Technology

Lecture 1
The Impact of Technology
- Organizational offerings (products, services and their means of delivery)
- Organizational Operations (back-end processes)
- Customer and Worker expectations of organizations
The Tao Macro Trends (Big Issues)
- Convergence = concerns a process of emergence of boundary loss; of many tending
to one.
- Technological Determinism = To what extend is technology the driver of
organizational and social change? Technological Determinists argue that technology
and its invention change the world (socially, organizationally and culturally). Others,
taking more interest perspectives contend that technology is not an actor, and that
social and economic changes lead to new uses of and demands for technology (such as
smartphones or the internet).
- A non-deterministic point of view technology is not an organized institution; it
has no members or stated positions; nor does it initiate actions. How can we reasonably
think of this abstract, disembodied, quasi-metaphysical entity as the initiator of
actions capable of controlling human destiny? (Marx & Smith, cited in Adams 1996).
However
The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It
would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rateHumans, who
are liited by slow biological evolution, couldnt compete, and would be superseded
(Stephen Hawkins, December 2014).
-

What Technology Wants (Kelly, 8-17)

Each new invention required the viability of previous inventions.
Large technological systems esp, computer networks often behave like a very
primitive organism and exhibit near-biological behaviour.
Computer code and synthetic chemicals can replicate; DNA computers are on the
horizon.
Technology and life must share some fundamental essence (and are converging)
Technology is no just physical: eg a computer program is technology
Kelly on the Technium
If computer code = tech, so = sonnet by Shakespeare. Both produced by mind +
influenced by human behaviour.
All culture? No Culture fails to convey technologys self propelling momentum
Kelly introduces Technium to label the greater, global, massively interconnected
system of technology vibrating around us.
Argues = technium accelerates the invention of (individual) technologies
Deterministic Technology
The technium is self-reinforcing system of creation
At some point in evolution, our system of tools and machines and ideas became so
dense in feedback loops and complex interactions that it spawned a bit of
independence. It began to exercise some autonomy
Is the technium now a social actor How many neurons do you need to have
a mind?
Repeating Techno- Economic revolution
New developments in tech changes nature of communications and hence business.
Everybody invested on the back of the new economy and the financial markets went
mad.
Then the bubble burst
However, organizational habits had been transformed.

Repeating Cycles of Techno-Economic revolution = canals in late 1700s, Railways

in 1830s and 1840s, cars in 1920s, Internet in late 1990s. The pattern repeats

The Singularity Due to converging development of many technologies, we may be

approaching a point exponential progress.
Ray Kurzweil and others label this The Singularity a time when the impossible
becomes
possible due to the emergence of beyond human intelligence.
The singularity may occur when human beings directly fuse with technology, and/or we
take control of matter on a molecular scale.

Frey 2011 Connecting the Future

- Much like walking through a dark forest with a flashlight, future comes into focus only
short distance in front of us. So how do we create a brighter flashlight?
- As technologies approach maximum freud, this is the period when industry players
have to spend lots of time on the Freudian Couch to understand whats going on. This is
a period of extreme chaos, and also a period of extreme opportunity.
- Frey notes how visions and ideas about the future can become key attractors that
people and organisations will work towards the more detailed and realistic the vision,
the more powerful attractor it will be, and the more likely that future will be realised.
- Frey believes trends are made and hence the job of future leaders is to blaze trails
people will follow.
Global Challenges Ahead
- May be forced to pursue and embrace singularity in order to survive. Technologies
humanity and organizations may increasingly adopt may enable us to overcome global
problems that threaten the continued functioning of modern civilization.

Lecture 2
The Next Industrial Wave
- We know that we will have to produce more with less and with different raw materials
- This requires material wastage to be reduced, production to more closely match
demand, and more local manufacture.
- Many new technologies likely to be involved, including 3d printing, synthetic bio,
vertical farming and nanotech.
Traditional Manufacturing
- Metal components and wooden items = manufactured using subtractive machining (eg
cutting, drilling and lathing)
- Many other components and casings are either cast (metal) or injection or rotation
molded (plastics),
- The cost of producing molds and other production tooling is substantial.
- Subtractive machining wastes raw materials
- Traditional Manufacturing = majority of costs are often attributed to tooling, material
wastage, storage, transportation and other logistics.
3D Printing
- 3D Printers turn digital models into physical things by building them up in layers that
are typically about 0.1mm thin.
- Already we can 3D print in hundreds of materials, including plastics and metals.
- By 2020, most 3D printed objects will no longer be prototypes.
- Already the aerospace, automotive and medical sectors are using 3d printing to make
some final products or parts thereof.
Potential Benefits
- Digital product (and spare part) storage and transportation, with on-demand
production.
- Mass local manufacturing (localization)
- Mass customization and personalization
- Time, Material and energy savings.
- Reduced requirement to assemble final parts.
- Facilitation of rapid product innovation.
- Facilitation of low-cost access to market.
3D Printing Technologies
- Material extrusion (squirting out a semi-solid)
- Photopolymerization (solidifying a liquid with light)
- Vat phoyopolymerization (eg sterelithography)
- Material jetting (polyjet)
- Granular materials binding (sticking powders)
- Binder jetting
- Powder bed fusion (eg laser sintering)
- Directed energy deposition
- Sheet Lamination (sticking cut sheets together)
Rapid Prototyping
- 3D printers to create concept models or functional copies of new products to allow
design, fit or function to be assessed.
- Molds & Tooling Use of 3d printers to create traditional manufacturing
infrastructure.
3D Sand Casting: ExOne Cases
- US Navy compressor pumps for Ohio-class submarines lead time reduced from 51
weeks to 8 weeks (compared to pattern-based sand casting), and cost from 29k to 18k.
- US Navy Marine Tail cones lead time cut from 25 weeks to 10 weeks; cost from 20k
to 12.6k

