IBM and Smarter Singapore

IBM and Smarter Singapore Professor Keng Siau Director, IBM-UNL Global Innovation Hub University of Nebraska-Lincoln Executive Summary We propose designing and writing a Harvard Business School style teaching case to highlight the use of IBM products and software to build a Smarter Singapore. The goal is to create an interesting and engaging courseware that can be used by business, sciences, engineering, and information technology instructors worldwide to educate and train students, professionals, managers and executives about the Smarter Planet initiative so that they can be leaders to transform their cities into smarter cities now and into the future. The case will be used to complement business, sciences, engineering, and information technology curricula and the case is intended for use by senior undergraduate, graduate, MBA, and Executive MBA students. Singapore is selected for the case because it is a top-class smart city to work, live and play. Not only is the globally connected, multi-cultural and cosmopolitan city-state a conducive environment for creative and knowledge-driven industries, but Singapore is also known for its use of advanced and cutting-edge information technology to make the city-state smarter. The impact of this innovative courseware will be colossal as hundreds of thousands of students, professionals, managers, and executives around the globe will read, analyze, and discuss the case on IBM and Smarter Singapore. 1.0 Introduction On June 28 2010, IBM hosted a panel discussion as part of the World Cities Summit (WCS) in Singapore with the theme The journey to becoming a smarter city. This panel discussed the work that IBM has been doing to help cities like Singapore to address urban challenges such as overcrowding, scarcity of resources, and overburdened infrastructures. 1.1 Singapore Singapore is an island country off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, 85 miles north of the equator, in the Southeast Asian region of the Asian continent. Singapore is the world's fourth leading financial center and a cosmopolitan world city, playing a key role in international trade and finance. The port of Singapore is also amongst the top five busiest ports in the world. Strong trade and investment makes Singapore the most competitive Asian country (Global Competitiveness Report 2008). The World Bank also ranks Singapore as the world s easiest place to do business (Doing Business 2009 report). 1

Singapore has a diverse population of close to 5 million people made up of Chinese, Malays, Indians, Asians of various descents, and Caucasians. English is the business language and one of the official languages of Singapore. The country is the second most densely populated in the world after Monaco. A.T. Kearney names Singapore as the most globalised country in the world in its Globalization Index. 1.2 IBM in Singapore IBM has played an important part in transforming Singapore into a smarter city. This Harvard Business School type teaching case will highlight the role of IBM and the use of IBM products and services to make Singapore smarter. The following highlights some of the latest collaboration between IBM and Singapore: 1.2.1 IBM and Singapore Collaborate to Converge Cloud Computing and High Performance Computing IBM and the Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore announced in May 2010 a collaborative effort to research and develop a platform for the convergence of cloud computing and high performance computing (HPC). Leveraging its High Performance Computing Centre (HPCC), one of ASEAN s fastest and greenest supercomputer to-date, NTU will work with IBM to combine the strengths of cloud computing and HPC to further reinforce Singapore s position as a vibrant, global R&D hub engaged with innovative technologies and applied research relevant to industry adoption. The initiative will focus on two target areas at the beginning: Interactive Digital Media (IDM) and Business Analytics. 1.2.2 IBM Singapore Technology Park, recipient of the Green Mark Gold Award In May 2010, IBM announced the opening of the IBM Singapore Technology Park (ISTP), a new manufacturing facility for its System z mainframes and high-end Power systems. The S$90-million facility will serve as IBM s manufacturing and fulfillment center for IBM s high-end systems clients across Asia, Africa, and Europe. The 365,000-square-foot facility will also be responsible for the manufacture and fulfillment of IBM disk and tape storage technology, as well as related hardware appliances worldwide. Mr Tharman Shanmugaratnam, Minister for Finance, Singapore, commented: The opening of IBM s Singapore Technology Park is a significant milestone in the strong partnership between Singapore and IBM. IBM s investment affirms Singapore s capabilities for complex, high-value manufacturing and global supply chain management. It also reinforces Singapore s drive to be a leading knowledge economy, powered by digital intelligence. The IBM Singapore Technology Park is the recipient of the Green Mark Gold Award by the Building and Construction Authority of Singapore (BCA) for its energy 2

