IBM Helps City of Stockholm Predict Better Commuting Options

ARMONK, N.Y. and STOCKHOLM, April 16 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- As part of its commitment to business analytics, IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new collaboration with KTH Royal Institute of Technology to give city of Stockholm residents and officials a smarter way to manage and use transportation.  

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Researchers at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden are using IBM's streaming analytics technology, to gather real-time information from the Global Positioning System (GPS) devices on nearly 1500 taxi cabs in the city and will soon expand to gather data from delivery trucks, traffic sensors, transit systems, pollution monitors and weather information. The data is processed using IBM's breakthrough streaming analytics software, InfoSphere Streams, giving the city and residents real-time information on traffic flow, travel times and the best commuting options.

For example, a resident could send a text message listing their location and desired destination. The technology would instantly process the real-time traffic, rail and weather information and provide anticipated travel times via car and public transportation, giving people an accurate and instant view of the fastest way to get to their destination.

For the past year, IBM has worked with the city of Stockholm to monitor traffic flow during peak hours. The congestion management system has reduced traffic in the Swedish capital by 20 percent, reduced average travel times by almost 50 percent, decreased the amount of emissions by 10 percent and the proportion of green, tax-exempt vehicles has risen to 9 percent.

"We are just beginning to learn what is possible with IBM streaming analytics," said Gunnar Soderholm, city of Stockholm. "We are excited to be working with KTH to investigate smarter transportation solutions to better manage our roadways and public transportation systems and help commuters get to their destination the quickest way possible."

The value of InfoSphere Streams is its ability to analyze and integrate any type of data input continuously: text, voice, images, video, databases, weather reports, news, sounds, market feeds and application data in real time. The software automatically determines what information is relevant to solving a particularly problem and continually refines results as new data "streams" in giving organizations instant and accurate insights that can translate into a competitive advantage in a constantly changing market.

"Less than a year after it was unveiled, our streaming analytics technology is experiencing rapid growth and adoption in the marketplace," said Arvind Krishna, general manager IBM Information Management. "From scientists to financial institutions, organizations of all types are turning to IBM streaming analytics to gain instant insight from their data."

KTH was recently awarded an IBM Shared University Research Grant that will accelerate the development of intelligent transportation systems and further their research with the City of Stockholm.

"IBM streaming analytics technology's ability to combine different types of data and analyze it in real time is critical in pushing the boundaries of our research," said Haris Koutsopoulos professor, transportation and logistics division, KTH.  "Together we are changing how people will think of their commute and how cities manage traffic."  

Real-Time Predictions

Additionally, IBM announced a new version of its streaming analytics software that includes enhanced processing speeds of up to three times faster and real-time predictive analysis for data in motion.

The new version includes predictive analytics capabilities that allow organizations to make real-time predictions and discoveries based on data in motion. Predictive analytics allows organizations to better understand and predict future behavior and answers questions like, which type of vehicle part is most likely to fail, where will crimes occur at a given time of day, and what is the likelihood a patient has a heart attack  during surgery? Because predictive models can be applied directly to the huge volumes of data in InfoSphere Streams, it generates real-time analysis and determines the likely outcomes in seconds and minutes.

Streaming analytics software is a part of IBM's more than $10 billion investment in business analytics which includes organic innovation and acquisitions. In addition, IBM has assembled 4,000 analytics consultants with industry expertise, and opened a network of seven analytics centers of excellence.  

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SOURCE IBM