IBM CEO recommends smart systems

IBM chairman and CEO Sam Palmisano has stressed upon the importance of technology and smart systems for improving global infrastructure.

He cited reports that energy grids lose as much as 40 percent to 70 percent from inefficient systems and said traffic congestion in the US costs $78 billion a year. That's 4.2 billion lost hours and 2.9 billion gallons, he said. Stockholm, Sweden's smart-traffic system reduced traffic by 20 percent and drove emissions down by 12 percent, while 40,000 new users take advantage of daily public transportation, he said, according to InformationWeek.

Palmisano, proposing a technology-fueled economic recovery plan that calls for public and private investment in more efficient systems for utility grids, traffic management, food distribution, water conservation and health care, said, "It's obvious, when you consider the trajectories of development driving the planet today, that we're going to have to run a lot smarter and more efficiently -- especially as we seek the next areas of investment to drive economic growth and to move large parts of the global economy out of recession." He added, "Fortunately, we now can. We see this in how companies and institutions are rethinking their systems and applying technology in new ways."