E-mail From the Grave? Microsoft Seeks Patent on
'Immortal Computing'
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (01/22/07) Bishop, Todd
Microsoft researchers are pursuing a patent for their work on a project
that would let information be stored indefinitely and accessed by future
generations, or perhaps civilizations. This long-term "immortal computing"
project would ideally do away with the problems posed by the currently
limited life spans of information storage methods. One imagined possible
application has been tombstones that allow visitors to access information
stored by, and possibly about, the deceased, or even to see and hear a
holographic representation of the deceased themselves. "Maybe we should
start thinking as a civilization about creating our Rosetta stones now,
along with lots of information, even going beyond personal memories into
civilization memories," said Eric Horvitz, a Microsoft principal researcher
who is working on the project. The patent filing suggests the use of
nonmoving parts, to avoid damage over time, alternative means of energy, as
well as independent interfaces for retrieval of the information, so the
means of access could evolve even though the means by which the information
is stored could not. Those storing information could decide who to grant
access to, using DNA or biometrics to confirm identity. These artifacts
would be "self revealing," meaning that no other information besides the
artifact itself would be needed for access; a similar idea was incorporated
into the Golden Record, taken on board the 1970s Voyager spacecraft, which
provided instructions for building a player for the record. A similar
system currently online is the Handle System, which utilizes unique
identifiers that allow online information to be retrieved even if it has
been moved. While the project has received general praise, some worry that
Microsoft's application for a patent will keep other researchers from
working on similar technology.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
OSDL, FSG Merge to Create Linux Foundation
eWeek (01/21/07) Galli, Peter
In order to help open-source products compete with proprietary platforms,
the Open Source Development Labs (OSDL) and the Free Standards Group (FSG)
are merging to form the Linux Foundation. The merger must first be
ratified by the members of both groups, but is expected to be completed in
early February. "We need to provide services that are useful to the
community and industry, as well as protect, promote and continue to
standardize the [Linux] platform," explains Linux Foundation leader and
former FSG executive director Jim Zemlin. The foundation will also make it
possible for community members to contribute to technical work and even
serve on the board of directors. "This organization needs to be responsive
to everyone who has a big investment in the platform," said Zemlin.
Competing with proprietary platforms in enterprise data center deployments
will be a big concern of the foundation, as it looks to promote Linux in a
"vendor neutral way," according to Zemlin. Other missions of the
foundation are to provide a forum for Linus Torvalds to work on the new
Linux development kernel, manage the Linux trademark, provide legal
protection initiatives such as the Legal Defense Fund and the Patent
Commons, and "develop a standard that enables backward compatibility and
interoperability in the heterogeneous environments that characterize
today's computing," says Zemlin. Those who have a strategic interest in
the success of Linux, such as open-source vendors, will now be able to fund
the cause through a single body.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
NIST Announces Competition for New Cryptographic Hash
Algorithm
Network World (01/23/07)
Citing recent attacks on the cryptographic hash algorithm currently used
to establish digital signatures and authenticate data, the National
Institute of Standards and Technology will hold a competition to choose a
new algorithm to become the federal information processing standard. The
current standards include variations of the Secure Hash Algorithm, SHA-1,
SHA-2, SHA-256, SHA-384, and SHA-512. The Advanced Encryption Standard
used today was also chosen from a worldwide competition and improved
through peer review. "As a first step in this process, NIST is looking for
comments on its recently published draft minimum acceptability
requirements, submission requirements, and evaluation criteria for
candidate algorithms," said NIST's Jan Kosko. According to a NIST
statement in the Federal Register, NIST is interested in "unclassified,
publicly disclosed" algorithms that are "royalty-free" and "capable of
protecting sensitive government information well into the foreseeable
future." The statement also said the "draft minimum acceptability
requirements, submission requirements, and evaluation criteria for
candidate hash functions" will be presented at the RSA Conference in San
