Initiative in Innovative Computing
IIC Panel Discussion
Thursday, November 30, 2006; 4:00pm
Future of Computer Intensive Science in the U.S.
Dr. Daniel Reed, Vice Chancellor for Information Technology and Chief
Information Officer for the University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill, and Director of the Renaissance Computing Institute (RENCI)
and
Dr. Sangtae Kim, Donald W. Feddersen Distinguished Professor, Purdue
University, West Lafayette, Indiana, Schools of Engineering
Dr. Daniel Reed Title of Talk: The Challenge of Consilience
Abstract
Ten years – a geological epoch on the computing time scale. Looking
back, a decade brought the web and consumer email, digital cameras
and music, broadband networking, multifunction cell phones, WiFi,
HDTV, telematics, multiplayer games, electronic commerce and
computational science. It also brought spam, phishing, identity
theft, software insecurity, outsourcing and globalization,
information warfare and blurred work-life boundaries. What will a
decade of technology advances bring in communications and
collaboration, sensors and knowledge management, modeling and
discovery, electronic commerce and digital entertainment, critical
infrastructure management and security? What will it mean for
research and education?
As new discoveries increasingly lie at the interstices of traditional
disciplines, computing is the enabler for a scholarship in the arts,
humanities, creative practice and public policy. This talk will
describe emerging opportunities in the arts, humanities, science and
engineering where interdisciplinary Renaissance approaches can have
profound impact on discovery and creative expression.
Dr. Sangtae Kim Title of talk: Cyberinfrastructure and Economic
Curvature Creating Curvature in a Flat World
Abstract
The role of classical infrastructure (roads, power grids, and water
utilities) as foundational elements for economic growth is well
understood and appreciated by the leaders and planners promoting
economic development. Today, with the pervasive presence of
information technology, an increasingly important role is being
played by another type of infrastructure, called
"cyberinfrastructure." This is the IT infrastructure made up of
computers, software, databases, transmission lines and facilities, as
well as the people and services needed to make the system work.
Cyberinfrastructure is central to scientific advancement in the
modern, data-intensive research environment. For example, the recent
revolution in the life sciences, including the seminal achievement of
sequencing the human genome on an accelerated time frame, was made
possible by parallel advances in cyberinfrastructure for research in
this data-intensive field. But beyond the enablement of basic
research, cyberinfrastructure is a driver for global economic growth
despite the disruptive 'flattening' effect of IT in the developed
economies. But even at the regional level, visionary cyber
investments to create smart infrastructures will induce 'economic
curvature' a gravitational pull to overcome the dispersive effects of
the 'flat' world and the consequential acceleration in economic growth.
Date and Time: Thursday, November 30, 2006; 4:00pm; Full
Refreshment Buffet at 3:45pm
Location: 60 Oxford Street, Room 330
Parking: Parking is available in the 52
Oxford Street Garage. Please tell the attendant that you are
attending the IIC Seminar. A map is available on line at http://
iic.harvard.edu/contactphp.
Upcoming IIC seminars
Dec. 6, 2006 - Richard Gabriel, Distinguished Engineer
The Seminar Series schedule is available on the IIC website – http://
iic.harvard.edu/events.php. The website will be updated often with
additional information and seminars.
All IIC seminars will be held at the 60 Oxford Street Building, Room
330 unless otherwise noted.
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