IBM and the University of Tokyo Launch Quantum Computing Initiative for Japan

Partnership creates a country-wide research and education framework program to engage universities, industry, and government to grow a quantum computing community and foster new economic opportunities across Japan

TOKYO, Dec. 19, 2019 — IBM and the University of Tokyo announced today an agreement to partner to advance quantum computing and make it practical for the benefit of industry, science and society.

IBM and the University of Tokyo will form the Japan – IBM Quantum Partnership, a broad national partnership framework in which other universities, industry, and government can engage. The partnership will have three tracks of engagement: one focused on the development of quantum applications with industry; another on quantum computing system technology development; and the third focused on advancing the state of quantum science and education.

Under the agreement, an IBM Q System One, owned and operated by IBM, will be installed in an IBM facility in Japan. It will be the first installation of its kind in the region and only the third in the world following the United States and Germany. The Q System One will be used to advance research in quantum algorithms, applications and software, with the goal of developing the first practical applications of quantum computing.

IBM and the University of Tokyo will also create a first-of-a-kind quantum system technology center for the development of hardware components and technologies that will be used in next generation quantum computers. The center will include a laboratory facility to develop and test novel hardware components for quantum computing, including advanced cryogenic and microwave test capabilities.

IBM and the University of Tokyo will also directly collaborate on foundational research topics important to the advancement of quantum computing, and establish a collaboration space on the University campus to engage students, faculty, and industry researchers with seminars, workshops, and events.

“Quantum computing is one of the most crucial technologies in the coming decades, which is why we are setting up this broad partnership framework with IBM, who is spearheading its commercial application,” said Makoto Gonokami, the President of the University of Tokyo. “We expect this effort to further strengthen Japan’s quantum research and development activities and build world-class talent”.

Developed by researchers and engineers from IBM Research and Systems, the IBM Q System One is optimized for the quality, stability, reliability, and reproducibility of multi-qubit operations. IBM established the IBM Q NetworkTM, a community of Fortune 500 companies, startups, academic institutions and research labs working with IBM to advance quantum computing and explore practical applications for business and science.

“This partnership will spark Japan’s quantum research capabilities by bringing together experts from industry, government and academia to build and grow a community that underpins strategically significant research and development activities to foster economic opportunities across Japan“, said Dario Gil, Director of IBM Research.

Advances in quantum computing could open the door to future scientific discoveries such as new medicines and materials, improvements in the optimization of supply chains, and new ways to model financial data to better manage and reduce risk.

The University of Tokyo will lead the Japan – IBM Quantum Partnership and bring academic excellence from universities and prominent research associations together with large-scale industry, small and medium enterprises, startups as well as industrial associations from diverse market sectors. A high priority will be placed on building quantum programming as well as application and technology development skills and expertise.

IBM Data Science Elite Team Helps Propel IBM to #1 in Global AI Market Share

ARMONK, N.Y., — IBM (NYSE: IBM) announced today momentum and growth for its vaunted Data Science Elite Team, which has helped propel IBM to number one in global AI market share by revenue as ranked by IDC. In addition, the Elite Team has played a key role in helping close the data science skills gap, through unique academic programs. To date, the Data Science Elite Team has grown to almost 100 data scientists around the world and has been deployed on more than 130 Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Machine Learning projects, advancing the journey to AI for global customers from Royal Bank of Scotland to Wunderman Thompson Data.

“Companies come to us because they know they need an AI plan, but they often don’t know where to start,” said Seth Dobrin, Phd, Vice President, IBM Data and AI, and CDO IBM Cloud and Cognitive Software. Dobrin helped architect and manage the Elite Team. “Today, the Elite Team has become a key plank of IBM’s AI strategy to help companies overcome the pitfalls of AI through innovative technologies and our dedicated Elite Team of data scientists.”

The Data Science Elite Team has helped IBM drive Artificial Intelligence, Data Science and Machine Learning deeper into enterprises, one client at a time. But the effort has become a pillar of the company’s AI story and philosophy, to help clients overcome the challenges of AI adoption. IDC ranks IBM number one in global AI market share by revenue, with companies leveraging the Elite Team to apply Data Science and Machine Learning to rising data challenges. In the past year alone, the Data Science Elite Team has grown in size from 30 data scientists to almost 100 and grown its roster of client engagements to more than 130.