Standard Alloys Produced a 57 inch impeller casting from concept to completion in

under 8 weeks.
Morel Industries reduced casting lead times for an exhaust manifold from 5 to 2
weeks, cost per batch from 8k to 1200 and scrap rate from 9% to 1%.
Direct Digital Manufacturing (DDM) The process of going directly from an
electronic digital representation of a part to the final product via additive
manufacturing Society of Manufacturing Engineers
Drivers of DDM Low run or one off production
Cost reduction
Material Savings and energy efficiency
Customization
Healthcare Applications
Localization

Personal Fabrication People making their own stuff

Brave New World
- 3D Printing could help us create a more sustainable economy or it could threaten its
very foundations.
- How can intellectual property be controlled to prevent object privacy?
- How can health and safety regulations be implemented to prevent unsafe products?
- Can 3D printed weapons be controlled?
- What will be the impact on employment and corporate ecosystems?

Lecture 3
Synthetic Biology & Vertical Farming
Biotech & Genetic Engineering
- Natural fermentation processes have been used for centuries to produce (eg
Cheese/Yoghurt).
- Grafting + selective breeding has also been used to manipulate plants and animals.
- However, GM is increasingly used to manipulate plants, animals + micro-organisms,
and hence to expand biotechnology application.
- The first GMO was modified E.Coli bacterium created by Cohen & Boyer in 1973.
GM Milestones
1974 = Transgenic mice with leukemia genes
1982 = US FDA approved first genetically engineered Drug (Insulin from Genentech)
1986 = GM Tobacco created (luciferase gene inserted from a firefly)
1994 = Calgenes Flavr Savr tomato.
1995 = Montanso introduces GM corn.
2006 = Omega 3 pig created.
Going Further = Today 90% of US corn, cotton and soybeans is GM.
On 19th November 2015, the AquaAdvantage Salmon from Aquabounty tech was licensed for
human consumption by the FDA.
Synthetic Biology uses engineering principles to design and construct living things or
synthetically modified organisms (SMO) from standardized parts.
The programming of DNA and reformatting of genetic circuitry has created a paradigm shift
whereby the analysis of biology is being supplanted by its synthesis (Interexon).
- Future biofactories may cultivate fuels, plastics, medicines, bioelectronics and ar
more.
- By 2018, Synbio will be worth $11.9bn
The Engineering Principle
- The key engineering principle of modular standardization is core to SynBio, with the
new discipline looking at living systems not as complex objects, but as sources of
amazing building blocks ERASynBio 2014.
- The Registry of Standard Biological Parts now catalogues BioBricks online, while the
Synthetic Biology Open Language provides a standard data format.
- There is now an open source SynBio design software
SynBio: The Road Ahead
- Gene circuits have already been created, including transcriptors, so in the future we
may grow bioelectronics
- Other applications will involve SMO micro organisms, plants or animals.
- In May 2010, JVCI created first synthetic bacterial cell.
- In May 2015, Sister company Synthetic Genomics launched a desktop DNA printer.
SynBio Applications Existing products already include: Biodiesel Biofene, aviation fuel,
and the moisturiser neossance squalene from Amyris.
Solazymes algae oil used in soaps
Synthetic artemisinin malaria treatments.
Anticipated Products Include Fermented Bioplastics including PLA fermented from
glucose by E Coli.
Synthetic Spider silk, rubber and acrylics.
A growing Industry may witness new business model where synthetic micro organisms
turn organic feedstocks into industrial materials.
Uni of Cambridge + John Innes have established the Open Plant Initiative to develop plans
synthetic bio.

Factories on legs have also already been created. Including transgenic Spider goats by
Randy Lewis.

Synthetic Biology Implications

As SynBio turns life into a production technology, the possibilities are extraordinary.
But so are the concerns and questions raised.
For the first time, production technology will be able to self-replicate and even interbreed?
It will not be as easy to control factories on legs as SM micro-organisms.
Already pigs are being humanized to produce human organs. And in time
bioelectronics?
How will IP be managed?
And where will the biomass come from . . . ?
Vertical Farming
Vertical farms are skyscrapers used to cultivate crops and raise animals within cities.
Using HDVG, they could permit a level of urban food and other biomass selfsufficiency.
A key advocate is Dickson Despommier who believes we could soon be producing
wheat, rice, corn, potatoes, chickens and fish in cities.
Banerjee & Adenaeur (2014) demonstrated the economic viability of a 37 story VF in
Berlin via simulation. Food was produced for 3.50 - 4.00 a kilogram. They predicted
a long-term global market for around 2,900 vertical farms.
Vertical Farm Advantages
- All year production (no seasonal constraints).
- Reduced risk of climate-related crop damage.
- On-the-vine inventory reducing the need for food to be stored and frozen.
- Reduced transportation food and biochemical raw materials grown where they are
needed: the amount of travel between the tomato and your plate will be measured in
blocks, not miles (Despommier, 2010).
- Hence, reduced food wastage in storage and during transportation.
- No need for pesticides in controlled environments.
- Reduced water consumption due to the use of hydroponics or aeroponics.
- Hence, reduced agricultural run-off.
- Fresher and more organic food
- Improved food safety in controlled environment.
- Opportunities to purify brown-water.
- A focus for urban regeneration (re)connecting city dwellers with the natural world.
- In time, wider ecosytem restoration.
Vertical Farm Logistics
Providing plants with enough light will be a major challenge to be met with
innovative architecture, transparent materials, light redirection technologies, and LED
grow lamps.
Energy requirements eg from wind turbines or solar power. Despommier suggests
plasma arc gasification (PAG) to burn organic waste.
Sterile environments will needed.
Commercial viability: vertical farms may be 10s to 100s of times more efficient per
acre than conventional farms . . .
Vertical Farm Critics . . .
Some (eg George Monbiot) argue that vertical farming will be too complex and
expensive.
Others believe that vertical farms will consume too much energy to be sustainable.
However, proponents counter that traditional farming is heavily subsidized, and that
food security may require a shift to indoor growing.

