Paris - 08 oct. 2014: IBM (NYSE: IBM) a annoncé aujourd'hui une étape importante dans l'adoption des capacités cognitives en mode cloud de Watson à l'échelle mondiale. Watson est un système cognitif révolutionnaire qui représente une nouvelle ère informatique basée sur sa capacité à interagir en langage naturel, et qui est capable de traiter une multitude de données structurées et non structurées, tout en apprenant de chaque interaction.

 

Selon le cabinet de recherche en technologie Gartner, Inc., les machines intelligentes représenteront le changement le plus significatif jamais apporté par les technologies de l'information, pouvant rendre les gens plus efficaces et leur permettant de « défier l'impossible ».

 

Les avancées de Watson annoncées ce jour sont :

 

• L’adoption de Watson par les clients de 6 continents et plus de 20 pays, dont l'Afrique du Sud, l'Australie, le Royaume-Uni, la Thaïlande, le Canada, les États-Unis…
• L’apprentissage de l’espagnol par Watson grâce à un nouveau partenariat avec l’entreprise financière espagnole CaixaBank qui a pour but d’aider ses conseillers dans la recommandation de services bancaires à leurs clients.
• Les partenaires se lançant dans l’adoption et l’utilisation de nouvelles applications sous Watson dans les secteurs du voyage, du commerce de détail, des services informatiques, de la santé, et de l’associatif
• L’ouverture du siège mondial d'IBM Watson dans la Silicon Alley de New York, et cinq nouveaux centres d'expérience client Watson dans le monde entier
   
  « Le futur est arrivé, et Watson apporte avec lui une nouvelle ère informatique pour les organisations du monde entier, leur permettant de lancer de nouveaux services, d’adresser de nouveaux marchés, de les redéfinir et de transformer les industries », a déclaré Mike Rhodin, vice-président chez IBM Watson Group. « Watson alimente un nouveau marché et un nouvel écosystème de clients, partenaires, développeurs, investisseurs en capital-risque, universités et étudiants. Les prochaines grandes innovations viendront de gens qui sont capables de créer des connexions que les autres ne voient pas, et Watson rend cela possible ».

 

Les clients du monde entier adoptent Watson, qui au passage apprend l’espagnol

Watson prend de l'ampleur, et les clients adoptent les technologies cognitives pour transformer la façon dont ils interagissent avec leurs consommateurs. Aujourd'hui, IBM annonce que plusieurs nouveaux clients travaillent actuellement avec la société et qu’ils commencent à utiliser Watson sur des marchés au niveau mondial, avec par exemple un partenariat avec une banque de premier plan pour enseigner l’espagnol à Watson.

 
IBM investit plus d’1 milliard de dollars dans le groupe Watson, en se concentrant sur ​​la recherche, le développement des applications et les services cognitifs en mode cloud sur le marché. Cela comprend 100 millions de dollars destinés à l'investissement direct pour supporter l'écosystème d'IBM de start-ups et d’entreprises pour le développement d’applications cognitives réalisées avec Watson. Actuellement, plus de 2 000 organisations et entrepreneurs ont partagé leurs idées pour la création d'applications cognitives qui redéfinissent la façon dont les entreprises et les consommateurs vont prendre leurs décisions.

 

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IBM Watson Accelerates Global Expansion

     Thailand's Bumrungrad International Hospital, South Africa's Metropolitan Health & Australia's ANZ Global Wealth & Deakin University to Bring Watson to Market

Watson Learning Spanish With CaixaBank

Travelocity & Kayak.com Founder Redefines Travel Experience with Watson; First Wave of Start Ups & Partners Debut Watson-Powered Apps

Watson Global Headquarters Opens for Business in NYC's Silicon Alley

NEW YORK – 07 Oct 2014 – IBM (NYSE: IBM) is announcing significant milestones fueling adoption of Watson and cognitive computing cloud capabilities on a global scale. Watson is a groundbreaking platform that represents a new era of computing based on its ability to interact in natural language, process vast amounts of Big Data to uncover patterns and insights, and learn from each interaction.