“We were committed to moving toward a fully distributed architecture for our Machine Learning but one of the biggest challenges we faced was resources,” said Adam Woods, CTO at Wunderman Thompson Data. “Working with IBM and its Data Science Elite Team, our teams can now free up time from their day-to-day responsibilities to learn and build a proof of concept organically. Our data scientists focused on the immediate business requirements and the IBM team focused on the technology. This joint collaboration resulted in a machine learning pipeline, via Watson, that fully utilized all of our data signals to produce models that increase the performance over our previous models by 200% or more. We are now working aggressively to roll this out into our production.”

In addition to assisting clients in their AI and digital transformations, the Elite Team has been at the forefront of learning and development projects. This fall, IBM Elite Team members teamed with the Linux Group and University of Pennsylvania to create an open source curriculum program that colleges can use to fast-track actual data science curricula – free of charge.

IBM, the University of Pennsylvania, and the Linux Foundation are building an innovative, first-of-a-kind open source project to help enable universities around the world to build Data Science programs faster. With IBM’s involvement and industry expertise, University of Pennsylvania’s long-standing academic leadership and the Linux Foundation as a premier open source consortium, we are creating a curriculum kit comprised of a set of open source building blocks for teaching the core concepts of data science in undergraduate and graduate programs. These building blocks are based on Python and open source tools and frameworks, and include slides, documentation, code, and data sets that could be adopted or updated by users. This work is set to be available on Github in early 2020.

IBM AI Innovations Sharpen Risk Detection in Identity Management

More Individualized Approach Helps Optimize Both Security & User Experience

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., — IBM Security today announced it is extending its artificial intelligence (AI) technology originally developed to protect users in the financial services industry, to clients in all industries via the company’s identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) offering. IBM Cloud Identity now features AI-based adaptive access capabilities that help continually assess employee or consumer user risk levels when accessing applications and services. The solution escalates suspicious user interactions for further authentication, while those identified as lower risk are “fast tracked” so they can access applications and services they need.

With data breaches on the rise, traditional means of securing access, like passwords, are often not enough to prevent unauthorized access. The rise of credential-stuffing attacks, where a malicious actor obtains a list of credentials and tests them at various other sites using a bot, demonstrates that many password combinations have been leaked. According to a 2019 report, compromised and weak credentials are cited as the cause for more than 80% of data breaches. Meanwhile, 2017 research found that large companies are managing hundreds of applications – up to 788 custom applications on average for companies with more than 50,000 employees. Considering the amount of programs and passwords that employees are managing between their professional and personal lives, it is increasingly important that new security measures do not hinder user experience.

“Companies are constantly trying to optimize both security and user experience, but the trick is ensuring security is not disrupting the everyday user journey,” said Jason Keenaghan, Director, IBM Security. “IBM Cloud Identity with adaptive access is using AI to give organizations a holistic view of context for user access, based on indicators like malware and risk indicators, device insights, and user behavior, to help them focus security on high risk logins and give the majority of users seamless access to their accounts and applications.”

Adaptive Access: Smart Context

Many organizations continue to rely on older username and password methods to provide employee and consumer users access to services. Due to the patchwork of applications and solutions organizations are working with, they may not be able to deploy more modern security layers. This can create a blind spot that prevents security teams from easily implementing rules that flag suspicious indicators like malicious logins, unknown locations, unrecognized devices, and whether a user is on a company’s network VPN.

IBM Cloud Identity is an identity-as-a-service solution that helps organizations connect every user to every application using adaptive access. Through the use of AI, the service helps simplify access management and security for users by assigning user risk levels based on a defined set of factors. With these risk levels, administrators can create rules that level up or level down authentication – implementing strong authentication but only when needed. The service leverages the following features to determine risk and enable adaptive access decisions:

  • Artificial Intelligence – a user behavior score is assigned based on the level of trust or risk assessed for each user. A number of factors are assessed including web intelligence, location data, malware and risk indicators, and device insights. For example, using AI, the system can detect irregular mouse movements or flag a user trying to login from a browser infected with keylogging malware. IBM Cloud Identity with adaptive access leverages IBM Trusteer AI technology to assess users based on a fraud evidence database, fraudulent pattern analysis, and cross-organizational patterning.
  • Smart Access and Seamless Login: Since AI capabilities are able to assign risk levels, only users considered to pose a higher threat are prompted to go through multifactor authentication or denied access. By only prompting specific users to further verify their identification, rather than all users, organizations may be able to reduce operational expenses related to items such as two-factor authentication and help desk password resets for both current and new users. This can potentially lead to cost cuts considering organizations spanning different sectors have allocated more than $1 million per year to password-related support alone.
  • Low-code Deployment: Adaptive access policies can be created and applied to applications and APIs with little to no development effort, and without application changes.