The commercial and logistical viability of vertical farms may/will alter post Peak Oil, as
food transportation becomes less possible.
Potential is highest in deserts and mega-cities.

Real Vertical Farms . . .

The Plant in Chicago is in an old meat packing factory, and features a zero-net-waste,
closed-loop aquaponics system growing vegetables and raising Tilapia
(plantchicago.com).
A purpose-built, 3 story demonstration vertical farm has been built in Suwon in South
Korea.
In Singapore, Sky Greens is selling produce from its A-Go-Gro vertical farm
(skygreens.com) see Tutorial One video.
The revolutionary Guangming smartcity in China will include 80 vertical farms . . .
The Rise of Urban Agriculture
Vertical farms may become both a reality and an iconic metaphor for urban food
production.
Green walls are already being created both on the inside and outside of city buildings.
Hydroponic systems such as Verticrop are additionally being trialled with much
success.
Crowdsourcing initiatives like the Windowfarms Project are also taking hold (see
our.windowfarms.org).
A New Bioeconomy?
A great deal of future localized manufacturing could be biological.
A combination of synthetic biology and urban agriculture offers the potential for raw
materials and final products to be sourced in new ways.
We may even create entirely new kinds of products producing new rather than old
things in new ways.
It is only fairly recently that most of the things we purchase have been inorganic . . .
The Next Generation Cloud
Many next generation computing developments depend on collaborative software
applications, cloud-based data storage, and the ability to crowdsource.
As Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Huawei are starting to demonstrate, effective voice
and vision recognition are unlikely to be local applications, with virtual assistants and
other AI apps likely to be cloud-based.
Implementation Concerns
Many people have concerns about cloud computing: will the vendor be reliable? Will the
service be secure? What about lock-in? And under which legal jurisdiction will the data
be stored?
The biggest security risk remains probably remains end users and their (cloud access)
devices esp. BYOD.
Oredo & Njihia (2014) contend that most companies dont yet have the skills,
organizational structure and processes to realize the promise of cloud computing.
Cloud Implementation at IBM
Ward & Gopal (2014) provide a case of cloud computing implementation for IBMs
Quality Early Warning System (QEWS) ISC app.
The hope was to provide faster access to IT resources and increased business agility.
The implementation took longer than expected, but was successful.
They learnt that writing new apps was better than trying to retrofit them into the IaaS
layer.

New apps can now role out in a few weeks rather than six months, while other clients
can be onboarded quickly.

Lecture 4
NanoTechnology engineer physical matter on a molecular or atomic scale
Coined by Drexler, popularized in 186 book Engines of Creation
Nanotech is taken as any process that works at a level of precision between 1 and 100
nanometres.
Drexlers discipline = founding focus was on the potential for atomically precise
manufacturing (APN) using nanomachines.
Introducing NanoTech (Merkle)
Manufactured products = made from atoms. Properties depend on how atoms are arranged.
Re-arranged coal = diamond. Rearranged sand atoms = microchips
Current manufacturing methods are crude at molecular level.
Current Nanotech Applications
- In 2014 Project of Emerging Nanotechnologies reported over 1600+ nano enabled
consumer products.
- Including microprocessors, computer memory, OLED screens, batteries, solar cells, etc
The National Interest
In 2001 US gov launched 25 year National Nanotech initiative (NNI) = over $21bn invested.
Power of nanotech = rooted in its potential to transform and revolutionize multiple tech and
industry sectors, including aerospace, agriculture, biotechnology, homeland security and
national defence, energy, environmental improvement, information technology, medicine and
transportation (NNI).
Politics Take Control
60 national nanotech initiatives including the NCNST in China.
Nanotech = one of Chinas 12 mega projects under its Medium and Long Term Development
Plan 2006 2020
Drexler and others remain critical, arguing nanotech agenda has been hijacked and
broadened to embrace far more than nanomachines and APM.
In particular, Drexler contends that, in pursuit of short-term paybacks, critical (molecular)
sciences have been excluded.
Full Range of Possibilities
Top Down Nanotech: Fabrication of nanostructures eg microprocessors and microchips
Production and application of nanomaterials (eg carbon nanotubes and graphene)
Production and application of nanocomposites + nanocoatings.
Bottom Up Nanotech: APM via positional assembly (moving individual atoms around with
tools).
APM via self-assembly (no production tools).
Microprocessor Revolution
They are microprocessors and memory chips, manufactured using nanolithography.

