Can Emerging Technologies Make a Difference in Development?


Book Description

In this innovative and entirely original text, which has been thoughtfully edited to ensure coherence and readability across disciplines, scientists and practitioners from around the world provide evidence of the opportunities for, and the challenges of, developing collaborative approaches to bringing advanced and emerging technology to poor communities in developing countries in a responsible and sustainable manner. This volume will stimulate and satisfy readers seeking to engage in a rich and challenging discussion, integrating many strands of social thought and physical science. For those also seeking to creatively engage in the great challenges of our times for the benefit of struggling farmers, sick children, and people literally living in the dark around the world, may this volume also spark imagination, inspire commitment, and provoke collaborative problem solving.




Can Emerging Technologies Make a Difference in Development?


Book Description

In this innovative and entirely original text, which has been thoughtfully edited to ensure coherence and readability across disciplines, scientists and practitioners from around the world provide evidence of the opportunities for, and the challenges of, developing collaborative approaches to bringing advanced and emerging technology to poor communities in developing countries in a responsible and sustainable manner. This volume will stimulate and satisfy readers seeking to engage in a rich and challenging discussion, integrating many strands of social thought and physical science. For those also seeking to creatively engage in the great challenges of our times for the benefit of struggling farmers, sick children, and people literally living in the dark around the world, may this volume also spark imagination, inspire commitment, and provoke collaborative problem solving.




Emerging Technologies for Economic Development


Book Description

This book provides an impressive overview of emerging technologies, especially nanotechnologies and biotechnologies, and their prospective applications. It identifies and describes existing and potential markets for emerging technology-based applications, and projects scenarios for macroeconomic development based on these technologies. Integrated roadmaps for the development of a nano- and bioindustry are shown and policy measures and corporate strategies developed to advance these technologies. These measures are illustrated using roadmaps and policy case studies.The book combines a practical, comprehensive overview of the technical side of emerging technologies and their applications in various fields with an analysis of market developments and characteristics.




Deploying Machine Learning


Book Description

Increasingly, business leaders and managers recognize that machine learning offers their companies immense opportunities for competitive advantage. But most discussions of machine learning are intensely technical or academic, and don't offer practical information leaders can use to identify, evaluate, plan, or manage projects. Deploying Machine Learning fills that gap, helping them clarify exactly how machine learning can help them, and collaborate with technologists to actually apply it successfully. You'll learn: What machine learning is, how it compares to "big data" and "artificial intelligence," and why it's suddenly so important What machine learning can do for you: solutions for computer vision, natural language processing, prediction, and more How to use machine learning to solve real business problems -- from reducing costs through improving decision-making and introducing new products Separating hype from reality: identifying pitfalls, limitations, and misconceptions upfront Knowing enough about the technology to work effectively with your technical team Getting the data right: sourcing, collection, governance, security, and culture Solving harder problems: exploring deep learning and other advanced techniques Understanding today's machine learning software and hardware ecosystem Evaluating potential projects, and addressing workforce concerns Staffing your project, acquiring the right tools, and building a workable project plan Interpreting results -- and building an organization that can increasingly learn from data Using machine learning responsibly and ethically Preparing for tomorrow's advances The authors conclude with five chapter-length case studies: image, text, and video analysis, chatbots, and prediction applications. For each, they don't just present results: they also illuminate the process the company undertook, and the pitfalls it overcame along the way.




