Green Horizons
In collaboration with major global cities like Beijing, New Delhi, Johannesburg and others, IBM Research-China is spearheading Horizons, a global initiative to enable governments, utility companies and factories to better understand and improve their relationships with the environment and to help tackle pressing issues related to air pollution and climate change.
To help address the issue of air pollution – considered to be the greatest environmental threat to human health – IBM has developed next-generation pollution forecasting and management systems which draw on vast amounts of data from environmental monitoring stations, weather stations, traffic cameras, and meteorological and environmental satellites. AI is being used to better understand this data, and use it to tune a predictive model that shows where the pollution is coming from, where it will likely go, and what will be its potential effect, allowing more informed decisions about how to improve air quality. Machine learning technologies ensure that the system automatically adjusts its predictions to different seasons and types of local environments.
Interactive Green Horizons experience
IEEE Spectrum: AI & Big Data vs. Air Pollution
AI for Healthcare
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AI for healthcare
With the world’s largest population, China generates an unprecedented amount of medical data. It’s an ideal harvest ground for the development and application of AI solutions that extract insights from data to improve medical management.
Chinese healthcare has undergone a huge transformation over the past 20 years. The digitization of medical records resulted in a surplus of structured and unstructured data. And although algorithms have been developed to analyze and understand most structured data, current systems have a tough time making sense of unstructured information, such as clinical narratives, medical images, medical reports, operation notes, and discharge summaries from the roughly 7 billion hospital visits each year in China.
The healthcare sector needs a faster approach to help researchers and doctors cope with the medical data explosion. At IBM Research – China, researchers are using machine learning, natural language understanding, and analytical reasoning to create new tools to help doctors improve patient care and diagnosis accuracy.
IBM Research-China Showcases 8 Papers at Medinfo 2017
Improving Healthcare in China with Cognitive Analytics
Artificial Intelligence
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Artificial Intelligence
IBM Research – China is exploring new ways to apply AI to challenges across industries including healthcare, finance, manufacturing and retail. The focus of this work is to create self-learning systems that augment human perception and decision-making. We are working to advance AI solutions equipped with the capability to listen, interact, speak, see, and analyze structured and unstructured data analysis.
For example, experts at IBM Research-China have built an acoustics analysis service that learns and understands different sounds made by machinery and can make recommendations on maintenance based on sounds. This project uses acoustic signal processing and machine learning technologies, and could be used to reduce human errors and labor costs related to manufacturing equipment repairs.
Using blockchain to re-imagine fundamental business processes and digital interaction
Experts at IBM Research-China are working with clients in government and industry to design and develop blockchain solutions that create trust and remove frictions that inhibit business. We're building networks to simplify and secure all types of digital transactions, from loyalty programs, supply chains, and carbon exchanges to commodity trading and real estate.
Around the world, there is an urgent need for establishing trust in the fresh food supply chain in relations to consumers. Together with industry giant Walmart and Tsinghua, the leading university in China, IBM introduced a new model empowered by blockchain to track food from provenance to end consumers.
The blockchain approach is designed to track the flow of pork by recording each transaction throughout the supply network, thus protecting the network from fraud and inaccuracy. Digital product information such as farm origination details, batch numbers, factory and processing data, expiration dates, storage temperatures and shipping detail are digitally connected to food items and the information is entered into the blockchain. The information in each transaction is agreed upon by all members of the business network and once there is a consensus, it becomes a permanent record that can’t be altered, ensuring that all information about the item is accurate.
The partnership will enable Walmart to trace products from an ecosystem of suppliers and ultimately provide customers detailed, credible product traceability and authenticity. It will also help Walmart better supervise and manage the shelf life of products and reduce the risk of non-compliance in individual stores.
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