According to technology research firm Gartner, Inc., smart machines will be the most disruptive change ever brought about by information technology, making people more effective and empowering them to "do the impossible."

IBM is advancing Watson technology around the world, announcing:

• Watson client engagements across six continents and more than 25 countries, including South Africa, Australia, the U.K., Thailand, Canada and the U.S.
• Watson is learning Spanish through a new partnership with Spain's CaixaBank
• The first wave of Watson Ecosystem Partners debuting new, in-market Watson-powered apps in industries such as travel, retail, IT services, healthcare and the non-profit sector.
• The opening of IBM's global Watson headquarters in New York City's Silicon Alley, and five new Watson Client Experience Centers around the world

 

"Watson is bringing forward a new era of computing, enabling organizations around the globe to launch new businesses, redefine markets and transform industries," said Mike Rhodin, Senior Vice President, IBM Watson Group. "Watson is fueling a new market and ecosystem of clients, partners, developers, venture capitalists, universities and students. The next great innovations will come from people who are able to make connections that others don't see and Watson is making possible."  

 

Clients Around the World Adopt Watson

Watson is gaining momentum as clients adopt cognitive technologies to transform how they interact with their customers. Since forming the IBM Watson Group in January of this year, Watson has been gaining momentum as new clients continue to implement Watson around the world:

• ANZ Global Wealth (Australia) -- In the next few weeks, ANZ will be unveiling the new Watson Engagement Advisor Tool in its Sydney ‘Grow’ center and will also launch it more broadly to more than 400 financial planners. By opening up the Watson tool to the external environment, ANZ will be able to observe the types of questions coming from both customers and financial advisors in order to continue enhancing Watson’s capabilities and insights. ANZ's goal for Watson is to enable its financial advice team to deliver an improved advice process – making it shorter and more efficient for the customer to receive a statement of financial advice, from weeks to just one session. The initial work of Watson is in the area of insurance and protection, and it will soon be expanded to cover the full wealth strategy including superannuation and investments.

 

• Bumrungrad International Hospital (Thailand) -- Bumrungrad plans to use Watson to improve the quality of cancer care at its medical center in Bangkok and case evaluation at referral offices in 16 countries on four continents. In a five-year commitment, Bumrungrad will use IBM Watson for Oncology, developed with Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK), one of the world’s leading cancer centers. The innovative system will help Bumrungrad doctors plan the most effective treatments for cancer patients based on each patient’s profile, medical evidence, published research, and the extensive clinical expertise of MSK. Watson will analyze vast quantities of this information and present a summary of findings relevant to each patient case, including treatment options based on National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. Headquartered in Bangkok, Bumrungrad is the largest private hospital in Southeast Asia and one of the world’s most popular medical destinations. Nearly half of its 1.1 million patients annually are from 190 countries.

 

• CaixaBank (Spain) -- CaixaBank and IBM are teaming up to develop a cognitive system built on Watson to understand Spanish. With the aim of providing best in class customer service, CaixaBank is a pioneer in the banking industry, including the world’s first deployment of IBM PCs at bank branches, the creation of the world’s first contactless ATM and the first app store for financial applications launched by a bank. This announcement is another milestone for CaixaBank, as the first organization worldwide working with IBM to teach Spanish to Watson. This agreement has been developed under a collaboration framework between the Digital Innovation Center of CaixaBank and IBM.

 

• Deakin University (Australia) -- In a world first, Deakin University will tap the power of Watson to develop an online student engagement advisor.  The student advisor application will deliver 24/7 instant online access via the web and mobile devices for the university’s 50,000 students. Ultimately, the advisor will also assist future students and staff working with students on everything from the simplest questions to tailored, personalized responses. Over the coming months, Watson will consume thousands of pages of Deakin's unstructured data contained in documents, presentations, brochures and online to ensure users receive consistent, high quality responses to the thousands of queries. The questions received will represent a broad range of topics, such as: “What do I need to enroll?” “What social activities are available at Deakin?” “Where do I find the biology building?” “What are the computing requirements for my course?” Over time, students who ask Watson a question can expect tailored information, personalized advice and information based on their individual profiles.

