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IBM Watson: A Pioneer In The New Era Of Computing

IBM

By John Gordon, Vice President of the IBM Watson Group

Every great innovation throughout human history started with a moment of inspiration. A moment when someone dared to ask a question that had never been answered. A moment when their intuition told them that they could discover a solution to a problem that didn't have one today.

We hold many of these great innovators up as heroes. They could see things in the world around them that others overlooked. From Galileo to the Wright Brothers, they have changed our understanding of the universe and how we live in it. Their discoveries have improved the standard of living for all of humanity making us (generally) healthier, happier, and more prosperous than ever before.

Today's innovators face the same challenges, but on a massively different scale. Observing today's world for inspiration involves understanding not just what we see and touch, but the enormous amount of data and insight that is being generated every second. Connecting the dots was easier when an apple fell directly on your head. It's much harder when the dots are generated by two separate research papers in two separate fields on two separate continents.

But the next great innovations will come from exactly those people who are able to make distant connections that others don't see.  To make these connections, you'd have to be able to read all of the published research, in fields that are practically unrelated, and happen to have your instinct notice a connection that you may not even see consciously. And specialization is making it even more difficult to see how different areas of research relate to one another. Medicine has been shifting from treating affected tissue to targeting problematic genomics, making discoveries in one area far more relevant than ever before. Our quest for clean and renewable energy connects research in biology to a growing set of green energy efforts. If it was difficult for any individual to become an expert in their own specialty, how much more difficult is it now that we are finding connections across specialties?

Enter Watson.

I firmly believe that Watson and cognitive computing is about to usher in the next era of human innovation. An era when each of us is not only empowered to use technology to accelerate our work, but to inspire our thinking. We may not be able to read all of the latest published research and trial studies, let alone identify connections between them. But Watson can. Watson can help us identify and investigate connections and problems that we believe are there, but we just can't quite see yet. Discoveries still start with an idea that some daring innovator has, but they can now be assisted by a cognitive system that can help them find those areas of inspiration. Watson can point each of us in a direction that leads to a higher probability of success and faster results.

This is enormously important. Recently Baylor College of Medicine published a peer-reviewed study about their efforts to discover important new proteins in the fight against cancer. Using Watson, they were able to identify and validate several new potential target proteins in a matter of weeks. Given that the entire life sciences industry only found about a dozen of these proteins in an entire decade, this is an amazing accomplishment. Discoveries at this rate and pace have the potential to transform the health and well-being of humanity for generations. But this is only the beginning.

There are two important facts to keep in mind:

1. There is an enormous amount of research published on successful experiments every day; and,

2. Most of the world's experiments are not successful.

If you put those two statements together, you'll realize that most of the world's research is not published. It's sitting on the "cutting room floor" from experiments that didn't work and weren't deemed ready to announce to the world. But hidden within that data may be some of the greatest discoveries ever. The cure for cancer and ebola. The fuel source that transforms our energy needs. The secret to providing sustainable clean water to every person on the planet. The research is out there. It is up to us to find it.

We will see cognitive discovery appear in a variety of areas: from the deep research areas for medicine, energy, and water to assisting with investments in finance, and yes, even simpler parts of life, such as cooking. You may have heard about Chef Watson and its appearance with Bon Appetit. While the subject matter was different, the idea was the same. Inspire individuals to a new level of creativity by helping them see connections in food flavors that they wouldn't have connected on their own. Watson will help all of us, deep researchers or not, to achieve a new level of creativity and inspiration. And Watson is delivered in the cloud, which will allow both individual innovators and the largest organizational research teams to benefit from cognitive insight.

It's time for us to enter a new era of human innovation. An era that combines the boundless creativity and passion of the human spirit with the transformational power of the era of cognitive computing. It's time for each of us to tap into our own creative potential and take advantage of the inspiration we can get from Watson.

The future of innovation is here. I can't wait to see what you discover!