IBM is bringing the power of its Watson super computer to mobile.
The company Wednesday launched the IBM Watson Mobile Developer Challenge, which seeks to facillitate the creation of mobile consumer and business apps powered by Watson.
Virginia Rometty, CEO of IBM, made the announcement during a keynote at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
IBM’s Watson cognitive computing system can glean insights from massive amounts of otherwise unrelated data. Over the next three months, the global challenge invites developers to submit mobile app prototypes that leverage Watson’s computing power.
Three winners will join the Watson Ecosystem Program. The winners will work with IBM’s recently launched global consulting practice, IBM Interactive Experience to receive design consulting and support from IBM experts to develop a viable commercial app.
The challenge is part of IBM’s MobileFirst strategy, which places an emphasis on delivering products and services from the cloud.
Named after IBM founder Thomas J. Watson, Watson was developed in IBM’s research labs and is now being accelerated into market by the new IBM Watson Group. As part of the group, IBM said it is investing $1 billion to introduce a new class of cognitive computing services, software and apps, and investing $100 million to spur innovation for software application providers to develop a new generation of Watson powered solutions.
