Nelson said DOT started using a Geographic Information System program developed by the conservancy's Adirondack researchers last year.

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Another example might include an HR generalist using the system to push out upcoming event information or changes to healthcare coverage to a web portal and then alerting staff to the changes via a mass email or other messaging option.

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Since November, IBM Chief Executive Sam Palmisano has been making futurist statements about the need for a "smarter" national infrastructure, using information technology to upgrade the nation's roads, electric grid and health care system in a bid to increase their efficiency -- and to make America more internationally competitive and to create thousands of jobs.

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Using ATOP, if a pilot requests an altitude or route change, the system loads the new information, based on the data transmission from the plane, calculates any possible conflicts and suggests responses from the controller automatically.

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The Chicago Public Library system found that 60 percent of the people using the Internet in their branches were applying for or seeking information about jobs.

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Because the system that makes Siri available is so complex and multifaceted, Apple could reasonably justify extracting and using the information contained in just about any question people ask Siri.

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The Department of Defense is using a tactical ground reporting system so soldiers can report people and events they encounter in the field, in effect crowdsourcing information from disparate sources so other teams can understand what they may encounter.

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