Francisco. A baseline is planned to be completed by the third quarter of
this year, followed by a round of submissions due by the third quarter of
2008. Public comments on the selected candidates would last until the
fourth quarter of 2009, at which point NIST will decide whether to extend
the proceedings or to enter chosen submissions into public workshops for
discussion.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
'Yahoo Research Uses Artificial Intelligence
Everywhere'
Financial Express (India) (01/22/07) Mahalakshmi, BV
Yahoo Research VP of Worldwide Research Operations Ronald Brachman
discusses the history of artificial intelligence (AI), its current state,
and where it may go in the future. He describes AI as being "about
understanding intelligent behavior in machines and converting them to
natural languages. We want to produce PCs that can perform natural
language conversations." Yahoo R&D contains three entities: The Product
Engineering Group, which constructs global platforms and applications; the
Technology Research Group, which seeks to change or enhance user behavior
through the use of novel technology platforms that can be "leveraged across
the board," according to Brachman; and the Market Innovation Group, which
focuses on value propositions prototyping, market testing, and processing
new technologies. Specific areas of focus currently include vertical
search applications, blogs, avatars, and message boards, but the main use
of AI at the R&D labs is to analyze the more than 12 TB a day worth of
information concerning advertising. The goal is to "make the user
experience more meaningful without violating users' privacy," according to
Brachman.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Military Builds Robotic Insects
Wired News (01/23/07) Hambling, David
Military researchers in the United States, Britain, and Israel are
developing Micro Air Vehicles (MAVs) that can gain access to secure
locations and carry out varying levels of attacks. British Special Forces
are currently using six-inch MAVs called WASPs for reconnaissance in
Afghanistan. Though truly insect-sized MAVs will not take flight for a few
years, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory Munitions Directorate Assessment
and Demonstration Division technical director Fred Davis explains that the
United States has been looking into tiny MAVs that could avoid detection
and achieve "functional defeat" of enemies, such as spraying a catalytic
depolymerization agent on the tires of a vehicle, shorting a building's
circuit box, or releasing a cloud of metal-coated fibers that would destroy
PCs and electronic gear in a building. Davis also says that the tiny craft
itself could be made out of an explosive material. Other techniques
discussed include "fire-ant warfare" where many tiny robots that can each
inflict small amounts of damage can work together to neutralize an enemy.
However, some fear that MAV technology could fall into the hands of
terrorists who could use it for attacks on civilians or politicians.
Dortmund University physicist Juergen Altmann, who works on assessing new
technologies, is quite wary of the dangers posed this research and is
promoting an international ban on armed MAVs.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Intel Speeds Up Silicon Photonics
Technology Review (01/22/07) Greene, Kate
A team of researchers at Intel have developed a silicon modulator that is
able to encode data at a rate of 30 Gbps, which makes it the fastest
silicon modulator in the world. And Mario Paniccia, Intel research fellow
and director of the Silicon Photonics Technology Lab, believes the
researchers can achieve the same speed as commercial nonsilicon modulators
by changing the chemical structure of silicon diodes. "We believe this
design will be extendable to 40 gigabits per second in the future,"
according to Paniccia. At such speeds, the optical device of photons and
beams of light would be able to replace electrons and copper wires in
computer processors. Photonic chips would lead to faster computers, and an
all-silicon photonic chip could result in more affordable fiber-optic
network hardware, which would reduce the cost of bandwidth. Intel
researchers are focusing on developing an integrated photonic chip,
although Paniccia says silicon modulators or lasers could hit the
commercial market by 2010. "If you take 25 of those [silicon] lasers and
direct them into an array of 25 modulators, then you have a terabit of
information all on a piece of silicon the size of my fingernail," he
says.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
ICCE's Call to Designers: Consider the User First
EE Times (01/22/07) Mokhoff, Nicolas
Several speakers and papers at the International Conference of Consumer
Electronics encouraged designers to pay more attention to how consumers
actually use a certain device rather than focusing on impressive features.