 

• Metropolitan Health (South Africa) -- In the first commercial application of Watson on the African continent, Metropolitan Health is using Watson to transform customer health advisory services for its three million customers. Metropolitan Health will provide personalized, outcome-based health and wellness services to citizens across South Africa. Using IBM’s Watson Engagement Advisor, the cognitive computing technology will help Metropolitan Health’s client care agents analyze the typically large volumes of complex unstructured and structured data, including product information and member profiles, so they can identify connections between customers’ needs and the growing volume of health and lifestyle knowledge. Watson helps these agents weigh various options available to members, enabling more effective decision-making and driving better health outcomes.  

 

 

Partners and Start Ups Debut Watson-Powered Apps   
With this announcement, IBM Ecosystem Partners are unveiling new, powered-by-Watson apps that aim to transform the way businesses interact with each other and with consumers – from better managing health and enriching the customer experience, to enabling new research and education.

• 
  For example, entrepreneur Terry Jones, the founder of Travelocity and founding chairman of Kayak.com, is launching WayBlazer, a new travel company powered by Watson. WayBlazer  uses the cognitive intellect of Watson to engage, learn, and advise users through a visual and natural language interface to create the best travel experience. The Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau is using a prototype version of the new WayBlazer app to improve convention bookings, increase hotel bookings and provide additional revenue streams from partner and affiliate marketing opportunities.

 

Watson is transforming healthcare, non-profits, retail and veterinary care:

 

• Red Ant (London, UK) offers a retail sales trainer mobile app that lets store employees easily identify individual customers’ buying preferences by analyzing demographics, purchase history and wish lists, as well as product information, local pricing, customer reviews and tech specs. It uses voice or text input to enable a natural question-and-answer interaction against the wealth of information available within a retail business, including product information, copybooks, manuals, customer reviews, and more.
• Reflexis (Dedham, MA) takes insights from Watson and provides prioritized real-time alerts and tasks with best practice actions to corporate, regional and store managers - based on local events, social media, and other influences on demand - to provide the best possible customer experience.
• Sellpoints (Emeryville, CA) understands the relationships between consumer questions and products. For example, when a shopper searches for a product using natural language, Sellpoints' Natural Selection app returns product results sorted by relevance to that unique individual.
• Findability Sciences (Waltham, MA) changes the way "good" is done by bringing a Watson app to the non-profit sector to enable funders and donors to ask questions using natural language and receive answers instantaneously. This enables funders to make smarter investing decisions and better work to maximize existing investments to deliver the most impact.
• LifeLearn (Guelph, Canada) is helping veterinarians provide better care for pets by empowering doctors with its mobile app, which crowdsources data using simple Q&A to identify better treatment options.
• GenieMD (Pleasanton, CA) is a mobile platform that empowers patients to ask questions regarding health conditions and medications, using conversational, natural language. Watson understands and can learn from the questions and answers, and provides sources of health information to patients.
• Welltok (Denver, CO) built the CaféWell Concierge app, which processes massive volumes of health data and content to dialogue with consumers and provide dynamic, personalized guidance to optimize their health.
• @Point of Care (Livingston, NJ) is a physician-facing mobile app that is successfully using Watson’s cognitive computing technology to understand questions posed in natural language and find relevant clinical information within resource libraries quickly and with a high degree of accuracy.
• SparkCognition (Austin, TX) the first cognitive security company, is deploying Watson to assist them in thinking like a security expert so they can discover potential threats that may not even yet exist, by making queries into an organization's Big Data.
• CHIPS Technology Group (Syosset, NY) is developing a Watson-powered solution that can process an extensive collection of disparate IT resources, such as articles, white papers and manuals to gain insights and deliver the right tech support response to end users on the first try.
  
