IBM's Call for Code puts technology at the service of natural disaster countermeasures

IBM's Call for Code initiative engages the global developer community to build innovative solutions that reduce human suffering and the number of people affected by natural disasters.

Call for Code is an annual global initiative from creator David Clark Cause, with IBM proudly serving as Founding Partner. It is backed by a $30 million, five-year IBM investment and support from The Linux Foundation, which gives the 22 million developers access to IBM technologies around cloud, data, AI and blockchain technologies, along with training and code to help jump start projects. The registration opened on June 18th and will close on August 31.  The 3 winners will be announced in October at a special event. 

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IBM's CEO Ginni Rometty says AI needs to, "augment human intelligence, not replace it."

Echoing the sentiments of Microsoft's Satya Nadella, IBM's CEO Ginny Rometty recently stressed the need for ethical quidance for Artificial Intelligence (AI). Technoplogy leaders know the importance of keeping a technology as world changing as machine learning and AI (Artificial Intelligence), which are set to impact every industry as well as replace millions of jobs.

“At IBM, we fundamentally believe in the power of technology to make our world a better place to live, and to benefit the lives of the many, not just the few,” Rometty said in a prepared statement before her keynote at the high proficle Viva Technology conference in Paris yesterday. “We all have a responsibility to use innovation to make a difference, and through Call for Code our collective goal is to help people in need and build a better future.”

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New IBM Innovation Space in Markham supports startups, entrepreneurs and businesses

Ontario has partnered with IBM Canada, Ontario Centres of Excellence and ventureLAB to open the IBM Innovation Space-Markham Convergence Centre that will provide businesses access to the technology and expertise they need to grow and compete in the global marketplace.

Reza Moridi, Minister of Research, Innovation and Science attended the grand opening today with Brad Duguid, Minister of Economic Development and Growth and Michael Chan, MPP for Markham-Unionville.

This centre is part of the IBM Innovation Incubator (I³) Project, which will help small and medium-sized enterprises fast-track the launch of new technologies and products to international clients by leveraging IBM's technical resources. This includes cognitive business technology and a cloud-based development platform, as well as its physical space and network of customers. The I³ project is expected to create up to 2,600 jobs by 2020.

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IBM to provide CANet with data analytics for cardiovascular research

IBM partners with the Cardiac Arrhythmia Network of Canada (CANet) to provide an important tool for the digital age: data analytics. The partnership launches Heart-SIGN (System for Information Gathering and Networking), a cloud-based analytics platform designed to “manage, monitor, store, correlate, and analyze” data generated by all CANet research projects. CANet makes use of IBM BigInsights on Cloud and Watson Analytics to build the platform meant to inspire new ideas and share research related to heart rhythm disturbances. Heart-SIGN will serve as a data resource for research and clinical practice on arrhythmia. It can also help researchers identify specific needs of patients, track them through the system, and measure outcomes.

The platform is also designed to provide evidence-based recommended starting points to answer questions that might have taken researchers years to investigate. These are all put in a single, dynamic interface to help “achieve faster and more cohesive clinical outcomes.” Millions of people in Canada experience irregular heart rhythms or arrhythmias, with some experiencing sudden cardiac death and others getting disorders like atrial fibrillation and syncope.