Now that downloadable content is available from a growing number of sources
and in a growing number of venues and devices, the consumer must take
priority in the designers mind over the device itself, said Pragmatics
Technology director of engineering William Lumpkins, in his ICCE keynote
address. Lumpkins also stressed the value of a "multidisciplinary approach
to design, saying, "If you take a look at the industry's best [innovators],
you discover that they have multidisciplinary approaches." He also cited a
bright-colored ATM that was more popular among users than a dull-colored
ATM that was exactly the same machine, as well as the successful Glucoboy,
which connected to a Gameboy and rewards diabetic children with programs if
they maintain healthy glucose levels. "The human body is becoming an
Internet data source, and that is saving money in the highly costly health
field," said Lumpkins. Several innovations presented at ICCE embodied
Lumpkins ideas, including a book-like interface equipped with
light-dependent resistors that can tell what page the device is open to and
if it is open, closed, or face-down, so users can turn pages to navigate
content, or even place the device on a table so it stays open to a desired
page. Another device presented was a magnifying glass-like interface that
can sense its own movement and change its display in real time, allowing
users to find desired information. Another interface can comprehend
several hand gestures and postures. Finally, a Phillips modular
architecture for cars uses various serial buses of different speeds to
optimize the use of bandwidth for several multimedia applications. A
bridge that connects to the car could even access automotive networks,
possibly using Ethernet technology.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Exploding Robots May Scout Hazardous Asteroids
New Scientist (01/22/07) Shiga, David
Scientists are contemplating the use of small, cheap robotic probes to
investigate and possibly destroy dangerous asteroids. A fleet of the
probes could be released from a spacecraft and land on the asteroid, where
they would scan the asteroid's surface; once the initial scan was complete,
some of the probes could blow themselves up while the others analyze the
vibrations given off by the explosions to tell scientists on Earth about
the composition of the asteroid. Though NASA has a list of over 800
potentially dangerous asteroids, none has ever had its interior studied,
and a 2005 Japanese mission failed to land small robots on an asteroid,
showing the difficulty of creating correct mathematical models for this
task. U.S. researchers have designed relatively cheap 12-kilogram probes
that could be launched from a single spacecraft, and potentially be pushed
by the craft to land on the asteroid. The probes would use battery power,
rather than solar power, conserving weight but limiting their lifetime.
Another method for diverting an asteroid, known as a "gravity tractor"
involves a spacecraft hovering next to the asteroid to use its own gravity
to steer the asteroid off course, but this technique could not work on
asteroids that are actually collections of smaller, unbound rocks. With
funding, the probes could be built in the next few years, and several
asteroids have already been identified as appropriate for trials. Since
they are so cheap, many of the probes could be launched, allowing
researchers a good deal of experimental data.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Cyberthreat Experts to Meet at Secretive
Conference
CNet (01/22/07) Evers, Joris
Meetings will be held later this week at Microsoft's Redmond, Wash.,
headquarters to provide a confidential forum for representatives from
security companies, government, and law enforcement to discuss the threats
facing the Internet. High on the list of priorities are botnets and the
use of zero-day bugs, but many topics will be covered. Trend Micro's
Douglas Otis will give a presentation on email authentication technology
named Sender ID, which would be exploited to launch
denial-of-service-attacks. Another presentation, given by the
Anti-Phishing Workgroup's Dave Jevans, will provide an overview of phishing
statistics and cover new patterns in data-theft, including subdomains,
man-in-the-middle style attacks, and the way attack patterns are changed to
target smaller banks and payment services. MessageLabs' Alex Shipp will
give a presentation on Trojan horses that attack a small number of
businesses or individuals. Shipp believes the event will allow for
valuable discussion that will make those involved better equipped with deal
with security threats: "What are the bad guys doing now and how can we
stop them?" he asked. "Can we do better than we are currently or do we
need a seismic shift in the way we do things now to solve the problems?
What kind of co-operative efforts can we put in place that would benefit us
all?" In order to solve the security problem, communication and
cooperation within the industry are vital, says Norman Data Defense Systems
chief research officer Richard Zwienenberg. "Without worldwide laws and
cooperation, we might lose the battle in the end," he warns.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
New Software Will Help Children Design Their Own Games
and Aid Learning
Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (01/22/07)
Many hope that innovative game-designing software being deployed in U.K.
schools will invigorate students' desire to learn, specifically in the
fields of computer science and engineering. The program, known as
Adventure Author, is the result of a project undertaken by the computer
science department at Heriot-Watt University, with funding from the
Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), whose aim is
help Britain meet future technological challenges. Designed for students
between the ages of 10 and 14, Adventure Author allows users to build
interactive 3D environments, write dialogue, develop characters, and tackle
technical programming and testing issues using simple tools. "Because they
see games as 'play' not 'work,' many children are much more receptive to
the idea of designing computer games than to conventional schoolwork," says
project leader Dr. Judy Robertson. "The value of teaching through play is
increasingly being recognized--we're simply extending the concept to see if
learning can be improved not just by playing computer games but also by
creating them in the first place." Educational consultants, software
developers, and students themselves were all involved in the creation of
Adventure Author in order to optimize the program's ability to cultivate
useful skills. Previous studies into non-education-specific game-authoring
software have shown positive results and suggest that there is great
educational and inspirational potential for Adventure Author.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Survey: Tech Sector Brightens Its Outlook
eWeek (01/22/07) Perelman, Deborah
A December 2006 survey by staffing and recruitment firm Spherion reveals
growing optimism among IT professionals entering the new year. The report,
which was released Jan. 22, showed that 46 percent of respondents planned
to look for a new job in the next year, a 6 percent increase from the third
quarter of 2006, and 10 percent greater than the total U.S. workforce.