Uses UV light to project images of circuits onto plastic films atop silicon wafers.
Chemical processes are used to develop the images into nanoscale components.
By 2020, likely to be 20 billion transistor CPUs with some components 100 atoms wide.
Spaced at 25 atom intervals.
Nanomaterials
Two nanotech materials with extraordinary potential are carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and
graphene.
Carbon nanotubes are hexagonal lattices of carbon atoms bonded into tubes a few
nanometres in diameter.
Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged in honeycomb matrix.
Strong, flexible and have high electrical conductivity.
CNT + Graphene Applications
CNT o graphene electrodes = increase the capacity of future rechargeable batteries.
Graphene may also be used to make ultracapacitors (charge in seconds) as well as thin
flexible solar cells that may be able to be sprayed onto any surface.
Graphene could also increase LED efficiency = as well as replacing indium in OLED screens
allowing low power, flexible displays that do not incorp precious metals.
Nanocomposites + nanocoatings
Nanocomposites = traditional materials mixed with nanoscale additive.
Already plastics, paints and glass have been strengthened by adding CNTs, or made by
adding silver nanoparticles.
Graphene 3D ab = adding graphene to filaments in a bit to print working electronics.
Nanocoatings = nano additives stuck to surface of traditional materials.
EG titanium dioxide nanocoatings = used to make self cleaning glass.
Top Down Nanotech Implications
In next 10 years, improved materials are going to be available that will allow new products to
be made.
Economic implications = very significant.
Nanotex = makes coatings that make clothing water + stain resistant.
Positional Assembly
Form of bottom up nanotech uses large scale machinery to build things by moving around
individual atoms.
EG in 1989 IBM Eigler used a scanning tunnelling microscope to write the IBM logo in 35
xenon atoms.
Self Assembly
Self-assembly is a form of bottom-up nanotechnology or atomically precise manufacturing
(APM) in which nanoscale parts fit themselves together without the intervention of
production tools . . .
Protein Engineerng & Beyond . . .
Genetic engineers and synthetic biologists already build DNA chains using self-assembly.
We are also learning how to read, cut and paste molecular chains using enzymes (bacterial
molecular machines).
We know that some protein molecules such as those in animal muscle or bacteria serve
basic mechanical functions.
In time, protein engineers may therefore learn to use a construction kit of proteins to build
complex, nanoscale mechanical mechanisms using self-assembly methods.
Production Without Tools
September 2015, researchers at QMUL demonstrated the self-assembly of complex, tubular
tissue structures.

Artificially building complex shapes from proteins and peptides using the natural processes
of growth and healing (in simple terms, they mixed two chemicals to build a pre-determined
shape).
Molecular chains called foldamers (artificial proteins) are also starting to be created a bit
like nanoscale Lego blocks with pre-configured bumps and hollows.
The Self-Assembly Revolution?
Even though natural proteins are biologically fragile, in time we may use synthetic
alternatives to self-assemble products from resilient materials (like carbon nanotubes).
Future nanomachines or assemblers may use reactive molecules to bond atoms
together into virtually any stable pattern, adding a few at a time to the surface of a
work piece until a complex structure is complete (Drexler, 2013).
Assemblers would open a world of new technologies . . .
Future Nanofactories . . . ?
In theory, future nanofactories may be fed basic feedstocks that they would turn into
any product we could digitally define.
NB: We are not talking about nanobots!
But garage-sized nanofactories may assemble products from inexpensive,
microscopic parts, with production times measured in minutes (Drexler, 2013).
Within, robotic mechanisms would assemble parts made by smaller mechanisms, and
so on down to the nanoscale.
APM Possibilities (Drexler, 2013)
APM will lead to (yet another) reduction in the need to purchase production machinery,
and in turn to invest capital in the same.
Benefits may accrue in areas including:
Computing & communications
Construction materials
Energy
Transportation
Agriculture
APM developments should also help to reduce the volume of raw material demand.
Local Digital Manufacturing
3D printing, synthetic biology and nanotech molecular self-assembly all provide a
means of turning digital models into physical things.
The boundaries between these three technologies areas are also already blurring.
In the last few decades, the economy has been transformed by microprocessors.
In the next few decades, the convergence of 3D printing, synthetic biology and
nanotech may allow microfabricators to transform the economy again, and even
more radically . . .
Developments & Examples . . .
SynBio could overcome the layers problem.
The convergence of 3D printing and nanotechnology will provide control of material
composition as well as material placement.
A vat photopolymerization process called two-photon polymerization (2PP) already has
a resolution down to 100nm (0.0001mm).
At the University of Illinois, Martin D. Burke is developing the first molecular 3D
printer.
The Future Potential
A future world in which LDM is common would be very different from today.
Download-and-fabricate would have replaced manufacture-and-ship, while far more
products would be customized or personalized.
Most production materials and production technology could be organic.
Control of IP and personal production would be extremely difficult.
We would also have become reliant on AIs able to deal with the practicalities
of LDM

Lecture 5
Cloud Computing
What is Cloud Computing?
NIST: a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a
shared pool of configurable computing resources that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.
In other words, cloud computing is where software applications, data storage
and processing power are accessed over the Internet.
Cloud computing was a $47.4bn industry in 2013, and will be worth $107bn by 2017
(IDC).
The New Foundation . . .
Gartner now describe cloud services as the foundation for the digital business.
IDC see cloud as part of the Third Platform.
The first wave of computing was mainframes and dumb terminals.
The second wave was PCs, networking, relational databases and client services apps.
The third wave or Third Platform is build around cloud computing, social applications
(Web 2.0), big data and mobile computing.
Benefits & Characteristics
Cloud computing is dynamically scalable.
Cloud computing has no fixed costs.
(Users pay for defined quantities of measured service).
Cloud computing is collaborative.
Cloud computing is device-independent (and hence being driven by increasing device
count).
Cloud computing is task-centric.
The Basics SaaS, PaaS & IaaS
SaaS: customers only run those applications that their cloud supplier has on offer.
Great for (eg) office applications.

