The following is an excerpt from Dominic Basulto | November 22, 2011 | washingtonpost.com
Warren Buffett, widely acknowledged as one of the world’s most savvy investors, has famously avoided any investment in the high-tech sector, preferring instead to invest in stodgy industrial companies with more predictable earnings. That appeared to change, when, on Nov. 14, Buffett acknowledged that he had been steadily accumulating $10 billion in IBM stock throughout the year, giving him a more than 5-percent stake in the company and also making him one of the biggest investors in IBM. Experts lauded the move as Buffett’s first-ever technology investment, yet IBM only derives a relatively tiny sliver of its revenue from technology and software. So was there something else behind Buffett’s investment that we’re missing?
Under its Smarter Planet initiative, IBM has extensively built out its ability to use digital technology solutions to modernize national infrastructure. They can help save energy through smart grid technologies, reduce traffic congestion in urban areas via digital sensors and deliver better public services by re-thinking infrastructure. One of the showcase projects on the Smarter Planet Web site, in fact, looks at how IBM re-imagined the underground water system in Washington, DC.
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