From http://www.ibm.com/annualreport/2015/why-weather-matters/:
Three Reasons Why Weather Matters
We surprised some with our acquisition of assets from The Weather Company. This is why it’s strategic
1. Weather Data + Other Data = Better Insights
IBM’s acquisition of assets from The Weather Company enables us to bring together one of the world’s largest and most dynamic data sources with other critical flows of unstructured data—from social networks, healthcare, media and the Internet of Things, for example—as well as with proprietary enterprise data. Thanks to IBM’s cognitive and analytics platform and the global breadth of IBM’s industry reach, we have built a foundation to transform industries, reinvent professions and capture the new insights from the dawning cognitive era.
HT: Jon Markman at Forbes.2. Weather Data is Critical to Every Industry
Every industry—from automotive, aviation, insurance and healthcare to energy, retail and transportation—is profoundly and unpredictably impacted by weather events. Businesses lose more than $500 billion a year due to weather-related issues in the United States alone. The solution lies in the data, which The Weather Company captures in abundance.By applying this data to our clients’ processes and real-time decision-making, we can make their supply chains, inventory control, emergency management and more far more predictive, adaptive and efficient.3. The Weather Company is an Internet of Things Platform
The Weather Company’s potential goes beyond weather. Because it is a global data and analytics platform, it can serve as a foundation to scale IBM’s Watson Internet of Things business rapidly, capturing data from telematics in cars, sensors in buildings, readings from wearable devices, and data from smartphones, social media, supply chains, the environment and more.
*Previously:
IBM's Watson Gets A Real Job: Big Blue Closes Purchase of The Weather Company
