How an imminent flood of data is used and converted into meaningful actions has become a big issue in the world of computing, according to Anne Kelleher, a corporate vice president with Intel in the US.
The driver of the future is making sense of data, she told 300 delegates at an international conference in Cork on innovation hosted by the Tyndall Institute. If data was not being used, "then basically it becomes attic filler", Ms Kelleher added.
The amount of data used daily on a smartphone was already considerable but this was about to be dwarfed by the vast data, for example, associated with autonomous vehicles; connected airplanes, smart factories and cloud video providers.
Semiconductor manufacturing was generating exploding amounts of data but this needed to be used to ensure improved velocity, reduced costs and better quality, she said.
Ms Kelleher, who is general manager technology and manufacturing with Intel, said computer systems were also diversifying. This is reflected in “the internet of things”, the arrival of autonomous vehicles, drone technologies and artificial intelligence, “which will change the world and manufacturing” including the computer world itself.
Their impact was already apparent: Tesla was about to drive an autonomous vehicle from LA to the Bay Area in Northern California and an Intel drone was used following an earthquake in Mexico to help find people trapped in buildings.
Neuromorphic computers
Conventional computer models were being joined by “deep learning” computers, analysing patterns such as those associated with hurricanes, and by neuromorphic computers, with brain-like traits to make decisions on data patterns, which had applications in interpreting cardiac rhythms and cyber security.
The quantum computer, in which Intel is investing, would provide significantly more computing power, she added.
Each model would complement the other, she predicted. This would be apparent in integrated manufacturing.
Tánaiste and Minister for Business, Enterprise and Innovation Frances Fitzgerald said no sector of the economy was immune from the changes that automation, robotics and smart manufacturing (known as Industry 4.0) would soon bring about.
While Ireland had become a global leader for its science research and was home to leading companies in strategically important sectors, she recently brought a memorandum to Cabinet highlighting the need for increased investment in R&D “to ensure our performance as benchmarked against global competitors does not plateau”.
Brexit brought into sharper focus the need for our indigenous firms to innovate, develop new products and increase resilience to economic shocks, she added.
“We want to support companies to build scale and enhance their global reach through improved competitiveness and market diversification. Nothing else will do in this uncertain economic world.”
The Minister paid tribute the institute’s success in preparing Irish and international companies in meeting such challenges - it employs 500 researchers, engineers and support staff including 121 post graduate students at its Cork base, and published over 270 research papers last year.
The Institute, a world leader in photonics and micro/nanoelectronics, provided 30 demonstrations of new and emerging technologies across smart manufacturing, future communications, medtech and energy management.
Smart bandages
These included Tyndall’s “smart glove for human computer interfacing” which enables human movement to be linked closer to virtual reality, as well as a portable chemical analysis system that detects nerve agents in real-time during chemical, biological, radiological or nuclear incidents, and pain-free smart microneedles and smart bandages for optimal healing.
The institute’s chairman and acting chief executive Eoin O’Driscoll said excellence in research was in some ways easy, but using it to achieve impact was more important.
At a time of uncertainty due to Brexit and Trumponomics, the ability to drive innovation were critical. The Tyndall Institute through its convergence of multidisciplinary research and partnership with industry was fulfilling such a role, he said.
He presented the inaugural Tyndall Alumni Award to Prof Gerry Wrixon, the former UCC president and director of the National Microelectronics Research Centre, the forerunner to the Institute.
