Big Plans for IBM

A few weeks ago, I wrote a post about IBM’s announcement on its decision to acquire the Weather Company’s digital assets. But what does that mean for the weather enterprise? Slate published an article around the time of the announcement entitled “Is IBM Building the Most Powerful Weather Service the World Has Ever Seen?”.

The article reinforced the idea that weather affects not only deciding what we wear on a day-to-day basis, or if we should bring our umbrella to work; weather is responsible for impacting business, economics, agriculture, and transportation. IBM is essentially harnessing this data and using its supercomputer in hopes of making businesses more profitable.

According to the article, weather impacts 1/3 of the world’s GDP and is responsible for about half a trillion dollars in impact in the U.S. That’s a lot of money.

Just today, one of our meteorology professors here at WKU sent out the article in an email placing an importance on having the necessary meteorological background but also possessing skills in Computer Science, GIS, Water Resources, and the like. The meteorology field is not just broadcasting or the National Weather Service; it’s becoming much more than that!

To read the entire article and see what IBM is building, check out Slate’s website.