PaaS: customers create their own new applications, but only in a manner determined
by their cloud supplier.
IaaS: customers run any applications they please on cloud hardware of their own
choice. However, the level of choice/control depends on the IaaS variant

Software as a Service (SaaS)

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a take it or leave it form of cloud computing that
delivers off-the-shelf applications from the cloud. In other words, customers run what
is available.
Office SaaS includes Google Docs/Drive, Google Apps, Zoho, Microsoft Office 365,
Acrobat.com and SlideRocket.
Business SaaS includes Zoho, Salesforce, Clarizen, Netsuite, WebEx WebOffice,
Workday, Huddle and LotusLive.
SaaS

Benefits & Drawbacks

Accessible from any device.
Collaborative.
No fixed costs and sometimes free.
Continually updated (incrementally).
Less sophisticated (but task centric).
Dependent on a fast, reliable Internet connection.
Not what people are used to.
Applications run and data stored in the cloud.
Limited to vendor-determined applications.

Platforms & Infrastructure

PaaS & IaaS allow cloud computing at the platform or infrastructure level.
Computing platforms are software environments used to create, run and deploy enduser applications.
Computing infrastructure is the physical hardware on which platforms and
applications actually operate.
Platform as a Service
PaaS vendors provide online infrastructure together with a software environment and
development tools allowing customers to create & run their own SaaS applications.
PaaS may be used privately, for example to create new in-house applications.
PaaS may also be used publicly to develop new online customer interfaces.
PaaS may also be used by software developers or anybody! to rapidly and cheaply
bring new SaaS apps to market.
PaaS Benefits & Drawbacks
PaaS permits very rapid development via task automation (eg wizards).
As the same technology is used for both development and final delivery, debugging
and implementation are also easier.
The flexibility verses power trade-off --development is aided as vendors control all of
the Lego bricks. However, being limited to the vendors programming languages and
tools is also restrictive.
There is the risk of vendor lock-in.
Google App Engine
Google App Engine is a PaaS that allows anybody to develop, run and maintain web
applications on Google's infrastructure.
App Engine places more technical constraints on developers than its competitors, if
with no apology as this enables speed and reliability.
Excellent for large-scale public apps.
An App Gallery can be used to showcase and sell applications online.
It is attractive to host from Google data centres? A safe bet?
Windows Azure

Windows Azure is a PaaS that allows applications to be run and data to be stored on
Microsoft data centre servers.
It has three parts the compute service, the storage service, and the fabric.
Software vendors may use Azure to develop their own SaaS offerings.
Enterprises may use Azure to build and run their own applications. Eg EasyJet use
Azure.
Microsoft claim that 57% of Fortune 500 companies are already using Azure . . .

Force.com
A PaaS offering from Salesforce.com.
Companies can build their own applications in Force.com, or purchase them from its
AppExchange marketplace.
According to an IDC study of ten 10 Force.com customers, on average applications were
built 4 to 5 times faster, cost savings were 54% ($560,000 per app), reliability was 97%
greater, payback was in three months, and the ROI was 721% over three years.
Infrastructure as a Service
Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) is where a vendor offers computer hardware in the
cloud on which their customers can store data and develop and run whatever
applications they please.
IaaS therefore (potentially) allows companies to move their existing programs and data
from their current servers into the cloud, and therefore to close down their own data
centres.
IaaS cannot be ignored . . . !
Infrastructure Components
The fundamental building block of computing infrastructure is the server.
Other infrastructure and related services include a data centre building, a reliable
power supply, cooling, protection against natural disasters, load balancing, security,
back-up, and 24/7 management & support.
In cloud data centres, individual, physical servers are blades housed in racks of up to
128 blades.
But virtualization is also applied . . .

Virtualization
After the Internet itself, virtualization is the most fundamental technology that allows
cloud computing to occur.
Using virtualization, any physical server can be split into any number of virtual servers,
each of which can then be used entirely independently by a different user.
IaaS customers may therefore be given the choice of purchasing dedicated physical
servers and/or virtual server instances.
This leads to the four categories of IaaS
Understanding IaaS Variants
IaaS: (Vendor) Private Cloud
The most risk-averse and potentially most secure form of IaaS.
Nothing is shared, but this makes private clouds costly and diminishes the benefits of
cloud computing.
However, advantages are still gained by having a companys servers housed in a
vendor's large data centre in which power, cooling, security and management
overheads are shared.
IaaS: Dedicated Hosting
Again means servers are not shared.
However, in comparison to a managed private cloud, no control exits over which server
blades are obtained.
(So this is very different to a private cloud). Offers dynamic scalability severs can be
added or removed very rapidly according to requirements (eg daily or hourly)

