors for natural resources such as water and power. The country has also been at the forefront on the global stage in rallying for liveable and sustainable cities for the future. Besides promoting a learning network through the hosting of the biennial World Cities Summit, Singapore also aims to serve as a living lab for companies to test-bed innovative solutions for densely populated, compact urban environments. The research collaboratory for smarter cities will advance this endeavor.

The Group director of LTA Singapore Dr Chin Kian-Keong stated

"For LTA, the use of technology has always been at the forefront of what we do - how do we squeeze out more efficiency out of our transport system, and at the same time making it safe." 

Dr Chin said the research could provide intelligent solutions to real-life transport problems. "If you can get information of any traffic congestion to motorists way before they reach this incident side, and get them to detour, that will help to relieve the congestion that can be caused," added Dr Chin. 

While Singapore already has mechanisms to control traffic and the traffic alerts in place, I believe this initiative would push it even further and could well end up with personalized commuting. Here is a little video to illustrate some of the upcoming innovations from IBM where personalized commuting is a part of it. Come to think of it, I see Singapore is already laying foundations for personalized commuting.