“According to our primary research results, the establishment of low-friction end user experiences has the potential to help boost security effectiveness while reducing management efforts and related costs,” said Steve Brasen, Research Director, Enterprise Management Associates. “By injecting intelligence into access processes, IBM is helping its customers implement the appropriate level of authentication enforcement for users while minimizing impacts to their productivity.”

IBM Named a Leader in IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Support Services 2019 Vendor Assessment

IBM one of seven companies recognized

ARMONK, N.Y., Dec. 5, 2019 IBM today announced that IDC has named IBM a “Leader” among seven other providers in the IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Support Services 2019 Vendor Assessment (October 2019, IDC #US45595819e). According to the IDC MarketScape report, “IBM’s global presence and partnerships make the company a great fit for large enterprises and customers state that the partnerships IBM creates at the higher levels of the C-suite allow IBM to truly understand the business needs of the customer and, in return, the C-suite of the customer has access to IBM executives.”

As a services integrator, IBM works with a variety of enterprises to maintain availability and IT performance with integrated maintenance and technical support for multivendor hardware and software solutions. By offering this kind of support, IBM’s clients can bring all their support requirements into a single fully-managed IBM solution that reduces complexity, downtime and cost – making IBM the ideal enterprise partner for medium-sized to large customers. In the survey, IBM was also praised for their strong executive partnerships and relationship building with their customers, in addition to their growing abilities in proactive and preventive care with Watson.

“We are pleased to be positioned in the ‘Leaders’ category for another year in the IDC MarketScape vendor assessment,” said Vivek Mahajan, general manager for Technology Support Services (TSS). “Our portfolio of services helps clients simplify IT support management and minimize the risk of unplanned downtime – whether in the cloud or in the data center, resulting in better service to their customers.”

Part of maintaining top-tier service along with the transformation of traditional networking environments stems from IBM’s journey to the cloud. IBM continues to transform traditional networking environments to meet the requirements of today’s hybrid infrastructure models through IBM Cloud. Using software-defined, network-as-a-service delivery models, IBM strives to make it easier and safer for clients to manage and customize their networks according to their intended business objectives. Certain areas of the IBM Services portfolio, like consolidated IT support and open source software support, help clients realize the full value of this offering and improve efficiencies among their IT teams and save money that can be put back into their business. All these efforts are crucial to IBM’s strategic initiatives of becoming the world’s leading cloud platform and cognitive solutions company.

Autostrade per l’Italia and IBM Announce an Innovative Autostrade “IOT” Solution to Monitor and Manage Infrastructure in Real-Time Based on IBM Maximo

New solution integrates IBM artificial intelligence and will be deployed as a pilot by end of year with total coverage anticipated by 2020

ARMONK, N.Y., Dec. 4, 2019 — Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI) today announced a new solution that integrates the latest IBM infrastructure monitoring and management technology designed to support operators in monitoring the condition of civil infrastructure, both in real-time and throughout the lifecycle of structures such as bridges, roads and tunnels.

The new digital platform will integrate inspection, structural monitoring and maintenance activities to allow for continuous monitoring of critical infrastructure. Mobile devices connected to the system will provide technicians who perform inspections with insights about the infrastructure they are managing, combined with access to project documentation that can help operators determine if and when maintenance should be performed. Automated workflow processes can be set up to track whether required activities have been successfully completed and required approvals have been given—allowing operators to manage the infrastructure and associated information in a shared and transparent way.

“Our intention is to create one of the most advanced infrastructure monitoring and maintenance systems in Europe, in line with the smart road principle defined by the Ministry of Transport,” said Autostrade per l’Italia managing director Roberto Tomasi. “With the most advanced technologies—and the investment in research by our subsidiary Autostrade Tech—we aim to make efficiency and transparency the cornerstones to our mission of enhancing the security of critical infrastructure.”

“We all know how important bridges, tunnels and roads are for the daily life of every citizen. Many of these structures have been built at different times and with different materials. That’s why IBM has decided to invest and leverage its advanced Artificial Intelligence and IoT technologies to help Autostrade per l’Italia improve the way these structures are monitored and managed,” said Enrico Cereda, CEO of IBM Italy. “Autostrade per l’Italia’s industry expertise combined with IBM’s experience and investment in technology and research can be used to help improve maintenance processes and infrastructure management activities, assisting with the management, maintenance and control of critical infrastructure.”