IaaS: Hybrid Hosting

A potentially strong solution providing both dedication and flexibility.
For example, a company may run its applications on dedicated physical servers, but
store (most of its) data on virtual server instances.
Or a business may rent virtual service instances to cope with occasional peak
processing demands or to service occasional very high levels of web traffic.
IaaS: Cloud Hosting
Customer has no control over the server hardware on which their data is stored and
their applications are
run, and shares it with unknown others.
May be seen as too risky . . .
However, without doubt cloud hosting is the most technically and environmentally
efficient form of cloud computing.
The cheapest IaaS option and becoming popular, eg in the form of AWS . . .
Amazon Web Services (AWS)
AWS offers a range of services under the cloud hosting (fully virtualized) model.
Services include Elastic Compute Cloud or (EC2) and Simply Storage Service (S3).
EC2 offers many types of virtual server instance in multiple territories from 1.3 cents an
hour. AWS Free Tier provides 750 hours a month for a year for free . . .
Customers set up Amazon Machine Images (AMIs) containing apps & data.
Virtual servers instances are then created on the fly from these AMIs.
Amazon EC2 Advantages
Elastic because it allows users to increase or decrease their requirements within
minutes.
Flexible because users can choose the specification of each individual virtual server
instance.
Inexpensive as no dedicated capital investment is required.
Reliable as it makes use of Amazons proven data centres and network
infrastructure.

The Competitive Cloud

Being dynamically scalable with no fixed costs will make cloud computing a competitive
necessity. Indeed, cost savings of 50% to 90% have been claimed.
As Nicholas Carr argued in his seminal book The Big Switch (2008), there is an
historical precedent with the growth of national electricity grids a century ago.
In 1900 there were 3,600 public electricity plants in the US and c.50,000 private
company plants. Having switched from water to steam to electric power, firms still
needed convincing to externalize their energy supply . . .
The Electricity Comparison
By 1907, 40% of electric supply was from a central grid. By 1920, 70%. By 1930, 80%.
By avoiding the purchase of pricey equipment, they reduced their own fixed costs and
freed up capital for more productive purposes. They were also able to trim their
corporate staffs, temper the risk of technological obsolescence and malfunction, and
relieve their managers of a major distraction.
Nicholas Carr, The Big Switch (2008).
The Green Cloud
Cloud vendors can optimize infrastructure, with servers rarely if ever powered but idle.

The Icelandic Government is planning for a cold rush based on the fact that servers in
Iceland can be cooled naturally and hence have a lower carbon footprint.
SaaS users can adopt low-power, thin client hardware, again saving energy.

Lecture 6
Artificial Intelligence and Robots
The Thinking Machine . . . ?
In 1950, Alan Turing came to define AI via his imitation game.
The Turing Test may now have been passed, but human intelligence is really not an
ideal AI benchmark.
The AAAI define AI an understanding of the mechanisms underlying thought and their
embodiment in machines.
This definition is Turing neutral, and accommodates forms of AI that are both broad
and narrow.
AI Frontiers
SHORT- & MEDIUM-TERM
Increased mental automation:
Next-generation computing interfaces (virtual assistants).
Cognitive computing (Big Data analytics).
Vision recognition.
Language translation.
Autonomous vehicles.
LONG-TERM
Artificial general intelligence (AGI).

Increased Mental Automation . . .

During WWII, Colossus broke Enigma codes.
By 1951, computers could play checkers.
And by 1997, IBMs Deep Blue had beaten world chess champion Garry Kasparov.
Today, we rely on narrow AIs to automate tasks ranging from trading on the stock
market, to auto piloting aircraft, detecting fraud, and designing the latest
microprocessors.
And it is very likely that smart tech will take on more and more mental
activities . . .
The Next Interface
Virtual assistants (VAs) already exist including Siri from Apple, Cortana from
Microsoft, Google Now, and Facebook M.
The VA space is clearly where many computing companies see the opportunity for
value add, esp. with the fall of the paid OS.
VAs could be the next computing and hence consumer interface transforming retail
and communications in the same manner as the Internet in the nineties and noughties .
..
Watson & Cognitive Computing
In January 2014 IBM created its Watson Group as a new $1bn business unit
dedicated to the development and commercialization of cloud-delivered cognitive
innovations.
Watson is able to use the human learning process of observing, interpreting and
analyzing in order to achieve mastery over a subject and develop expertise.
Products currently include the Watson Engagement Advisor, Watson Discovery
Advisor & Chef Watson.
Cloud-Based Cognitive Computing
Watson Analytics is a cloud-based service intended to do all of the heavy lifting
related to Big Data from analysis to communication.
Such cloud-based cognitive computing may be used to correlate internal company data
with external (and often public) Big Data sets, like those available from Amazon Web
Services.
As HBR reported in March 2015, AI is rapidly becoming an important strategic
accelerator and organizations need to work out how to build it into the structure of
their business.
Data-Driven Medicine
Watson for Oncology is already assisting in personal cancer treatment plans.
Enlitic are similarly using AI deep learning to develop data driven medicine.
Crowdsourcing medical data for AI analysis could reap significant improvements in
diagnosis, treatment and cost savings.
In 2011, McKinsey reported that the US healthcare sector could save $300 billion
annually using Big Data and AI . . .
Vision Recognition
In 1960, the Peceptron was the first vision-recognition artificial neural network.
Today AI vision recognition is improving rapidly, and could expand the Internet of
Things (IoT).
Applications will include AR (eg with Microsoft Hololens) and even diminished
reality.
Cognitec and Facebook AI Research (FAIR) are also advancing face recognition.
Applications include customer profiling, tracking, and potentially payment verification.
The Final Frontier
While the Internet has helped bridge barriers of time and distance, we remain
separated by languages.

