Previous Fora / 2003

Speakers

Challenges for Computing and Information Technology In The Twenty First Century

Professor William A. Wulf
President, U. S. National Academy of Engineering, USA

Abstract

Information Technology, the convergence of computing and communications technologies has had an enormous impact on all aspects of life in the developed world. It will have even more impact in both the developed and developing world as we enter the 21st century. Powered by the unprecedented and continuing advances in microelectronics and photonics, the power and capacity of our expanding information infrastructure has risen exponentially while simultaneously its cost has fallen, also exponentially. At least for the foreseeable future, the exponential pace of technology improvement is likely to continue. In this lecture I will explore some of the non-technical, societal challenges and opportunities posed by information technology as we enter the twenty-first century. I will not provide answers for these challenges or guarantees we will exploit the opportunities - but hopefully, by asking some of the right questions it will provoke