Computing for the Future of the Planet - Originally given at the Royal Society

Google 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).