But, within a decade, AI language translation is likely to bridge this last, great human
divide.
Key players currently include Google, Huawei and Microsoft (Skype translator).
Once again, cloud-based AI solutions that learn from their many users
provide the most effective platform.

Autonomous Vehicles
Already adaptive cruise control and self-parking are available.
By 2020, semi-autonomous cars are expected.
By 2025, high-autonomy vehicles (that still require a human driver) are likely.
By 2030, fully-autonomous vehicles may well exist requiring no human intervention.
The implications not least for mobility, liability, improved crashing,
insurance and security are currently far from clear . . .
Introducing Quantum Computing
Current computers (and AIs) are based on digital electronics that store and process
information using transistors.
These function as switches that can either be on or off, and hence represent 1 or
0.
According to Moores Law, the number of transistors on a chip doubles every 18
months.
But we will eventually reach physical limits.
Quantum computing may be the next big computing and AI development, with
data stored and processed on a sub-atomic scale.
How Quantum Computers Work (!)
Data is stored and processed in qubits.
These are represented by the quantum mechanical states of sub-atomic particles eg
the spin direction of an electron, or the polarization orientation of a photon.
These can exist in more than one state or superposition at a time, hence
representing 1 and 0 simultaneously.
By attaching a probability to each state, a qubit can theoretically store an infinite range
of values. (YES, THIS IS VERY STRANGE!)
Quantum Computing Implications
Massively parallel processing.
The hydrogen bomb of cyber warfare.
The hardware platform for mass surveillance via vision recognition and communication
monitoring? And for the first true AGIs?
D-Wave sold their first, 128 qubit D-Wave One quantum computer in 2011, a 512 qubit
D-Dave Two in 2013, and announced its 1,0000 qubit D-Wave Three in 2015.
Microsoft, IBM and the US Military are also large players in quantum computing.
Resistance or Consumer Demand?
General Motors have already talked about developing robots to do the other 50 per
cent of jobs . . .
Humanoid robots have the potential to replace a great deal of human labour . . .
But they could also help to care for an ageing population, assist with local
manufacturing and product repair, and free humans from undertaking drudgerous or
dangerous occupations.
Current Humanoid Robots . . .
Hondas ASIMO
Aldebarans NAO
Aldebarans and SoftBanks Pepper
Aldebarans Romeo
NASAs Valkyrie
Boston Dynamics (Googles) Atlas
OPEN SOURCE 3DP ROBOTS
InMoov

Poppy.

A Future Robot Economy . . . ?

By 2030, humanoid robots may be as smart as humans, and as cheap as cars.
Brain suggests such robots would evaporate cheap labour in many service sectors.
Yet Tamny argues that robots will be the biggest job creators in history.
Rotman reports that new technology is now both destroying and creating jobs, but overall
destroying more than it creates
Unable to Complete . . . ?
robots/AIs as smart as humans, and which may be copied human emulations or
ems.
Ems would be more productive than (most) humans, and could be easily copied (so
speeding training).
Human-to-em selection would be highly unequal: most ems being digital copies of the
most suitable humans with an ems clan.
Em minds could operate at different speeds, depending on the available
hardware.

Lecture 7
Resources from Space
The Inevitable Limits . . .
As the Second Law of Thermodynamics informs us, closed systems cannot last forever.
Highlighting this fact, in 1972 a signature MIT study called The Limits to Growth focused
attention on the finite resources and carrying capacity of Planet Earth.
However, as Eric K. Drexler later noted, while The Limits to Growth was truly
inspirational, its environmental computer model was flawed because it was confined to
our single first planet . . .

Beyond Sustainability
In 1987 the UN Brundtland Commission defined sustainable development as
development that meets the needs of current generations without compromising the
ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Such living for today without compromising tomorrow is a lovely idea. But, within a
closed system it is also thermodynamically impossible.
In addition to consuming less, our future survival therefore has to depend on
finding more resources . . .
Business Beyond the Earth
Earth is the cradle of the mind, but one cannot live in the cradle forever (Tsiolkovsky).
Resources from space may sound like Sci-Fi !
But the frontier of space is opening up with more and more companies getting
involved.
There are incredible technological hurdles to overcome and it will require a great
many long-term investments.
But the real challenge is a change in narrative.
The following may be key future industries . . .
Space-Based Solar Power (SBSP)
Solar power is likely to be an important future form of alternative (not renewable!)
energy.
But solar power is limited by the weather, the seasons, geographic position and night
time!
A potential solution is to put solar power satellites (SPS) in geostationary orbit where
the available sunlight is c.10 times greater.
The paybacks from the resources we have to invest to generate solar power may be
most effectively utilized in space . . .
Toward Energy from Space
1979: NASA & US Department of Energy concept design for SPS Reference
System: proposed a 300 GW network of 60 satellites for $3 trillion. And it would have
been operational by now . . .
1997: NASA Fresh Looks study . . .
Late noughties: many commercial start-ups pre the financial crash . . .
2008-2011: A detailed report from the International Academy of Astronautics (IAA)
identified three possible architectures
SBSP: Challenges & Opportunities
Any SBSP system will require long-distance wireless power transmission (WPT) via
microwave or laser.
WPT research began in 1960s, with Japan (JAXA) currently at the forefront.
Substantial orbital access will also be required which NASA, SpaceX, Boeing & the
Russian and Chinese space agencies are developing.
Or we could use future space elevators . . .
SBSP Pioneers
Post Fukushima, Japan has been taking the lead.
In 2014, JAXA revealed a technology roadmap for a space-solar power system (SSPS)
to supply 1 GW commercially to an artificial island in Tokyo Bay.
By 2037, the roadmap predicts that a new SPS could be brought on stream each year.
There have also been some reports that China is mulling the development of SBSP.
Space-Based Digital Manufacturing . . .
Solar power satellites may potentially be manufactured in orbit from extraterrestrial
resources . . .
Already the Zero-G 3D printer from Made in Space has operated on the ISS.