There was also a 6 percent increase in the number of respondents who
believed that there were more jobs available than there were previously.
No respondents feared for their own job this quarter, or for the future of
their employer. Thirty-two percent of respondents believed that the job
market was improving in the fourth quarter of 2006, an increase of 13
percent from the third quarter of 2006, and 7 percent greater than the
total U.S. workforce. Many attribute the high confidence to the perpetual
need for more project management and application development workers. "The
confluence of a low unemployment rate and continued growth in the
technology sector has increased the number of employment prospects for IT
professionals," said Spherion's Brendan Courtney. "In particular, we are
seeing an increase in demand for IT professionals with strong project
management and application development skills and expect that trend to
continue throughout the year."
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Falling Dominos and Future Computers
Earth & Sky (01/16/07) Salazar, Jorge
Constructing tomorrow's computers through nanotechnology is the focus of
IBM Almaden Research Center research fellow Don Eigler. He and his
colleagues devised a way to trap electrons in a "quantum corral" of atoms
arranged on a copper surface in order to study their properties, and the
scientist explains that this experiment "gave us a leg up into
understanding and investigating how electrons will behave in these really
small structures, where the wave properties of the electrons were really
important." Eigler says there is a big distinction between transmitting
data by sending electrons down wires and transmitting data via waves.
Harnessing wave properties allows the transmission of multiple threads of
information through the same space. Another nanoscale innovation Eigler is
investigating is molecule cascade logic circuits that facilitate
computation by flipping carbon monoxide molecules like dominos. To address
the challenge of resetting the molecular dominos, Eigler's researchers are
looking into exploiting electrons' magnetic property, or "spin." "We can
see building computer circuits, at least in our laboratory, which have
length scales on the order of, or sizes of the order two or three atoms
across," notes Eigler.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
The Secret to Secure Code--Stop Repeating Old
Mistakes
Between the Lines (Blog) (01/16/07) Farber, Dan
Though programmers will never be able to put an end to hackers, the
Fortify Technical Advisory Board believes they can take a considerable step
in the right direction by not repeating their mistakes, and implementing
security within products from the ground up. "The industry is currently
defaulting to a small number of platforms�Windows, Java and a few others,"
explains Windows Live China managing director Li Gong. "Once the platform
is built it is hard to make it more secure. You only get one or two
chances to make it more secure, especially once it ships. Because [of] its
layers, you have to solve the security problems at each layer." The board
also blames the poor status of security on the lack of security experts in
development teams, stressing that simply adding a few security experts is
not enough if the rest of the programmers are ignorant of security. "There
is the issue of security and the issue of good coding practices," says
University of California, Berkeley, computer science professor Matt Bishop.
"They are interlinked. Everyone has to use best practices--the chain is
only as strong as weakest link." Focusing on the idea that security
applies to the system as a whole, not just as a single element, the board
explained how as layers are improved, hackers are looking to more obscure
parts of code to tamper with, as many programmers do not have the time to
deal with such seemingly peripheral concerns. A constant need for updated
textbooks was also discussed. However, the experts did praise Microsoft as
a leader in integrating security measures into its entire development
process.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Ring for a Robot
The Engineer Online (01/17/07)
Several European universities are taking part in EU-funded development of
swarms of robots that could reduce the burden on hospital staff, letting
them spend more time attending to patients. The project, known as IWARD,
could also make hospitals more sanitary, according to project leader Thomas
Schlegel of Fraunhofer Institute's human-computer interaction division.
The robots will consist of a basic platform on which a module of sensors
and different equipment would be mounted. In addition to being able to
handle an array of tasks, the robots could operate semi-autonomously,
communicate with each other, and collaborate when necessary. Off-the-shelf
technology will be used as much as possible, but some new developments will
be needed. "The idea is not only to have mobile robots but also a full
system of integrated information terminals and guide-lights, so the
hospital is full of interaction and intelligence," said Schlegel.