The system combines 3D models of the monitored infrastructure with images taken in the field by technicians processed by AI, to classify which sections may require maintenance and suggest additional checks and physical inspections for the operator to evaluate.

The monitoring platform will communicate in real time with sensors installed on infrastructure, the number of which will grow progressively. This Internet of Things (IoT) technology will make it possible to create a centralized digital database containing all the regularly updated information on approximately 4,300 structures (bridges, viaducts, flyovers and tunnels) which are part of the network managed by ASPI.

The new system will be launched in Italy on a trial basis before the end of the year and will initially be tested on three viaducts: the Bisagno, on the A12 motorway in Liguria, the Romano and the Corvi, both on the A16 motorway in Puglia. The goal is for the technology to be implemented on all 1,943 major network structures by the end of 2020.

The second phase of the project, set to begin in mid-2020, is designed to support infrastructure maintenance activities—from design to operations, and from testing to execution—to flow through a single dashboard, giving operators a fully integrated view of activities.

The new ASPI system has been designed to immediately communicate with the “Ainop” database, the interface used by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport for monitoring the safety status of all Italian infrastructure. As part of this collaboration, IBM – including IBM Research – will develop the solution in accordance with Autostrade Tech’s instructions, based on IBM Maximo Enterprise Asset Management and Maximo Asset Monitor.

Autostrade per l’Italia and IBM Announce an Innovative Autostrade “IOT” Solution to Monitor and Manage Infrastructure in Real-Time Based on IBM Maximo

New solution integrates IBM artificial intelligence and will be deployed as a pilot by end of year with total coverage anticipated by 2020

ARMONK, N.Y. — Autostrade per l’Italia (ASPI) today announced a new solution that integrates the latest IBM infrastructure monitoring and management technology designed to support operators in monitoring the condition of civil infrastructure, both in real-time and throughout the lifecycle of structures such as bridges, roads and tunnels.

The new digital platform will integrate inspection, structural monitoring and maintenance activities to allow for continuous monitoring of critical infrastructure. Mobile devices connected to the system will provide technicians who perform inspections with insights about the infrastructure they are managing, combined with access to project documentation that can help operators determine if and when maintenance should be performed. Automated workflow processes can be set up to track whether required activities have been successfully completed and required approvals have been given—allowing operators to manage the infrastructure and associated information in a shared and transparent way.

“Our intention is to create one of the most advanced infrastructure monitoring and maintenance systems in Europe, in line with the smart road principle defined by the Ministry of Transport,” said Autostrade per l’Italia managing director Roberto Tomasi. “With the most advanced technologies—and the investment in research by our subsidiary Autostrade Tech—we aim to make efficiency and transparency the cornerstones to our mission of enhancing the security of critical infrastructure.”

“We all know how important bridges, tunnels and roads are for the daily life of every citizen. Many of these structures have been built at different times and with different materials. That’s why IBM has decided to invest and leverage its advanced Artificial Intelligence and IoT technologies to help Autostrade per l’Italia improve the way these structures are monitored and managed,” said Enrico Cereda, CEO of IBM Italy. “Autostrade per l’Italia’s industry expertise combined with IBM’s experience and investment in technology and research can be used to help improve maintenance processes and infrastructure management activities, assisting with the management, maintenance and control of critical infrastructure.”

The system combines 3D models of the monitored infrastructure with images taken in the field by technicians processed by AI, to classify which sections may require maintenance and suggest additional checks and physical inspections for the operator to evaluate.

The monitoring platform will communicate in real time with sensors installed on infrastructure, the number of which will grow progressively. This Internet of Things (IoT) technology will make it possible to create a centralized digital database containing all the regularly updated information on approximately 4,300 structures (bridges, viaducts, flyovers and tunnels) which are part of the network managed by ASPI.

The new system will be launched in Italy on a trial basis before the end of the year and will initially be tested on three viaducts: the Bisagno, on the A12 motorway in Liguria, the Romano and the Corvi, both on the A16 motorway in Puglia. The goal is for the technology to be implemented on all 1,943 major network structures by the end of 2020.

The second phase of the project, set to begin in mid-2020, is designed to support infrastructure maintenance activities—from design to operations, and from testing to execution—to flow through a single dashboard, giving operators a fully integrated view of activities.

The new ASPI system has been designed to immediately communicate with the “Ainop” database, the interface used by the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transport for monitoring the safety status of all Italian infrastructure. As part of this collaboration, IBM – including IBM Research – will develop the solution in accordance with Autostrade Tech’s instructions, based on IBM Maximo Enterprise Asset Management and Maximo Asset Monitor.