TECHNO NEWS * Brazil - IBM Technology Solutions to Make Rio de Janeiro a Smarter City

IBM Research Lab will build a public information management center for Rio de Janeiro

Rio Janeiro,RJ,Brazil -TMCnet, by Madhubanti Rudra -January 3, 2011: -- In a bid to turn Rio de Janeiro into a smarter city, the city administration teamed up with IBM...  IBM Research Lab, the computer giant’s research wing, recently signed an agreement to build a public information management center for Rio de Janeiro...  Located in Cidade Nova, the Rio Operations Center will integrate and interconnect information from multiple government departments and public agencies in the municipality to improve city safety and responsiveness to various types of incidents, such as flash floods and landslides...  The agreement also requires IBM to develop a high-resolution weather forecasting and hydrological modeling system (PMAR) for Rio de Janeiro. The PMAR will be helpful in predicting heavy rains up to 48 hours in advance...  The Rio de Janeiro operation center is a major project for IBM's ninth Research Lab -- recently opened in Brazil...  The Rio Operations Center opened on Dec. 31, 2010. The center is designed to consolidate data from various urban systems for real-time visualization, monitoring and analysis...   The researchers at IBM lab explained that the responsibilities of the center go beyond forecasting floods and related emergencies...  The Center will enable city leaders to make decisions in emergency situations based on real-time information... (Photo from t3.gstatic: The center of Rio de Janeiro can't manage great traffic jams)