  Read more on these partners stories here.

 

IBM Watson Global Headquarters Opens for Business in Silicon Alley

 
IBM is also announcing that the Watson Group’s global headquarters, at 51 Astor Place in New York City's Silicon Alley, is open for business. The Watson headquarters will serve as a home base for more than 600 IBM Watson employees, just part of the more than 2,000 IBMers dedicated to Watson worldwide. In addition to a sizeable employee presence, IBM is opening its doors to area developers and entrepreneurs, hosting industry workshops, seminars and networking opportunities to build enthusiasm and awareness among the New York City start up community.

For entrepreneurs and start ups, the Watson Group's Silicon Alley headquarters will provide technology, tools and talent to create and launch new products and businesses based on Watson's cloud-delivered cognitive intelligence. IBM will lead its cognitive computing innovation from the new global headquarters, collaborating with its five new Watson client experience centers around the world.

An interactive client experience lab will serve as a place for IBM clients to experience Watson and learn how they can help transform their businesses. In addition, the headquarters will host a design lab for continuously enhancing the user experience for cognitive applications and services used by IBM clients and partners. Workshops and seminars on topics such as development skills, as well as networking opportunities, will allow the community to experience firsthand how to bring new innovations to market. These events will also build upon IBM's academic partnerships to prepare university students for careers in cognitive computing, Big Data and analytics. This includes Watson-inspired business and technical challenges, new curricula, faculty grants and internships.

 

The New York tech industry continues to add jobs at a rapid pace, generating four times more jobs than any other industry from 2009-2013. IBM is committed to building on that momentum by partnering with local colleges and universities to equip students with the skills they'll need to blaze their own trails in the cognitive computing marketplace. This fall, students at New York University are among the first nationally to take advantage of a cognitive computing curriculum, while City University of New York (CUNY) students are participating in a semester-long Watson Case Competition, working to develop new applications based on Watson technology.

As clients adopt Watson globally, the need to have skills focused on cognitive computing to meet local client and partner needs is critical. IBM is announcing the opening of the first five Watson Client Experience Centers, co-located with IBM Research and Design teams, to provide the support and skills needed to fully adopt the Watson cognitive platform. The initial new centers will be located in Dublin, London, Melbourne, Sao Paulo and Singapore.

IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

 
IBM Watson represents a new era of computing in which apps and systems interact with human users more naturally, augment our knowledge with Big Data insights, and learn to improve how they assist us.

  
Fueled by innovation from a mission to transform industries and professions, Watson is uniquely positioned at the forefront of the new era of computing, evidenced by an unmatched demonstration of what cognitive systems can bring to transform decision-making. IBM is delivering a range of cloud-based products and services to clients in industries such as banking, healthcare, insurance, retail and education.  

In January, 2014, IBM launched the IBM Watson Group, a new business unit dedicated to developing and commercializing cloud-delivered cognitive advisors. The move signifies a strategic shift by IBM to deliver a new class of software, services and apps that think, improve by learning, and discover insights from massive amounts of Big Data.

IBM is investing $1 billion into the Watson Group, focusing on development and research and bringing cloud-delivered cognitive applications and services to market. This includes $100 million available for venture investments to support IBM’s ecosystem of start-ups and businesses building cognitive apps made with Watson.

For more information on IBM Watson, visit: www.ibmwatson.com

To join the social discussion about Watson, include the hashtag #ibmwatson. Follow Watson on Facebook and see Watson on YouTube and Flickr.

