Tom Rosamilia: We are here to partner with Guangdong in industrial IoT business

2017-September-20       Source: Newsgd.com

Tom Rosamilia, Senior VP of IBM, made himself available for interview immediately after landing at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport. [Photo\Wu Weixiong]

Immediately after landing at Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport, Tom Rosamilia, Senior VP of IBM, was guided to our media room, greeting us in Chinese “你好”(Hello).

This is the second time that Tom Rosamilia has come here to attend the International Consultative Conference on the Future Economic Development of Guangdong Province (ICCFED), a conference organized to obtain guidance as to Guangdong’s economic and industrial development.

“My proposal this year will be around the pervasive theme of IoT, Big Data and Artificial Intelligence,” said Rosamilia, “I think the ICCFED is a great opportunity for IBM to partner with Guangdong and deal with the industrial IoT business.”

Humorously calling himself as a Beijinger, Tom Rosamilia now lives in Beijing. He is already a user of WeChat and ofo shared bikes. “I think digitalization has been taking over all businesses, providing enormous opportunities for us to partner with China and Guangdong in data analysis and application.”

In terms of cooperation, Rosamilia said the key theme is not only “Made in China” but also “Made with China.” And it’s same in Guangdong. Earlier on July 28, IBM launched its Hyperledger Fabric project in Guangzhou Science City, and started cooperation with Guangzhou’s municipal government in the blockchain industry.

“This will be a great chance for Guangzhou to take advantage of technologies around blockchain,” said Tom Rosamilia, “and IBM are happy to partner with Guangdong and the Governor here around what we can do with skills, innovation center and design thinking.”

The ICCFED will start tomorrow in Guangzhou’s White Swan Hotel on Sept 21. The conference invites 12 government consultants drawn from a wide range of sectors, such as intelligent manufacturing, information technology, professional services, and capital investment etc.

For more details, please check our special report on ICCFED 2017

Tom Rosamilia with newsgd.com journalist[Photo\Wu Weixiong]

Newsgd.com: What proposals do you bring to Guangdong government this year?

Tom Rosamilia: First off, I’d like to thank the Governor for inviting me to participate. I think it’s a great idea that the Governor of Guangdong invites some of the technical leaders around the world to come in and give him advice. So it’s a great opportunity for IBM to be represented here. This year I think the pervasive theme is going to be around IoT, around Data and around Artificial Intelligence.

And I think it’s great for Guangdong because you have such as rich history of manufacturing and smart manufacturing. And the next logical step is the industrial IoT. I think it’s a great opportunity for IBM to partner with Guangdong Province and deal with that industrial IoT business.

Newsgd.com: Do you think big data and digitalization will play critical roles in Guangdong? What’s your suggestion in this field?

Tom Rosamilia: I think digitalization is taking over all businesses including manufacturing, industrial businesses and financial services. And it's clearly obvious here in China, as I become a mobike and ofo user, IoT is everywhere. And IoT creates a lot of data. A lot of data is not examined. It’s very temporary and not relevant in one minute, it needs to be processed immediately.

IBM excels in processing data that comes from the IoT world. It helps to analyze and adds things like machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence to help make sense of that data and get use from that data. Data is the world’s next natural resource, and the nice thing about it is no pollution!

Newsgd.com: Could you introduce IBM’s future plans or any upcoming projects in Guangdong?

Tom Rosamilia:We have been working in Guangdong as we have in China for more than thirty years. And I think the key theme here is not just made in China but made with China. And the same thing is true for Guangdong. Some of the work we have done here around LCD manufacturers, helping them to do video analysis of quality, to make sure that 700,000 views a day, to check on the quality-IBM can help them with that.

We participate in the Guangzhou blockchain project here with the Guangzhou government. I think it’s a great opportunity for Guangzhou to take advantage of this new technology around blockchain, not only to process all kinds of information but also to learn a lot about the experience. And we are happy to partner with Guangdong and the Governor here around what we can do with skills, what we can do with innovation centers and what we can do with design thinking. So we are very glad to partner with Guangdong.