ARMONK, N.Y., Sept. 8 (UPI) -- U.S. technology giant IBM said Monday it would commit $2 billion to research and development of digital information storage devices and strategies.
The investment is to include strategic purchases and the work of 2,500 researchers in nine countries over the next three years, the company said in a statement.
The problem to be solved is how to store and disseminate the amount of digital information expected in the future.
The average "information footprint" per Internet user is now 1 terabyte, which is the equivalent of 50,000 trees cut and printed, IBM said. By 2020, the statement said, that number is expected to grow by a factor of 16.
By 2011, IBM said, the hardware that connects people to the Internet will include 1 trillion devices, known collectively, as "the Internet of things."
In addition, the statement said, problems with storage and distribution of information is upon us. "Leading analysts have stated that 50 percent of data centers will run out of power or space for their data centers sometime in 2008," IBM said.
