IBM has thrown its weight behind Spark, an increasingly popular tool that is used to analyze large amounts of data in real time. Spark opens up all sorts of emerging business applications, such as the ability to quickly target ads toward people passing in front of a digital billboard. The number of such uses is expected to greatly expand as Internet-connected sensors become pervasive in physical objects, a phenomenon known as the Internet of Things. By working to push Spark into the mainstream now, IBM hopes to catch an emerging market at the very early stages…