and water efficiency. The new facility incorporates many of the innovations associated with data centers with a strong emphasis on innovation and efficiency. The facility's features include: (i) A closed loop system that circulates chilled water throughout the facility for air conditioning and systems cooling (ii) IBM's unique "Cool Blue" Rear Door Heat exchangers - an energy-saving technology that features a water-cooled door that is attached to the back of IBM systems to cool the exhaust air from computer equipment before it re-enters the data center operating environment (iii) Data center thermal flow dynamics. The systems are arranged front to front and back to back to maximize air flow and energy efficiency. Fans are used to draw air in at the front and then exhaust hot air out of the back of the system to eliminate hot spots and reduce energy consumption (iv) Latest environmental practices in temperature control and lighting, such as high-efficiency fluorescent lighting and occupancy sensors, to further reduce energy consumption (v) Ergonomic, low noise and clean systems design for an improved employee work environment. For example, a new ceiling tile system helps reduce noise. 1.2.3 IBM and Singapore's Land Transport Authority Innovative Traffic Prediction Tool IBM also partnered with Singapore s Land Transport Authority to better manage the traffic flow in Singapore. Using historical traffic data and real-time traffic input from the Singapore Land Transport Authority (LTA)'s i-transport system, IBM's Traffic Prediction Tool predicted traffic flows over pre-set durations (10, 15, 30, 45 and 60 minutes). Overall prediction results were well above the target accuracy of 85 percent. With these predictions, LTA's traffic controllers will be able to anticipate and better manage the flow of traffic to prevent the build-up of congestion. The IBM Traffic Prediction Tool is a patent-pending technology for predicting traffic flows and speeds on road segments developed by IBM's Watson Research Laboratories. TPT provides the traffic state characteristics (volume and speed) that best characterize the traffic state into the short- and medium-term future. The technology makes use of adaptive statistical techniques, in conjunction with automated error correction for multiple time horizons. i-transport is at the heart of LTA's Intelligent Transportation System Centre. The system integrates LTA's various ITS tools, including its computerized traffic signals system called the Green Link Determining System, TrafficScan, Expressway Monitoring Advisory System, Junction Electronic Eyes and Electronic Road Pricing. These tools provide LTA's operational and historical traffic data. 3

After the pilot testing in 2007, Teresa Lim, Managing Director, IBM Singapore, said, "LTA and IBM's collaboration in this pilot enhances Singapore's standing as a leader in urban transport management globally. It further demonstrates our joint commitment to innovative practices to improve the quality of life in Singapore. IBM is committed to be LTA's partner in innovation and to bring our global research, technical and consulting capabilities to Singapore." 2.0 Courseware Design and Development 2.1 Goal of the Teaching Case The aim is to develop an interesting and challenging Harvard Business School type teaching case that students can read about, analyze, and discuss the Smarter Planet initiative, and the values and principles of Smarter Cities solutions and technologies. The teaching case will include discussion on: (i) How Singapore leaders decide on what Singapore brand should be (ii) How Singapore s policies are conducive to skills, creativity and knowledge-driven growth (iii) How Singapore aim to optimize the services around its citizens (iv) How Singapore develop and apply enabling IBM products and services, and information technologies to make Singapore smarter. The teaching case will cover a few areas: urban planning, transportation, healthcare, education, and social-organizational change in Singapore. The courseware will demonstrate that "smartness" is the result of the integration of the data from interconnected complex service systems to gain deep insight into performance issues. A smart system understands the pain points of the client and helps to resolve those. The teaching case can complement and supplement regular university courses and can be plugged into existing courses with ease. The final teaching case will be reproduction-ready and electronically deliverable. The teaching materials will include: (i) Harvard Business School type teaching case (ii) Discussion questions (iii) Teaching notes for instructors (iv) Presentation slides (v) URL links to relevant materials (e.g., Web documents, YouTube videos, etc.) 2.2 Approach to Developing the Case Searching publicly available information on the Web will be the initial method for data collection. Interviews with the IBM personnel and government officers in Singapore 4

