ATT and IBM Partner to Connect The Internet of ThingsKevin Samson This announcement follows Googles recent purchase of Nest Labs, a company specializing in machine intelligence that can be embedded in physical objects. These major companies are betting big on the vision of a world matrix of embedded sensors in every home and business, in every city, that will collect and analyze information and transmit the results. Computer algorithms will then determine the best course of social engineering to be implemented by city planners, completing a new contract between humans and machines. Beyond the home, Google in particular has stated that they intend to provide internet surveillance of the overall Smart Grid of connected homes. While ATT and IBM, as stated in their press release below, will be there to ensure that all information is integrated from as many devices as possible, which will then be given to city planners to usher in the Smart Cities of the future. As you will see, the goals are ambitious and if fulfilled will remove nearly all self-determination from citizens, and supplant decision making with a central machine intelligence that will deliver a more connected planet. The technology behind this central planning is a direct echo of the legislative moves taking place under Agenda 21 and an international code structure to move people into highly populated and tightly managed high-tech city environments, while penalizing those who decide to remain off the grid. Ive added emphasis to the press release and have provided additional commentary and research links throughout, but this one practically speaks for itself. ATT* and IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced a new global alliance agreement to develop solutions that help support the Internet of Things. The companies will combine their analytic platforms, cloud, and security technologies with privacy in mind (Steve Wozniak, founder of Apple, has said that cloud computing is entirely without the proper security defenses to thwart the NSA, to name just one spying agency among many public and private who have access to our compromised data K.S.) to gain more insights on data collected from machines in a variety of industries. The new ATT and IBM alliance will initially focus on creating new solutions targeted for city governments and midsize utilities. These organizations intend to integrate and analyze vast quantities of data from assets such as mass transit vehicles, utility meters, and video cameras (this is all part and parcel of the Big Data initiative that is wide ranging and aims to move past the stage of collecting all information and make sense of it in order to create truly autonomous systems that can maneuver and make decisions on their own. K.S.). As a result, cities may be able to better evaluate patterns and trends to improve urban planning and utilities can better manage their equipment to reduce costs. This collaboration of two world-class companies will help deliver a more connected planet, said Chris Hill, Senior Vice President, ATT Advanced Solutions. We share a vision that the Internet of Things will help companies in a variety of industries rely on their remote assets and connected devices to take their business to the next level. Key capabilities for city planners in connected cities include: Smarter cities, cars, homes, machines and consumer devices will drive the growth of the Internet of Things along with the infrastructure that goes with them, unleashing a wave of new possibilities for data gathering, predictive analytics, and automation, said Rick Qualman, Vice President, Strategy Business Development, Telecom Industry, IBM. The new collaboration with ATT will offer insights from crowdsourcing, mobile applications, sensors and analytics on the cloud, enabling all organizations to better listen, respond and predict. (We have seen the emergence of a Minority Report-style world, including the advent of predictive policing, as you can read in this article about Chicagos police visiting residents who have been placed on a Heat List prior to any crime being committed based entirely on the advice of a computer algorithm. Amazon also has announced that it soon will have the capability to ship you a product before you even order it based on a near 100% certainty that you intend to order it based on your computer mouse movements K.S.) ATT brings its M2M globally accessible network, devices, and Global Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) to help connect assets worldwide to a single global network. These technologies are managed through ATTs M2M platforms to securely collect, organize, store and send the data to applications. IBM brings the Intelligent Operations Center, Maximo Asset Management, its advanced analytics capabilities, and IBM MessageSight MQTT Appliance, which complements the IBM MobileFirst family of solutions. IBM MobileFirst provides the management, security and analytics capabilities needed for organizations to capitalize on the increasing role of mobile devices in the Internet of Things. The two companies will work together to build solutions at the ATT M2M Foundry in Plano, Texas and IBM Global Solution Centers around the world. According to industry analyst firm IDC, the installed base for the Internet of Things will grow to approximately 212 billion devices by 2020, a number that includes 30 billion connected devices. IDC sees this growth driven largely by intelligent systems that will be installed and collecting data across both consumer and enterprise applications.1 In the latest iteration of Current Analysis Global M2M Service provider rankings, principal analyst Kitty Weldon wrote that ATT is positioned as a global leader in providing M2M services and has demonstrated excellent traction for its initiatives with customers.2 IBM and ATT are participants in the SmartAmerica Challenge, led by Presidential Innovation Fellows Sokwoo Rhee and Geoff Muilligan. The project aims to build several Internet of Things testbeds around the country by May 2014. The network would aim to show what cyber-physical systems can do to improve safety, sustainability, efficiency, mobility, and overall quality of life. (Quality of Life is a key phrase that will determine the Steady State Economy of the future. Please see this must-read article by Julie Beal which documents the origins and path that this economy is likely to take. K.S.) For more information on the new global alliance agreement, visit: http://networkingexchangeblog.att.com/enterprise-business/att-ibm-join-forces-develop-internet-things-solutions/. For more information on IBM, visit: www.ibm.com. 1IDC, Worldwide Internet of Things 2013-2020 Forecast: Billions of Things, Trillions of Dollars, Doc #: 243661, October 2013 About ATT Additional information about ATT Inc. and the products and services provided by ATT subsidiaries and affiliates is available at http://www.att.com/aboutus or follow our news on Twitter at @ATT, on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/att and YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/att. 2014 ATT Intellectual Property. All rights reserved. ATT, the ATT logo and all other marks contained herein are trademarks of ATT Intellectual Property and/or ATT affiliated companies. 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