Viewing Information and Communication Technology as Pervasive Science Rajeev Sangal International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad sangal@iiit.ac.in

Outline ICT as interdisciplinary ? ICT as a tool ? ICT as all pervasive. ICT as a tool ? ICT as a knowledge source. Elements of ICT study What does research require? Globalization & India as R&D hub

Convergence Convergence -- Hardware, software Computer Science, and Electronics & Communications Examples: Communication systems, VLSI, Embedded systems Hardware engr. needs to write software Software engr. needs to understand hardware Other disciplines relate to IT

Past Practise of ICT CS born as an interdisciplinary science Computer science has developed Algorithms Tools Applications to other domains EE developed systems science

1. Inter-disciplinary CS & EE have Contributed to, and Benefited from working with other disciplines, different domains, and applications Examples: Banking, meteorology, aircraft design, psychology, circuit simulation

… As ICT has become a discipline This nature of working with other domains has NOT changed Is it right to call it inter- disciplinary? Is Mathematics inter-disciplinary?

Pervasive Mathematics Mathematics is a discipline but permeates many other disciplines

All Pervasive ICT ICT is pervasive, much like mathematics In mid-1900s, Engg. education was recast Became "science based engineering“ + Suddenly, text-books were full of equations - Engg. and other areas likely to be recast today in terms of computing

2. Two Aspects 2.1 ICT as a tool 2.2 ICT as a knowledge framework

2.1 ICT as a Tool Computer as a tool – incorporating knowledge of the domain * "Active" knowledge Can act as a "tool" in problem solving

2.2 ICT as a Knowledge Framework As we try to represent knowledge computationally Knowledge gets recast New connections are discovered New ideas are born, with further advancement of knowledge Computational models Different methods used Elaboration of domain models

3. ICT Deals with 3.1 Modeling - in a domain What are the Information & knowledge structure Problem (area) specific 3.2 Efficiency of processing High speed of operation, using Smaller computing resources 3.3 Developing tools & frameworks Support for computational modeling

3.1 Modeling a Domain Understanding the domain Representing in terms of suitable computational elements Develop programs for manipulating elements in the domain Examples: Ex. Banking system Ex. Human language Dialog systems Ex. Machines which can see

3.2 Efficiency of Processing Data structure Representing data for problem at hand Algorithms Programmed operations to be performed Efficiency judged in terms of speed (time) and memory (computing resources

3.3 Tools and Frameworks Generalizing from problem specific solutions Make them more widely applicable Ex. Viewing data in terms of structured tables

3.4 What does research require? Building underlying models Evaluation: How good are they? Quantitative measures Rapid development of prototype systems Implementing core ideas first Testing them Detailed features later

An Example An operating system that understands business (or job requirements of users) Integration of emails, usage of internet, word processing, specialized software Such an integration will continue to elude us, until we figure out underlying knowledge structures

4. Prospective Areas Modeling the earth Study of Life Human dwellings Geosphere, atmosphere Study of Life Biology, Genetics Human dwellings Buildings, earthquake Machines Nano-machines, Cheaper conventional machines Electric power Monitoring and control Encoding of human knowledge in computers in this century

Human mind Language, Vision, Reasoning NLP: Machine processing and "understanding" of human language and speech Applications: intelligent search engines, machine translation, speech

Global Scenario India can become global R&D hub Cost advantage with talented manpower Close to market for 6-billion people Many companies starting research activity in India Major expansion of R&D in educational institutions needed Talented manpower but needs to understand itself

Hand and Mind Did the first human learn to walk erect first, or think first? Walking erect => "hands" are free & available hands => tools can be used Synergistic relation between: tools (hands), and concepts (mind) One leads to advancement of the other

Example from Indian History In India: Hand and mind separated - Artisan and thinkers separated by barriers Ex. 1790s: Indian rockets of Tipu Sultan repulsed British attack. thousands of rockets fired in a short time. British sent them to their universities Developed better rockets, though it took some time

Educational Institutions and Industry Must combine to create a fusion of hand and mind - tools and concepts

Conclusions ICT is not just interdisciplinary, ICT is not just a tool, It is all pervasive ICT is not just a tool, It is a knowledge source Globalization & India as R&D hub Major new opportunities await India Combine hand and mind

International Institute of Information Technology Hyderabad Contributing to the transformation of India into an IT Powerhouse www.iiit.ac.in