will also be conducted to gather information for designing and developing the case. The researcher, Professor Keng Siau, is a Singapore citizen working in the U.S. and he has many academic and government contacts in Singapore. Professor Siau spends about three months in Singapore every year visiting the National University of Singapore and/or Singapore Management University. Linda Grigoleit, Power Systems Community Marketing, IBM Systems and Technology Group, is the IBM contact for Professor Siau in the U.S. Professor Siau has worked closely with Linda for several years and Linda has kindly agreed to serve as the IBM contact for this case. Professor Siau has also been exchanging emails with George Tan, Asean Smarter Planet Initiative in IBM Singapore. George has provided much information on the Smarter Planet initiative in Singapore. If needed, Professor Siau can also work with his colleagues at the National University of Singapore or Singapore Management University on the case. The schedule and timeframe for developing the case is as shown below. Professor Siau will be in Singapore for about a month in December 2010 and January 2011 to collect data and interview government officials. Activity Nov 2010 Dec 2010 Jan 2011 Feb 2011 Mar 2011 Apr 2011 Searching for Publicly Available Information Interviewing IBM Personnel and Government Officers in Singapore Writing the Teaching Case Pilot Testing the Case in Classes 2.3 Benefits of the Case The teaching case will provide opportunities for the students to practice the following business and IT skills: (i) Leadership, collaboration, and team work (ii) Communications across disciplines (e.g., student groups with students from diverse backgrounds) (iii) Creative and critical thinking, and analysis and synthesis of information (iv) Business case development and analysis (v) Business case presentations and discussions The case, once completed, will be made available worldwide for instructors to adopt and use in their classes. The potential impact of the case will be tremendous. Not only will the case highlight the use of IBM products and services to make Singapore 5

smarter, but it will also have huge impact on future IBM sales and visibility of IBM products and services in Singapore and worldwide. Further, the case will directly and indirectly market and advertise IBM products and services to MBA students and executive MBA students. These students are usually part-time students and full-time managers and executives in industry. IBM will benefit directly from the case as these students are decision makers in industry. They can immediately influence IT procurement and investment decisions in their companies. Majority of the students using this case will be MBA and Executive MBA students. Educating business managers and executives on Smarter Cities is critical and vital. Business executives are the ones that make major investment decisions in organizations. Therefore, it is vital that business executives have basic knowledge, understanding, and appreciation of Smarter Cities concepts, solutions, and technologies. Exposing and educating business students and executives on Smarter Cities will have both immediate and long-term impacts on the success of the Smarter Planet initiative. 3.0 Ability of the Professor to Delivery the Courseware Professor Keng Siau is the E. J. Faulkner Chair Professor of Management Information Systems (MIS) and Full Professor of Management at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln (UNL). He is the Director of the UNL-IBM Global Innovation Hub, Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Database Management, North America Regional Editor of the Requirements Engineering journal, and Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Advances in Database Research series. Professor Keng Siau received the IBM Faculty Award in 2006 and 2008. Professor Siau recently completed a Harvard Business School type teaching case with IBM and Bank of America. The Bank of America teaching case has been accepted for presentation at the International Conference on Information Systems (ICIS), the top conference in the information systems area. The case has been submitted to a journal for publication consideration. Prior to the Bank of America teaching case, Professor Siau has published a teaching case in the Journal of Information Technology Cases and Applications, and two teaching cases in the Journal of Information Technology. Thus, the author is imminently qualified to design and develop the courseware and will be able to deliver a high quality teaching case. 6