Check out the IBM Watson press kit at:

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27297.wss

 

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IBM Unveils New Start Ups and Ecosystem Partners Delivering Watson-Powered Apps in the Cloud

Watson Ecosystem Partners launch new business ventures in Financial Services, Healthcare, IT Services, Non-Profit, Retail, Security and Travel industries 

IBM Watson fuels the next-generation of cognitive computing solutions

NEW YORK CITY – 07 October 2014: Next generation leaders push themselves everyday to answer this key question: How can my organization make a difference? IBM (NYSE: IBM) is helping deliver the answer with new apps that are powered by Watson from Ecosystem Partners to improve the quality of life – from better managing health and enriching the customer experience, to enabling new research and education.

 
IBM's Watson is a groundbreaking platform that represents a new era of computing based on its ability to interact in natural language, process vast amounts of disparate forms of big data and learn from each interaction.

 
With 19 million global developers and a new generation of innovators entering the workforce, entrepreneurs, startups, and enterprises alike are looking for ways to mobilize their business, transform industries and improve society. According to technology research firm Gartner, Inc., smart machines will be the most disruptive change ever brought about by information technology, and can make people more effective, empowering them to do "the impossible."

 
IBM is advancing these new possibilities with Watson and is unveiling Ecosystem Partners that are making their visions a reality. Built on IBM Cloud with SoftLayer at its base, these apps use Watson's cognitive intellect in areas as diverse as helping physicians work with patients to better manage their health, assist veterinarians in providing the best possible care to animals, and tapping into personal preferences to help travelers plan the perfect vacation, and many more.  

"These innovators, embodying the entrepreneurial spirit, are transforming the ways industry and individuals operate harnessing the power of Watson's cognitive intellect and creating outcomes once thought impossible to achieve" said Stephen Gold, Vice President, IBM Watson Group. “This marks an important milestone for the Watson Ecosystem as we empower organizations to use next generation technology, using information as the cognitive fuel, to help solve formidable challenges across industries.”

Leveraging IBM Watson technology, these Ecosystem Partners have developed powered by Watson apps that are generally available and being used by customers and organizations today.

 
Transforming Travel

 
WayBlazer (Austin, TX), a new company led by travel visionary and entrepreneur Terry Jones -- founder of Travelocity and founding chairman of Kayak.com, is looking to redefine the travel experience. Researching travel alternatives can be a near impossible chore. Even for travelers that know their destination and dates, the sheer breadth of options and overwhelming amount of data requires visiting 20 or more website to research, compare, and book a leisure holiday. Powered by the cognitive intellect of Watson, WayBlazer knows, engages, advises, and learns about a consumer with each interaction, using a visual and natural language interface to make sure optimal travel choices are made. The Austin Convention & Visitors Bureau (ACVB) is using a version of the new WayBlazer app. With the app, the organization hopes to improve convention bookings, increase hotel bookings and provide additional revenue streams from Ecosystem Partner and affiliate marketing opportunities.

Transforming Retail

Red Ant (London, UK) is helping retailers, including Three, a UK-based mobile company, ensure sales associates exceed customers' expectations with its Sell Smart app built using Watson's cognitive computing technology. The mobile app is a retail sales trainer that lets employees easily identify individual customers’ buying preferences by analyzing demographics, purchase history and wish lists, as well as product information, local pricing, customer reviews and tech specs. It uses voice or text input to enable a simple question-and-answer interface against the wealth of information available within a retail business, including product information, copybooks, manuals, customer reviews, and more. Red Ant is a Watson Mobile Developer Challenge winner.

 
Reflexis (Dedham, MA) is working with Watson to enable retailers, Quick Serve Restaurants, hospitality, and other companies to uncover hidden demand triggers and provide the best possible customer experience. The company’s Watson interconnect module for the Reflexis StorePulse real-time execution application enables companies to drive best-practice actions in response to local events, social media buzz, news, weather, and other influences that affect customer demand.

Sellpoints (Emeryville, CA), an e-commerce technology provider, is unveiling its Watson powered app called Natural Selection, which uses natural language to put the right products in front of the right shoppers at the exact moment they’re ready to buy. For example, when a shopper searches for a product using natural language, such as “My second grader needs help learning science basics,” the cognitive app returns product results sorted by relevance, which subsequently increases conversion rates for the retailer.