Designing for Emerging Technologies


Book Description

The recent digital and mobile revolutions are a minor blip compared to the next wave of technological change, as everything from robot swarms to skin-top embeddable computers and bio printable organs start appearing in coming years. In this collection of inspiring essays, designers, engineers, and researchers discuss their approaches to experience design for groundbreaking technologies. Design not only provides the framework for how technology works and how it’s used, but also places it in a broader context that includes the total ecosystem with which it interacts and the possibility of unintended consequences. If you’re a UX designer or engineer open to complexity and dissonant ideas, this book is a revelation. Contributors include: Stephen Anderson, PoetPainter, LLC Lisa Caldwell, Brazen UX Martin Charlier, Independent Design Consultant Jeff Faneuff, Carbonite Andy Goodman, Fjord US Camille Goudeseune, Beckman Institute, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Bill Hartman, Essential Design Steven Keating, MIT Media Lab, Mediated Matter Group Brook Kennedy, Virginia Tech Dirk Knemeyer, Involution Studios Barry Kudrowitz, University of Minnesota Gershom Kutliroff, Omek Studio at Intel Michal Levin, Google Matt Nish-Lapidus, Normative Erin Rae Hoffer, Autodesk Marco Righetto, SumAll Juhan Sonin, Involution Studios Scott Stropkay, Essential Design Scott Sullivan, Adaptive Path Hunter Whitney, Hunter Whitney and Associates, Inc. Yaron Yanai, Omek Studio at Intel




Assessing the Societal Implications of Emerging Technologies


Book Description

A growing problem of interest in the field of science and technology policy is that the next generation of innovations is arriving at an accelerating rate, and the governance system is struggling to catch up. Current approaches and institutions for effective technology assessment are ill suited and poorly designed to proactively address the multidimensional, interconnected societal impacts of science and technology advancements that are already taking place and expected to continue over the course of the 21st century. This book offers tangible insights into the strategies deployed by well-known, high-profile organizations involved in anticipating the various societal and policy implications of nanotechnology and synthetic biology. It focuses predominantly on an examination of the practices adopted by the often-cited and uniquely positioned Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies in the United States, as well as being informed by comparisons with a range of institutions also interested in embedding forward-looking perspectives in their respective area of innovation. The book lays out one of the first actionable roadmaps that other interested stakeholders can follow when working toward institutionalizing anticipatory governance practices throughout the policymaking process.




Advances in Neuromorphic Memristor Science and Applications


Book Description

Physical implementation of the memristor at industrial scale sparked the interest from various disciplines, ranging from physics, nanotechnology, electrical engineering, neuroscience, to intelligent robotics. As any promising new technology, it has raised hopes and questions; it is an extremely challenging task to live up to the high expectations and to devise revolutionary and feasible future applications for memristive devices. The possibility of gathering prominent scientists in the heart of the Silicon Valley given by the 2011 International Joint Conference on Neural Networks held in San Jose, CA, has offered us the unique opportunity of organizing a series of special events on the present status and future perspectives in neuromorphic memristor science. This book presents a selection of the remarkable contributions given by the leaders of the field and it may serve as inspiration and future reference to all researchers that want to explore the extraordinary possibilities given by this revolutionary concept.




Implementing New Technology


Book Description




Information Technology and the U.S. Workforce


Book Description

Recent years have yielded significant advances in computing and communication technologies, with profound impacts on society. Technology is transforming the way we work, play, and interact with others. From these technological capabilities, new industries, organizational forms, and business models are emerging. Technological advances can create enormous economic and other benefits, but can also lead to significant changes for workers. IT and automation can change the way work is conducted, by augmenting or replacing workers in specific tasks. This can shift the demand for some types of human labor, eliminating some jobs and creating new ones. Information Technology and the U.S. Workforce explores the interactions between technological, economic, and societal trends and identifies possible near-term developments for work. This report emphasizes the need to understand and track these trends and develop strategies to inform, prepare for, and respond to changes in the labor market. It offers evaluations of what is known, notes open questions to be addressed, and identifies promising research pathways moving forward.




Dictionary of Global Bioethics


Book Description

This Dictionary presents a broad range of topics relevant in present-day global bioethics. With more than 500 entries, this dictionary covers organizations working in the field of global bioethics, international documents concerning bioethics, personalities that have played a role in the development of global bioethics, as well as specific topics in the field.The book is not only useful for students and professionals in global health activities, but can also serve as a basic tool that explains relevant ethical notions and terms. The dictionary furthers the ideals of cosmopolitanism: solidarity, equality, respect for difference and concern with what human beings- and specifically patients - have in common, regardless of their backgrounds, hometowns, religions, gender, etc. Global problems such as pandemic diseases, disasters, lack of care and medication, homelessness and displacement call for global responses.This book demonstrates that a moral vision of global health is necessary and it helps to quickly understand the basic ideas of global bioethics.