IBM has discussed more details about its new business unit, Big Green Innovations, that will offer consulting for water and energy management that combine industry expertise with supercomputing, CNET reports. It’s also looking at licensing material technologies for solar power and water filtration. The company announced the new business unit last December.
The program will take aim at everything from creating “carbon dashboards” that help corporations lower their supply chain’s carbon emissions to designing energy-efficient data centers and more powerful solar cells.
Sharon Nunes, the vice president in charge of developing the Big Green Innovations business, expects the program will be larger than IBM’s life science program, which became a $1 billion business in three years.
The company plans to explore its options this year, devising new businesses and seeking out customers without attaching a specific budget to the initiative, Nunes said. She hopes to create a pilot service this year as a way of getting a better feel for customer demands.