"Operating as a completely decentralized network means that the robots can
coordinate things between themselves, such as deciding which one would be
best equipped to deal with a spillage or to transport medicine." Sensors
will allow the robots to avoid collisions while moving through hallways or
rooms, and high speed-lanes could be built that would allow the robots to
traverse the hospital with ease. Schlegel admits that the most difficult
part of the development of these robots will be the
"human-robot-interactivity," as conditions, injuries, and disabilities will
vary from patient to patient. After a three-year project that begins this
month, the team hopes to create a three-robot prototype system.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Conceptualizing a Cyborg
University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine (01/17/07)
Researchers at the University of Penn School of Medicine are looking to
use lab-grown nervous tissue to connect a patient's nervous system to an
artificial or paralyzed limb. "We're at a junction now of developing a new
approach for a brain-machine interface," says senior author Douglas H.
Smith, MD, Professor of Neurosurgery and Director of the Center for Brain
Injury and Repair at Penn. "The nervous system will certainly rebel if you
place hard or sharp electrodes into it to record signals. However, the
nervous system can be tricked to accept an interface letting it do what it
likes--assimilating new nerve cells into its own network." Signals for a
limb to move sent by undamaged nervous tissue could be picked up by
lab-grown transplantable living nervous tissue and sent to electrodes
connected to a device, such as a prosthetic limb. The challenge, however
is to not only transmit signals from the undamaged tissue to the device,
but to provide the undamaged tissue with sensory feedback. Smith's lab
pioneered a process for stretch growth of nerve fibers called axons, which
connect to two adjacent plates of neurons that are grown in a bioreactor.
Over a few days, these plates are pulled apart until they are the desired
distance apart. One plate contains an electrical microchip, and since the
axons are able to transmit electrical signals, the nervous tissue-device
interface, using the microchip, could pick up and transmit real-time
signals from the nerves, which would provide sensory feedback to the
undamaged tissue through the axons. "Whether it is a prosthetic device or
a disabled body function, the mind could regain control," says Smith.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
The Future of Robotics
Living on Earth (01/12/07) Gellerman, Bruce
Living on Earth's Bruce Gellerman recently interviewed several roboticists
from MIT to discuss the current state of robotics, and where it is going.
Graduate student Aaron Edsinger is currently working in the MIT Computer
Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory (CSAIL) on a humanoid robot
named Domo, which is capable of human interaction, including the ability to
reach out to a person and respond to physical contact. About 15 computers
are used to control Domo, and most of them are used for computer vision.
"At a certain level it's hard to know...how [Domo is] going to respond
because its behavior is not scripted," explained Edsinger. "It's really
responding to its environment and reacting to that." MIT CSAIL director
Rodney Brooks, who is also chief technology officer for Roomba manufacturer
Irobot, stressed the current drive to produce robots that can safely
interact with humans, since the world population has begun aging
considerably. Whether robots resemble humans or not, Brooks explained that
no one will buy them unless they can have "the intuitive understanding of
what it is we're trying to do and then co-exist with us and help us." One
of the lab's biggest motivations has been to ask the question of "what is
human and trying to understand that by building models," said Brooks.
According to him, the social interaction aspects are the easiest to build,
while object recognition and manipulation remain a challenge. When asked
about robots in 100 years, Brooks explained that it is very possible that
truly intelligent machines could exist, but he also brought up the fact
that humans are biochemical machines and that no one knows whether humans
are capable of building such machines.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Distractions in the Wireless Classroom
Chronicle of Higher Education (01/26/07) Vol. 53, No. 21, P. C1; Bugeja,
Michael J.
The transition to a wireless classroom carries the risk of distraction,
such as students Web surfing, playing games, or text messaging instead of
taking notes or paying attention to lessons. Because of this trend,
warnings about the misuse or abuse of technology are poised to become a
standard component of syllabi, writes Iowa State University Greenlee School
of Journalism and Communication director Michael Bugeja. Ball State
University sociology professor Ione DeOllos notes that last year the
University Senate embraced a policy "that allows professors to limit
technology use in classrooms." But shutting off wireless networks is a
virtual impossibility, according to Dennis Adams of the University of
Houston, who covered the subject in the September 2006 edition of
Communications of the ACM. Adams says he tries to make important points
stick in the classroom by asking students to close their laptops and pay
attention. University of Virginia neurology professor Lawrence H. Phillips
points out that wireless access is actually an advantage in the medical
sciences, but Rockefeller University professor David D. Ho says the rapid
data processing abilities of computers or search engines cannot match
people's ability to formulate questions. Boosting students' sensitivity to
classroom etiquette through educational campaigns is a practice being
followed by some schools. "We have an online class offered to freshmen
that includes a Responsible Computing' module, with a section on
netiquette," notes University of Iowa IT security officer Jane Drews.
