IBM, SoftBank Partner to Bring Watson to Japan

IBM has partnered with SoftBank to bring Watson to Japan. The goal of this partnership is to train the supercomputer to understand Japanese and accelerate the adoption of cognitive computing in Japan, the company states. Watson will be used to power applications and services throughout the country.

Watson is a commercially available cognitive computing capability. It is delivered through the cloud, analyzes data, understands complex questions and provides evidence-based answers. To bring the system to Japan, the partnership will expand Watson's knowledge, develop localized APIs (application programming interfaces) and development environments as well as build and expand the Watson ecosystem.

For end users, the technology is proposed to be embedded into various forms such as desktops, tablets, robots and mobile devices.

“The alliance with SoftBank, an industry pioneer, will bring new Watson capabilities to organizations in one of the most innovative parts of the world,” said Mike Rhodin, senior vice president, IBM Watson Group. “Together, we will be able to more quickly deploy Watson to enterprises throughout Japan, while building a rich ecosystem of partners, entrepreneurs, developers and other third-parties to design and deliver an entirely new class of cognitive computing apps."

For more information, visit IBM Watson.

Sources: Press materials received from the company and additional information gleaned from the company’s website.