IBM opens Global Rail Innovation Center in China

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} IBM today opened a new Global Rail Innovation Center that will bring together the world's foremost industry leaders, researchers and universities to advance next-generation rail systems.   Founding members of the Center's Advisory Board include leading representatives and organizations in the railroad community, including Judge Quentin L. Kopp, chairman of the California High Speed Rail Authority and Professor Joseph M. Sussman of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.   The Center will address the rail industry's most pressing challenges, including passenger reservations and service, asset utilization and productivity, surveillance of tracks and infrastructure, scheduling, and environmentally efficient operations.   Based in Beijing, the Rail Innovation Center will be staffed by a global network of IBM rail consultants, software specialists, mathematicians and business partners.   China is at the epicenter of a revolution in rail infrastructure and operations for the 21st century, introducing new high speed trains and a hugely expanded rail network at an unprecedented pace.   "Population growth and urbanization are driving an unprecedented demand for modernized rail systems, and governments and businesses worldwide recognize that railroads play a critical role in supporting economic growth," said Keith Dierkx, director of the IBM center.   New railroad networks will contain millions of sensors that track everything from train speeds to when brakes need to be replaced. Building these intelligent rail networks requires a high-powered, integrated system that can collect, manage and analyze the enormous amount of data flowing in from the tracks, through the trains and stations, and across the maintenance process.   Netherlands Railways, one of Europe's busiest, uses advanced optimization software from IBM to weigh 56,000 variables, including the railroad's infrastructure and passenger demand, to assemble and schedule more than 5,000 trains per day.   *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á┬á *