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The digital data explosion shows no signs of slowing down -- according toanalyst firm IDC, the amount of digital data is growing at a mind-boggling60 percent each year, giving businesses access to incredible new streams ofinformation. But without the ability to monitor, analyze and react to thisinformation in real-time, the majority of its value may be lost. Until thedata is captured and analyzed, decisions or actions may be delayed.Cognitive computing offers the promise of systems that can integrate andanalyze vast amounts of data from many sources in the blink of an eye,allowing businesses or individuals to make rapid decisions in time to havea significant impact.

For example, bankers must make split-second decisions based on constantlychanging data that flows at an ever-dizzying rate. And in the business ofmonitoring the world's water supply, a network of sensors and actuatorsconstantly records and reports metrics such as temperature, pressure, waveheight, acoustics and ocean tide. In either case, making sense of all thatinput would be a Herculean task for one person, or even for 100. Acognitive computer, acting as a "global brain," could quickly andaccurately put together the disparate pieces of this complex puzzle andhelp people make good decisions rapidly.

By seeking inspiration from the structure, dynamics, function, and behaviorof the brain, the IBM-led cognitivecomputing research team aims to break the conventional programmable machineparadigm. Ultimately, the team hopes to rival the brain's low powerconsumption and small size by using nanoscale devices for synapses andneurons. This technology stands to bring about entirely new computingarchitectures and programming paradigms. The end goal: ubiquitouslydeployed computers imbued with a new intelligence that can integrateinformation from a variety of sensors and sources, deal with ambiguity,respond in a context-dependent way, learn over time and carry out patternrecognition to solve difficult problems based on perception, action andcognition in complex, real-world environments.

IBM and its collaborators have been awarded $4.9 million in funding fromthe Defense Advanced Research ProjectsAgency (DARPA) for the first phase of DARPA's Systems of NeuromorphicAdaptive Plastic Scalable Electronics (SyNAPSE) initiative. IBM'sproposal, "Cognitive Computing via Synaptronics and Supercomputing (C2S2),"outlines groundbreaking research over the next nine months in areasincluding synaptronics, material science, neuromorphic circuitry,supercomputing simulations and virtual environments. Initial research willfocus on demonstrating nanoscale, low power synapse-like devices and onuncovering the functional microcircuits of the brain. The long-termmission of C2S2 is to demonstrate low-power, compact cognitive computersthat approach mammalian-scale intelligence.

"Exploratory research is in the fabric of IBM's DNA," said Josephine Cheng, IBMFellow and vice president of IBM's Almaden Research Center in San Jose."We believe that our cognitive computing initiative will help shape thefuture of computing in a significant way, bringing to bear new technologiesthat we haven't even begun to imagine. The initiative underscores IBM'scapabilities in bold, exploratory research and interest in powerfulcollaborations to understand the way the world works."

IBM has assembled a multi-dimensional, integrated world-class team ofresearchers and collaborators led by Dr. DharmendraModha, manager of IBM's cognitive computing initiative, to take on thechallenge including Stanford University (Professors Kwabena Boahen, H.Phillip Wong, Brian Wandell), University of Wisconsin-Madison (ProfessorGulio Tononi), Cornell University (Professor Rajit Manohar), ColumbiaUniversity Medical Center (Professor Stefano Fusi) and University ofCalifornia-Merced (Professor Christopher Kello). IBM Researchers includeDr. Stuart Parkin, Dr. Chung Lam, Dr. Bulent Kurdi, Dr. J. Campbell Scott,Dr. Paul Maglio, Dr. Simone Raoux, Dr. Rajagopal Ananthanarayanan, Dr.Raghav Singh, and Dr. Bipin Rajendran.

Recently, the IBM cognitive computing team demonstrated the near-real-timesimulation at ascale of a small mammal brain using cognitive computing algorithms withthe power of IBM's BlueGene supercomputer. With this simulationcapability, the researchers are experimenting with various mathematicalhypotheses of brain function and structure as they work toward discoveringthe brain's core computational micro and macro circuits.

In the past, the field of artificial intelligence research has focused onindividual aspects of engineering intelligent machines. Cognitivecomputing, on the cutting edge of this line of research, seeks to engineerholistic intelligent machines that neatly tie together all of the pieces.IBM's cognitive computing initiative was born out of its 2006 AlmadenInstitute, which annually brings together top minds to addressfundamental challenges at the very edge of science and technology. IBM hasa rich history in the area of artificial intelligence research going allthe way back to 1956 when IBM performed the world's first large-scale (512neuron) cortical simulation.

For more information about IBM Research, please visit www.ibm.com/researchor the IBM Research blog at:http://ibmresearchnews.blogspot.com/.

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Contact:Sara Delekta GalliganIBM Media Relations408-927-2272sdelekta@us.ibm.com