The IBM Cloud Forum 2020 was all about how IBM Cloud technology is driving innovation and growth. Subject matter experts and technical leaders spoke of how IBM’s technology is helping governments and organisations adapt to COVID-19.
We’re living in challenging times.
Who would have thought that 6 months into 2020 the world would be such a drastically different place?
Health, entertainment, business, transport, employment; there’s no aspect of our lives that hasn’t been touched by the COVID-19 crisis.
As I watched the keynotes from this year’s IBM Cloud Forum, I reflected on this.
I wondered, what we have learned, and what can we continue to learn, from COVID-19?
IBM Cloud Forum 2020: A Time for Reinvention
One of the big themes of the IBM Cloud Forum 2020 was the idea that COVID-19 isn’t a restart, it’s a rethink. It’s a time to re-evaluate how we do things, discard what isn’t working and capitalise on what is.
Lula Mohanty, General Manager of IBM Global Business Services in Asia Pacific, emphasised how rapid innovation always comes from disruption:
“As with any challenge, a time of disruption is also a time of opportunity. This is an opportunity to refine, recalibrate, reimagine, rethink; a time to innovate and deliver new value to customers”
Lula Mohanty, General Manager, IBM Global Business Services, Asia Pacific
In her opening keynote, Brenda Harvey, General Manager, IBM, Asia Pacific, highlighted that COVID-19 has had a significant impact on the way we work:
“COVID-19 has been a catalyst for both human reflection, and digital adoption; acceleration of digital service capabilities to the acceptance and advancement of remote working and remote learning”
Brenda Harvey, General Manager, IBM, Asia Pacific
The crisis has forced organisations and governments to become smarter, build resilience and adapt faster.
Digital transformations like widespread remote working would have previously taken years to implement. But with COVID-19, organisations have had to fast track this process, adapting within a couple of weeks or months.
How IBM Cloud Technology Drives Innovation and Growth
So how exactly is IBM enabling breakthroughs in technology and the rapid shift toward digital?
Here’s some of the ways that IBM Cloud is driving innovation and growth:
IBM Makes AI More Accessible
Accessibility and practicality is key to everything IBM is doing in the AI space.
This is why IBM is committed to its Watson Anywhere approach. Through this approach, IBM’s AI is able to operate and scale across an organisation.
Sriram Raghavan Vice President of IBM Research, neatly summed up IBM’s mission statement when it comes to AI:
“To bring AI to where the data is, no matter where the data is.”
Sriram Raghavan, Vice President, IBM Research
This is a critical feature since it is now common for organisations to be running multi-cloud or hybrid cloud environments. It also brings an openness and transparency to data and insights, since it can be run wherever the data is.
IBM Cloud and AI take on COVID-19
The ways IBM Cloud is being used to handle COVID-19 really were front and centre at this year’s forum.
Take for example, Watson Works.
This is a set of curated products that imbed AI models to deliver solutions to COVID-19 related challenges associated with employees returning to work. It’s practical AI at it’s best.
Brenda Harvey and Professor John Fraser, Director of Critical Care Research Group, also showcased how the medical field is using AI to respond to COVID-19.
Dr Fraser and his team are leveraging IBM Watson AI, IBM Cloud and IBM Security. This is part of the COVID-19 Critical Care Consortium study, which IBM is expected to release more information on in the coming weeks.
To find out more about how IBM Cloud can deliver improved security, scalability and innovation for Australian businesses, visit https://www.ibm.com/au-en/cloud
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