Summary of: “IBM Watson Beyond Jeopardy!" held on Thursday, January 26, 2017 from 8:00-10:00 AM.
This talk surveyed advancements in Watson and cognitive computing since the Jeopoardy! Challenge of 2011. It included a recap of how Watson works, what it does, how Watson implementations are built, and how they are deployed, and was followed by a discussion of various use case categories that have emerged, citing examples in public sector and health care. New capabilities on the horizon was also covered in the context of use cases.
The discussion was led by Christopher F. Codella, an IBM Distinguished Engineer and Public Sector Chief Technology Officer, IBM Cognitive Solutions. Chris had reviewed the Watson architecture with the Roundtable in early 2012. His current activities center around complex data analytics, particularly applying IBM’s Watson technology to build solutions that support the missions of government agencies at all levels. Dr. Codella earned a Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Cornell University in 1984 and first joined IBM in 1979 at the East Fishkill, NY semiconductor lab working on advanced memory devices.
In 1989 he became a Research Staff Member in the Computer Science Department at the IBM Thomas J. Watson Research Center where he managed the Virtual Worlds Group developing software for collaborative, networked virtual environments. Later, as Senior Manager of the Enterprise Middleware department, he led a team in development of object-oriented application server technology, distributed systems, reusable software components, component architecture, and web services.
He has received IBM's Invention Achievement Awards and Outstanding Technical Achievement Awards for his contributions to Enterprise Java and J2EE, and for leading the development of IBM Research’s Global Technology Outlook. From 2003 to 2008 Dr. Codella served as Deputy Chief Technology Officer of IBM Federal. Dr. Codella is a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, author of numerous of professional publications and conference papers, and holder of several US and international patents.