BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 13, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- During Smart
City Expo and World Congress, IBM (NYSE: IBM) and The Office for
Urban Research and Statistics for Nuremberg and Furth today
announced that it will use predictive analytics software from IBM
to examine and derive intelligence from public data to simplify and
improve decision-making for municipal administrators. The IBM
software delivers analytic techniques and time-saving features that
help municipalities quickly and easily find new insights in data
that enable more accurate predictions that result in better
outcomes.
(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090416/IBMLOGO
)
The Office for Urban Research and Statistics of Nuremberg and
Furth provides statistics and conducts analyses that are vital for
the future development of the German cities of Nuremberg and Furth.
Through analyses, projections, and surveys the organization's urban
research provides important decision making information to the
community and its leaders. The statistical analyses conducted by
the office support urban development topics such as integration,
education, sustainability and demographic changes to the city.
IBM's software makes it possible to create an accurate data set
for decision-making from the city's available records. The software
monitors important indicators, going far beyond the possibilities
of traditional spreadsheet software, to help the city identify weak
points and develop recommendations for further action and
resolution. Powerful automated functions boost the department's
efficiency and give its staff more time for other tasks.
"The number of tasks that local authority statistics departments
deal with is constantly growing," explains Thomas Nirschl, Scientific Employee at the
Office for Urban Research and Statistics. "IBM's predictive
analytics software enables us to automate routine tasks so that we
can make more efficient use of scarce municipal resources and free
up time to dedicate resources to new projects."
The Office for Urban Research and Statistics organizes data
obtained from regional and municipal statistics, analyzes and
enriches that data, and then makes it available to other users. The
office is also able to extract existing information contained in
administrative registers for further research and analysis.
In addition, the office provides statistical information and
decision support to municipal planning committees, local government
and the inhabitants of both towns. This includes investigations of
economic and spatial development, analyses of living conditions and
social structures, as well as population forecasts.
"The success of urban development planning depends on the
availability and interpretation of reliable information," said
Michael J Dixon, PhD, general manager, IBM Smarter Cities. "Using
IBM's predictive analytics capabilities, municipalities are able to
continually evaluate and effectively assess population data to
identify ways to manage public services more efficiently to
positively influence quality of life for citizens and better
prepare for future growth."
IBM SPSS Statistics provides the office with an enormous range
of possibilities for processing and evaluating data of practically
any kind. The software enables the office to integrate, aggregate,
and analyze data stored in almost any format via a host of
manufacturer-independent interfaces. The processed data records can
also be output in a very flexible way and closely adapted to
clients' needs for further processing.
Further advantages arise as a result of information being
exchanged by statisticians in various parts of Germany, who are members of KOSIS, an
organization run by the Association of German Municipal
Statisticians, which is headquartered in Nuremberg. Statisticians
from more than 150 local authorities in Germany are able to share information beyond
municipal borders over the KOSIS platform to collaborate on joint
procedures and solutions to problems they encounter.
IBM is building on experience gained from Smarter Cities
engagements around the world. Working with IBM, city leaders can
now monitor, measure and manage a wide range of city services such
as water management and intelligent transportation among others.
Using advanced technologies, like analytics software, IBM is
helping cities of all sizes apply intelligence to their city
operations to deliver better services to their citizens.
IBM has also established the world's deepest portfolio of
analytics solutions, growing its business and industry expertise to
approximately 9,000 business analytics and optimization consultants
and 400 researchers, and created global analytics solution centers
in Berlin, Beijing, Dallas, London, New
York, Tokyo, Washington and Zurich. In addition, IBM
has acquired more than 30 companies to build targeted analytics and
information expertise and continues to expand its ecosystem, which
today consists of more than 27,000 IBM business partners. IBM has
also secured hundreds of patents a year in analytics.
For more information on IBM Smarter Cities, visit
www.ibm.com/press/smartercities.
For more information about IBM Business Analytics:
ibm.com/software/analytics
CONTACT: Holli Haswell,
+1-512-680-0593, hhaswell@us.ibm.com
SOURCE IBM