IBM's Watson Gets Even More Data

This week, the

reported that

is spending $2.6 billion in order to acquire Truven Health Analytics Inc. The deal will boost IBM's artificial intelligence efforts by providing its Watson computer with a slew of new medial data.

The size of IBM's Watson Health business will double following the acquisition and the firm will be able to offer a slew of new services to doctors and hospitals using data from Truven. This follows years of investing in medical-technology companies in order to bolster Watson's capabilities.

IBM's work to develop Watson has created several potential areas for growth as the computer's ability to learn by sorting through huge volumes of data will make it an asset to several industries. However, one of the most promising spaces for Watson's expansion is healthcare. The computer's vast knowledge is expected to eventually make it easier for doctors to diagnose conditions and make educated guesses about how different symptoms are linked. Watson can use historical data to make medicine more precise and give doctors a new resource with which to diagnose their patients.

IBM's positioning in the healthcare space will be important to the company's future growth as healthcare in the US falls under more and more scrutiny. Data driven healthcare will likely help cut out necessary procedures and lower the costs to hospitals and insurers, a welcome change at a time when rising costs have been the subject of hot debates. As Watson becomes more and more accurate, the computer will likely be better able to improve results-driven healthcare.