Counter intuitively, the hardest part of realizing a decent data infrastructure is not the hardware or technology choice, but the design and architecture of your information system.

FORBES: 4 Steps to Turning Big Data into Business Impact

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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