Computing for the Future of the Planet - Originally given at the Royal Society
12Google Tech Talks
May, 14 2008
ABSTRACT
Digital technology is becoming an indispensable and crucial component of
our lives, society, and environment. A framework for computing in the
context of problems facing the planet will be presented. The framework
has a number of goals: an optimal digital infrastructure, sensing and
optimising with a global world model, reliably predicting and reacting
to our environment, and digital alternatives to physical activities.
This talk will be taped.
Speaker: Andy Hopper
Andy Hopper is Professor of Computer Technology at the University of
Cambridge and Head of the Computer Laboratory. His research interests
include networking, pervasive and sentient computing, and using
computers for assuring the sustainability of the planet. He is a Fellow
of Corpus Christi College.
Andy Hopper has pursued academic and industrial careers in parallel. In
the academic career he has worked in the Computer Laboratory and the
Department of Engineering at Cambridge. In the industrial career he has
worked in senior roles for multinational companies and also co-founded a
dozen spin-outs and start-ups, two of which floated on stock markets. He
is currently chairman of RealVNC, Ubisense and Adventiq, and a director
of Solarflare.
Professor Hopper received the BSc degree from the University of Wales
Swansea (1974) and the PhD degree from the University of Cambridge
(1978). He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (1996) and of
the Royal Society (2006). He was made a CBE for services to the computer
industry (2007).