IBM Adds Weather Data to AWS Data Exchange

Datamation content and product recommendations are editorially independent. We may make money when you click on links to our partners. Learn More.

ARMONK, N.Y. — IBM is bringing weather data to Amazon Web Services’ (AWS) Data Exchange. 

The data delivered by IBM Watson Advertising is from The Weather Company, an IBM subsidiary, according to IBM this month. 

The weather data is intended to “harness” the relationship between weather and consumer behavior, using artificial intelligence (AI) to extract deep insights to help companies make more “confident, data-driven, and insightful” enterprise decisions. 

The weather data sets can help analyze how weather affects consumer purchasing across categories, such as pharmaceuticals, apparel, and consumer packaged goods, as well as indoor and outdoor activities. 

Local data by ZIP code — including historical weather data, 15-day forecast weather data, and relative data, such as hot, cold, and windy conditions — could also be used to help inform campaigns, supply chain, and forecasting decisions. 

Insights that show locations where weather could affect sales can help businesses drive revenue based on predictive consumer behavior.

The AWS Data Exchange allows businesses to find, subscribe, and use third-party data from the cloud. Subscribers can use the AWS console or APIs to load IBM Watson Advertising solutions into a wide variety of AWS analytics and machine learning (ML) services.

IBM is committed to a $1 billion investment in its partner ecosystem over the next three years.

“We know that weather can impact nearly everything in daily life — how we feel, what we do, even what we buy,” said Sheri Bachstein, CEO at The Weather Company and GM of IBM Watson Advertising. 

“We are committed to opening up our insights and technology to a broad set of organizations and giving more companies access to what we know can be growth- and efficiency-driving data and tech.”