When IBM joined the big data frenzy, everyone expected them to do well. But what Big Blue didn’t tell us is that they plan to completely dominate this sector.  With sophisticated solutions and next-level initiatives, IBM has stayed on top of their big data game, giving competitors a difficult time to say the least.  Now IBM looks to the stars for its next big data move, with a new initiative called Square Kilometer Array, or the SKA Project.

Dougal Watt, Chief Technology Officer of IBM New Zealand and head of the NZ SKA Industry Consortium explains the simple objective of this project:

“The point is to make astronomers more efficient and productive, so they can spend time being creative. It’s pretty disheartening for an astronomer to have to learn the syntax and structure of a catalogue and then have to do these very time-consuming tasks. It’d be much better to give them more time for original research.”

He added, “The next step is to sit down with some astronomers and get this going in a real live experiment; look at some of the problems astronomers are trying to address and look at what we can automate there.”

This project has undergone calibration with real astronauts.  So the systems are already thinking like experts of astronomy.  Manual processes will be replaced by automation, providing astronauts and scientists more time to conduct more extensive research, and be creative all the while.

Big data deluge, one bite at a time

The big data deluge is coming, like it or not.  And ample preparation, especially with storage and analytics, may cause a large disparity in this growing sector.  But many are utilizing tools to drive big data adoption and innovation, helping to standardize an industry keen on democratizing information and the tools to analyze it.  Last month IBM raises $7 million to share in buybacks amongst other things.