IBM to create a new Internet of Things unit by investing USD 3 billion

American multinational technology and consulting corporation IBM has announced that it will create a new "Internet of Things" unit and will invest USD 3 billion over four years to build on it.

The idea behind the "Internet of Things" is that sensors will be embedded in everything and networked to create data. This flow of data could improve operations.

IBM will invest at least a USD 1 billion to get the effort rolling and throws its hardware, software and consultants at the issue. In this respect, the formation of the "Internet of Things" unit rhymes with what IBM did with e-commerce, analytics, and cloud and cognitive computing.

According to the tech website CNET.com, IBM has announced a partnership with the business-to-business division of The Weather Company, owner of The Weather Channel. The partnership will deliver micro weather forecasts using sensors from aircraft, drones, buildings and smart phones.

IBM said that the partnerships like the one with The Weather Company and the one announced last year with Twitter are the cornerstones of a strategy to put them on the cutting edge of a burgeoning technology.

The Weather Company will also move its data services platform to IBM's cloud platform and will integrate Big Blue's analytics tools such as Watson Analytics.