As China continues to battle with increasingly worsening levels of air pollution, two of the world's biggest firms are eyeing a window of business opportunity in the situation. Technology firms IBM and Microsoft are reportedly scrambling for the country's fast-growing market for smog forecasting devices.

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In Beijing this month December alone, local authorities have raised the highest weather alert twice due to the uncontrollable hazardous air engulfing the city. Furthermore, last week, more than 200 flights were reportedly cancelled because of low visibility as smog covered the runway. 

Chinese authorities rely on smog forecasting technology to issue such weather warnings. The market for these devices is apparently growing rapidly as the government and individuals attempt to help monitor and manage the harmful smog. These move is partly in preparation for the upcoming Winter Olympics, which will be hosted by China, in 2022.

"There is increasing attention to the air quality forecast service," researcher Yu Zheng from Microsoft said. "More and more people care about this information technology."

In 2013, Dustin Grzesik created Banshirne.com, a free website and smartphone app that can forecast air quality via wind patterns gathered from public weather data.

"If you can predict the weather, it only takes a few more variables to predict air quality," said Robert Rohde, who maps China's real-time air pollution. "Most of the time pollutant emissions don't vary very rapidly."

Now, there is a need for "cognitive computing" which will give the government a more sophisticated forecasting ability to tell the weather for up to 10 days ahead. The technology will utilize a combined data from weather, traffic, and real-time pollution levels provided by the government as well as posts from social networking sites. 

This advanced forecast will also aid the government to create public awareness like class suspension, flight cancellation, vehicle restriction or factory shut down.

IBM and Microsoft have reportedly gotten hold of government-based clients and created smog forecasting technologies at their labs in China.

IBM collaborated with the capital city's environmental protection bureau to create the "Joint Environmental Innovation Center," which is manned by both government officials and scientists from the company. The project was organized earlier this month and allowed officials to produce model pollution reduction on worst scenarios.

Aside from the bureau, IBM has also partnered with Zhangjiahou, which will co-host the 2022 Winter Games. The partnership aims to do forward planning and scenario modeling before the games commence.

Microsoft, on the other hand, has signed a deal with the environmental ministry, as well as the environmental protection bureaus of Fujin province and Chengdu. 

Aside from government clients, both companies are also targeting to accommodate business customers, particularly renewable power generation establishments, and individual consumers.    

Tagssmog levels, Beijing Air Quality, 2022 Winter Olympics