Transforming Non-Profit

 
Findability Sciences (Waltham, MA) is bringing a Watson app to the non-profit sector to enable funders and donors to ask questions using natural language and receive answers instantaneously. This enables funders to make smarter investing decisions and better work to maximize existing investments to deliver the most impact. 

Transforming Veterinary Care

LifeLearn (Guelph, Canada) is changing the way veterinarians practice medicine by empowering them with the new LifeLearn Sofie™ mobile app, which helps doctors research different treatment options for animals. LifeLearn's beta client Animal Medical Center in New York is just one of the leading industry partners using LifeLearn Sofie™ to help improve patient outcomes. The Sofie app, built from scratch with Watson, crowdsources the expertise from the entire profession by analyzing data from text books, knowledge from doctors and teaching hospitals, and uses natural language Q&A to provide veterinarians immediate possibilities that equate to third and fourth professional opinions.

 
Transforming Healthcare

GenieMD (Pleasanton, CA) is using Watson's cognitive intellect and data analysis to understand an individual's personal health profile and asks Watson questions for the user so they don't have to in times of concern. For example, the GenieMD mobile app analyzes a persons profile and sends push notifications to the user with information on how to manage their diabetes or how to prevent hypertension. GenieMD is a Watson Mobile Developer Challenge winner.

Welltok (Denver, CO) is calling upon Watson’s unique ability to process massive volumes of health data and content within seconds. Building on Welltok’s health optimization platform, CaféWell Concierge dialogues with consumers and provides dynamic, personalized guidance to optimize their health.

 
@Point of Care (Livingston, NJ), a service provider for the health care industry, is using Watson to help physicians support patients with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). The physician-facing mobile app is helping the Multiple Sclerosis Association of America enable MS patients to better track and manage their symptoms easily from any device and will be rolled out across @Point of Care’s 15 other therapeutic areas.  

Transforming Information IT

 
SparkCognition (Dallas, TX), the first cognitive security analytics company, has created a Cognitive Security Insights (CSI) app with Watson to process data to deliver advanced cyber threat defense. Unlike existing security solutions, the Watson powered CSI app thinks like a security expert and can help stop threats for an enterprise. Client ExamSoft, and early adopter, is currently using CSI to reduce the costs associated with false positives, incorporate automated learning systems in the organization that retain critical knowledge, and enable intelligent detection and remediation that can keep up with a rapidly growing number of threats.

CHIPS Technology Group (Syosset, NY), an IT help desk provider for small-to-mid-sized businesses, is using Watson to help their engineers revolutionize the way IT support service is delivered. Watson enables CHIPS engineers to quickly source and provide clients like IT Solutions, Inc. with a high level of customer service, whether working with a mainstream or proprietary app. By rapidly processing an extensive collection of disparate resources, including articles, white papers and manuals, Watson delivers the right tech support response to end users on the first try.

This announcement reinforces IBM's strategy to fuel an ecosystem of innovators that are helping make cognitive computing the new standard of computing.

 
Helping Developers Create a New Class of Cognitive Apps
IBM is also extending the reach of cognitive computing by introducing new cognitive services that will be available on IBM Bluemix, IBM's cloud-based platform for mobile and web app development. Bluemix runs on SoftLayer, IBM's global cloud infrastructure. Now with little to no barrier to entry to cognitive tools, Bluemix users can access an evolving set of APIs and content to build apps, powered by Watson, that help accelerate, enhance, and scale human expertise for confident decision making.

The new services available through Bluemix include:

• User Modeling: Uses linguistic analytics to extract a set of personality and social traits from the way a person communicates. The service can analyze any public communication the user makes available such as their text messages, tweets, posts, email, and more. Users of the service can understand, connect, and communicate with people on a more personally tailored level by analyzing personality and social traits.

 

• Machine Translation: Converts text input in one language into a destination language for the end user. Translation is available among English, Brazilian Portuguese, Spanish and French.

