ARMONK, N.Y. and GUADALAJARA, Mexico, Dec. 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced the creation of a Smarter Cities Exploration Center in collaboration with the University of Guadalajara (UdeG) in Mexico. Supported by technical and intellectual guidance of IBM's global research lab experts, the Center will be the first of its kind in Latin America, tasked with the mission to design solutions to tackle infrastructure challenges faced by Guadalajara and other cities around the world.
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City infrastructures that deliver vital services such as transportation, healthcare, education, public safety, energy and water, must rely on a wealth of new information and technologies that will allow them sense and respond intelligently to the needs of their growing populations.
Joint work between IBM and the University of Guadalajara will focus on research aimed at identifying ways to apply advances in technology to the high degrees of instrumentation and massive data volumes that comprise the core systems of a city.
The center has already started the development of a transportation pilot that could reduce commuting time in the city by 15%, representing approximately US$ 90 million in savings per year by enabling citizens to use their time more productively and decrease carbon emissions.
This pilot - the first in a series of initiatives - will provide real-time analysis and forecasting of traffic behavior for 1.7 million vehicles in Guadalajara, enabled by supercomputing technology, analytics and web services connected to mobile devices feeding updates to users. The objective is to increase the efficiency of commuting alternatives, including a 17-km-long (or approximately 10 miles) north-to-south corridor that currently takes more than an hour to complete.
Guadalajara is Mexico's second largest city. It is known as Mexico's leading IT hub and one of the most prestigious IT regions globally, as it is home to a strong electronics industry, and has earned recognition as the Mexican capital of IT and software development. Guadalajara was considered the city of the future by FDI Magazine's 2008 studies, due to its largely young population, its low unemployment, the large inflow of recent foreign investments, and the number of projects it has in the pipeline. Additionally, it has been selected as the venue of the 2011 Pan-American Games.
IBM and the University will share knowledge through the exchange of intellectual property among researchers, and the use of IBM's data analytics, supercomputing and cloud computing capabilities to drive the development of new pilots and solutions.
The University will foster the assimilation of high-level competencies and expertise by its doctoral students and researchers, to support efforts designed to tackle issues that have a high social and economic impact for Latin America.
About UdeG
University of Guadalajara is an educational community with more than two hundred years of history. Its campuses in Guadalajara and eight regions of Jalisco State have 209,466 students, who attend the University's 422 academic programs at the technical, baccalaureate, master's and PhD levels. University of Guadalajara has one of the largest academic communities in Mexico.
Media Contact:
Meredith Hannon
IBM Media Relations
512-740-3285
merhannon@us.ibm.com
SOURCE IBM
