IBM chief: Smarter energy isn't 'futuristic' | Green Tech - CNET News

IBM chief: Smarter energy isn't 'futuristic' | Green Tech - CNET News


In a rare public-speaking occasion, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano said that the energy infrastructure needs to be further digitized and focused on the consumer.

Palmisano, the keynote speaker today at the GridWise Global Forum conference here, argued that modernizing energy requires a systems engineering approach, rather than the piecemeal upgrades happening now.

Smart meters and sensors on power lines give system operators more information to work with. But the system as a whole needs to become more resilient and efficient. The challenge for industry is to make sense of the enormous amount of data that this "Internet of things" puts out, he said.