 

• Language Identification: detects the language in which text is written. This helps inform next steps such as translation, voice to text, or direct analysis. Today, the service can identify 15 languages.

 

• Concept Expansion: Analyses text and interprets its meaning based on usage in other similar contexts. For example, it could interpret “The Big Apple” as meaning “New York City.” It can be used to create a dictionary of related words and concepts so that euphemisms, colloquialisms, or otherwise unclear phrases can be better understood and analyzed.

 

• Message Resonance: Analyzes draft content and scores how well it is likely to be received by a specific target audience. Today, analysis can be done against people active in cloud computing or big data discussions but future versions will let users provide their own community data.

 

• Relationship Extraction: Parses sentences into their various components and detects relationships between the components. The service maps the relationships between the components so that users or analytics engines can more easily understand the meaning of individual sentences and documents.

 

• Question & Answer: Interprets and answers user questions directly based on primary data sources that have been selected and gathered into a body of data or “corpus.” The service returns candidate responses with associated confidence levels and links to supporting evidence. The current data corpora on Bluemix focus on the Travel and Healthcare industries.

 

• Visualization Rendering: Takes input data and graphically renders it as an interactive visualization that can range from a common business chart to more advanced layouts. The visualizations can be easily modified to match user needs, visual styling, and types of data being analyzed.

 

IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

 
IBM Watson represents a new era of computing in which apps and systems interact with human users more naturally, augment our knowledge with Big Data insights, and learn to improve how they assist us.

  

Fueled by innovation from a mission to transform industries and professions, Watson is uniquely positioned at the forefront of the new era of computing, evidenced by its demonstration of what cognitive systems can bring to transform decision-making. IBM is delivering a range of cloud-based products and services to clients in industries such as banking, healthcare, insurance, retail and education.

  
In January, 2014, IBM launched the IBM Watson Group, a new business unit dedicated to developing and commercializing cloud-delivered cognitive advisors. The move signifies a strategic shift by IBM to deliver a new class of software, services and apps that think, improve by learning, and discover insights from massive amounts of Big Data.

 
IBM is investing more than $1 billion in the Watson Group, focusing on research, development and bringing cloud-delivered cognitive applications and services to market. This includes $100 million earmarked for direct investment to support IBM’s ecosystem of start-ups and businesses building cognitive apps made with Watson.

For more information on IBM Watson, visit: www.ibmwatson.com

 

To join the social discussion about Watson, include the hashtag #ibmwatson. Follow Watson on Facebook and see Watson on YouTube and Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_media/sets/72157648064706808/

Check out the IBM Watson press kit at:

http://www-03.ibm.com/press/us/en/presskit/27297.wss


Visual Assets:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_media/sets/72157648064706808/

 

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Digital Travel Pioneer Terry Jones Launches WayBlazer, Powered by IBM Watson

First Cognitive App is a Breakthrough in $1T Online Travel Industry

NEW YORK CITY & AUSTIN, TX. – October 8, 2014 – Industry pioneers in travel and technology are announcing WayBlazer, a company that uses leading edge technology to redefine the way consumers dream, plan, personalize and purchase travel.

The company is led by Terry Jones, founder of Travelocity and founding chairman of Kayak.com, who serves as chairman; Manoj Saxena, former General Manager of the IBM Watson Group, is co-founder and early investor.

 
WayBlazer utilizes the cognitive power of IBM Watson, which takes massive amounts of information and organizes it, infuses it with intelligence, personalizes it, and learns more with each use. The WayBlazer Insight Engine uses a standards-based cognitive cloud from Cognitive Scale, which is powered by IBM Watson technology.  

WayBlazer addresses the growing issue of the sheer breadth of options and data required of travelers planning their next destination. On average, users explore 20 or more websites to research flight, hotel, and activity information, while weighing personal preferences and insights from social networks, online review sites and more. WayBlazer will form the industry’s most robust travel concierge by letting its customers ask questions using a natural language interface. WayBlazer links places, offers, and preferences, with social, cultural and economic data to recommend targeted travel insights and commerce offers that are tailored and customized for each consumer’s experience.

