Microsoft envisions data prediction technology
Microsoft Korea has launched a cloud-based data analysis and prediction service on the Korean market.
The “Microsoft Azure Machine Learning” is the world’s only service based on the namesake technology “machine learning.” This empowers machines to learn from analysis on data it has collected and to predict what will happen in the future, the company said Wednesday.
“The algorithm suggested by the machine learning technology produces an explanation and forecasts what will happen in the future. We will be able to predict and prepare for future problems if we can formulate what causes how they happen,” Microsoft Korea’s senior program manager Lee Keon-bok said during a press conference at the company’s office in Junghak-dong, Seoul, Wednesday.
“With the cloud-based Azure Machine Learning, clients can minimize the time and money required to develop and establish a process to analyze a lot of data for their business operations.”
Lee said that machine learning can be different from similar technologies such as data mining, big data analysis and artificial intelligence as it can produce predictions.
Big data analysis refers to technology used to collect and process unsorted data, while data mining is used to pick out meaningful information from unsorted data. Artificial intelligence means a computing technology that makes a machine recognize human thoughts and behavior to mimic them, he said.
“The world has long-accumulated data and cloud computing technology can process complicated simulation work on this data. The machine learning technology came to life based on such a backdrop,” Lee said. “Microsoft has developed this technology since 1999 by applying it to Internet search engines, traffic analysis and prediction, human gesture recognition and real-time voice translation technology.”
Microsoft Korea’s senior program manager at its cloud and enterprise business group, Song Seung-ho, introduced ThyssenKrupp Elevator as a successful example that introduced the Azure Machine Learning service. The company has used it to collect data such as speed, temperature and number of errors of 1.1 million elevators it operates worldwide and has conducted preemptive maintenance following the service’s predictions, Song said.
The company said the Azure Machine Learning can be applied to various industries including finance, manufacturing, medical, sports and entertainment and help companies get insight from collected data and utilize future predictions for their businesses. Business areas ranging from marketing, market demand prediction, financial fraud monitoring and smart building control can be benefit from this technology, it said.
The machine learning technology has drawn attention from global IT giants such as Google, IBM and Oracle and local conglomerates including Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics and Hyundai Motor have actively trying to figure out how this technology can improve their business efficiency.
“Most large companies in Korea have considered testing out what they can do with this new technology,” Song said. “For us, we have worked to integrate our cloud service portfolio. Now we look to raise market awareness on our cloud services and further generate revenue in this segment.”
The company also announced that it has acquired a U.S. startup “Equivio” to further strengthen its caliber in the machine learning sector.