Click Here to View Full Article
- Web Link to Publication Homepage
to the top
A Peek Inside DARPA
Computerworld (01/22/07) Anthes, Gary
The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) has an army of
computer scientists, engineers, mathematicians, and other researchers
conceptualizing and developing new technologies for military use that in
many cases are eventually commercialized. "Our mission is ... to prevent
technological surprise, but also to create technological surprise for our
adversaries," DARPA director Tony Tether told a congressional subcommittee
two years ago. The six DARPA offices--the Information Processing
Technology Office (IPTO), the Information Exploitation Office, the
Microsystems Technology Office, the Defense Sciences Office, the Strategic
Technology Office (STO), and the Tactical Technology Office--are engaged in
scores of projects, including "cognitive" technologies that imbue systems
with reasoning, experiential learning, explanatory, and self-reflection
abilities; a super-small atomic clock; a supersonic flying wing with no
tail or fuselage; and methods that deepen the penetration of communications
signals below ground. Consideration of a project focuses mainly on its
military value, while its commercial applications are often perceived as a
secondary "byproduct," according to STO director David Honey. One
exception is the High Productivity Computing Systems supercomputing
program, whose goal is to use new programming languages and development
tools to facilitate a 10-fold increase in application productivity. A
great deal of the STO's efforts are committed to making military networks
robust and capable of self-repair, which was the motivation behind the
development of the Arpanet, the precursor to the Internet. IPTO director
Charles Holland says his office aims to serve "warfighters and military
decision-makers" by emphasizing "computing for human productivity," and
examples of IPTO projects include technology that translates and analyzes
voices from Chinese and Arabic TV and radio broadcasts, as well as
"distillation" technology that eliminates redundant and irrelevant
information from translated text.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top
Keeping Research and Leadership at Home
Business Week (01/18/07) Wadhwa, Vivek
Maintaining U.S. innovation leadership and keeping our top talent on the
continent is a formidable challenge, and an array of business experts
offers their thoughts on what can be done to meet this challenge. An
improvement in K-12 education, encouraging students to study engineering
and mathematics, importing top foreign talent, and increasing funding for
basic research are some of their suggestions. Intel Chairman Craig Barrett
recommends the "Rising Above the Gathering Storm Report" as a guide for
keeping research domestic, while Sun Chairman Scott McNealy suggests
open-source education and lifting the cap on H-1B visas. CNN anchor Lou
Dobbs foresees disaster for the U.S. middle class with the continuation of
unregulated job offshoring, unless industry becomes conscientious and
adjusts its business practices, or the government adjusts public policy.
Sycamore Networks Chairman Gururaj Deshpande calls for establishing a link
between innovation and relevance, a role his Deshpande Center for
Technological Innovation at MIT fulfills as an intermediary between
professors and inventors and the business community; Rockefeller Foundation
President Judith Rodin stresses the need for studying issues of economic
security as a whole rather than separately in order to ensure the
competitiveness of the American workforce. Microsoft's Rick Rashid
advocates "investments in education and a greater emphasis on producing a
diverse community of students with strong math, science, and engineering
skills." President of IEEE-USA Dr. Ralph Wyndrum Jr. says the government
must improve the collection of information about the overseas migration of
research and development, devote more money to the physical sciences, and
develop tools that can better protect intellectual property. IBM's Nick
Donofrio says Congress should boost basic funding for the National Science
Foundation, the National Institute of Standards & Technology, and the
Energy Department's Office of Science, as well as pass legislation that
trains more students in science, math, technology, and engineering;
nurtures cross-disciplinary study and research for a services-oriented
economy; facilitates more effective tapping of intellectual capital by
companies; makes the R&D tax credit permanent; and attracts and retains
leading talent worldwide.
Click Here to View Full Article
to the top