  
“To date, online trip planning has been a complex and time-consuming chore lacking a way to connect, organize and personalize data,” said Terry Jones, WayBlazer’s executive chairman and co-founder. “WayBlazer, makes sense of the information overload and presents it to consumers as a personal travel concierge.  Travel suppliers from destinations and hotels to airlines and rental car sites can use WayBlazer to provide a one-stop solution with personalized recommendations, accelerating the pace and frequency of online bookings.”

“When IBM opened the Watson Ecosystem last year, the goal was to attract innovators to create new cognitive apps across many different industries," said Mike Rhodin, Senior Vice President, IBM Watson Group. “WayBlazer is a great example of how Watson can be leveraged as a game changing technology, and in this case, how people plan their vacations.”

 
WayBlazer has also partnered with the Austin Convention and Visitors Bureau who will use this technology suite across their online channels to source valuable traveler insights to generate relevant, location-aware and bookable content and offers for Austin.

“Austin has long been home to technology companies, start-ups and innovators, and with technology changing the way we travel, the Austin CVB is pleased to partner with Austin-based WayBlazer to bring this exciting travel tool to the marketplace,” said Bob Lander, Austin CVB President & CEO. “This technology is a real competitive advantage for Austin, and the functionality and industry changing capabilities that WayBlazer delivers creates a trusted travel advisor for any traveler or even locals looking for something new.”

Austin is also home to IBM’s Watson Lab. Comprised of a strong technical and academic community, Austin and greater Texas is now an innovation hub for cognitive computing.

 
The IBM Watson Solutions Lab excels as a development facility that benefits both IBM and its clients, with both learning from each other and exploring new areas for research and innovation.

 
About WayBlazer

Backed by The Entrepreneurs’ Fund, WayBlazer is a travel inspiration, recommendation and planning platform that provides travel industry professionals with the ability to deliver more personalized, relevant and valuable travel information to consumers. The privately held company is based in Austin, Texas and is led by seasoned travel and technology entrepreneurs, including the founder of Travelocity and founding chairman of Kayak.com.

 
The company’s flagship technology platform, the WayBlazer Insight Engine, harnesses the power of a standards-based cognitive cloud from Cognitive Scale which is powered by IBM Watson technology to streamline the online travel research, planning and booking process, resulting in higher customer satisfaction, loyalty and revenues. For more information, please visit http://www.wayblazer.com and follow WayBlazer on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

 

IBM Watson: Pioneering a New Era of Computing

IBM Watson represents a new era of computing in which apps and systems interact with human users more naturally, augment our knowledge with Big Data insights, and learn to improve how they assist us.

  
Fueled by innovation from a mission to transform industries and professions, Watson is uniquely positioned at the forefront of the new era of computing, evidenced by an unmatched demonstration of what cognitive systems can bring to transform decision-making. IBM is delivering a range of cloud-based products and services to clients in industries such as banking, healthcare, insurance, retail and education.  

In January, 2014, IBM launched the IBM Watson Group, a new business unit dedicated to developing and commercializing cloud-delivered cognitive advisors. The move signifies a strategic shift by IBM to deliver a new class of software, services and apps that think, improve by learning, and discover insights from massive amounts of Big Data.

IBM is investing more than $1 billion in the Watson Group, focusing on research, development and bringing cloud-delivered cognitive applications and services to market. This includes $100 million earmarked for direct investment to support IBM’s ecosystem of start-ups and businesses building cognitive apps made with Watson.

For more information on IBM Watson, visit: www.ibmwatson.com

 

To join the social discussion about Watson, include the hashtag #ibmwatson. Follow Watson on Facebook and see Watson on YouTube and Flickr: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ibm_media/sets/72157648064706808/r.ibm.com