In January 2016, Planetary Resources and 3D Systems even showcased a direct metal
3D print made from asteroid deposits(!).
One day, solar power satellites may be self-assembling, intelligent entities . . .

In Search of Space-Based Raw Materials

Both the Moon and the asteroids are thought to be rich in a wide range of resources
that include water, hydrocarbons, as well as metals such as iron, nickel, platinum, silver
and gold.
Asteroids are primordial space debris, with about 1,500 near-Earth asteroids (NEAs)
potential mining candidates.
About 150 - 200 NEAs are easier to access than the Moon due to the relatively low
velocity change (delta-v) needed to visit them.
And mining NEAs could change the economics of space . . .
Asteroid Mining: The Market Potential
The initial market is likely to be extraterrestrial.
This could include supplying fuel, oxygen and water for humans, and materials for
space infrastructure (such as solar power satellites).
Space tourism and the fabrication of zero-g medicines could also be supported.
Some people may also pay greatly for tiny quantities of asteroid materials (eg in
jewelry).
In time, precious metals like platinum may be brought back to the Earth.
Some NEAs harbour platinum worth billions
Asteroid Mining: Logistics
Round trips to asteroids will take many years.
Mining could take place in-situ, or alternatively we may return smaller asteroids to lunar
orbit.
NASAs Asteroid Redirect Mission plans to return a multi-ton NEA bolder to lunar
orbit in the 2020s, where astronauts in their new Orion space capsule will visit it.
The Keck Institute has proposed grander plans!
Actual mining would be fairly straight-forward(!), as asteroid deposits should be readily
accessible on the surface in pristine condition.
Asteroid Mining: Pioneers
Planetary Resources: founded 2010 / 2012 by Eric Anderson & Peter Diamantis, with
backers including Richard Branson & Eric Schmidt.
Is building its ARKYD prospector spacecraft, one of which first flew in space in April
2015.
Deep Space Industries (DSI): founded 2013.
The company is also developing prospector nanosats, and has signed two contracts
with NASA.
DSI has also invented a space-based 3D printer it calls the MicroGravity Foundry.
Mining the Moon
Since the discovery of water on the Moon in 2009, interest in lunar mining has been
growing.
Moon Express now terms the Moon our eighth continent.
For many years, future lunar mining has been linked to the potential exploitation of the
gas helium-3 as a future nuclear fusion fuel.
Helium-3 is exceedingly rare on the Earth.
But it is emitted by the Sun, and has been absorbed in the lunar soil for billions of
years.
100-150 tonnes may power the Earth for a year.
Getting There . . .
NASAs Lunar CATALYST program is spurring commercial cargo transportation
capabilities to the surface of the Moon.
Lunar CATALYST builds on NASAs COTS and C3PO programs that have helped SpaceX,
Orbital AKA and Boeing develop spacecraft.

Google is funding the Google Lunar XPRIZE.

There is talk of Russian and Japanese plans.
And the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program (Change Project) is making extremely
good progress . . .

Moon Power
The next Moon Race (and helium-3 mining) could cement China as the worlds
dominant superpower and energy supplier.
And only China has the political structure to commit to such a long-term endeavour.
Potentially, future forms of WPT could be used to beam energy to the Earth from
nuclear reactors built on the Moon or from vast lunar solar arrays constructed from
lunar materials.
The Eight Continent could be the business frontier of the second half of this
century . . .
A Legal Minefield . . . ?
Who has the right to resources from space?
The UN Outer Space Treaty was opened by the US, UK and the Soviet Union in 1967.
This makes it clear that outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is
not subject to national appropriation.
But potentially companies are excluded?
The (US) Space Resource Exploration and Utilization Act of 2015 facilitates the
commercial exploration and utilization of space resources to meet national needs . . . ?

Lecture 8
Crossing the Fourth Discontinuity . . .
According to Bruce Mazlish (1993), the fourth discontinuity is crossed (ie a binary divide
between human beings and machines ceases to exist) when:
It is no longer reasonable to think of human beings without machines, and
The same paradigms explain and govern the working of human beings and many
artificial mechanisms.
Synergy and Interdependence . . .
Already we cannot always separate humanity and technology on the basis of:
biological v. non-biological
natural v. artificial, or even
designed and manufactured v. evolved
In the coming decades, organizations are likely to start playing a
greater and greater role in proactive human evolution.
What their stakeholders deem acceptable will therefore become a major business
issue . . .
Genetic Medicine
For thousands of years medicine was based on physical repair techniques and the
ingestion or injection of standardized, generic chemicals.
The Human Genome Project began work in 1990 and completed its task in 2003.
Since that time, the age of post-genomic medicine has started to dawn.
This will involve increased genetic testing and the development of pharmacogenomics.
Longer-term, we will see generic therapies and the pursuit of genomic upgrading . . .
Genetic Testing
Already over 2,000 specific genetic tests can aid the diagnosis of over 1,000 diseases.
Increasingly, AI is going to be applied to map more and more complex genetic
relationships.
AI, nanotech and genomic developments are also likely to deliver mobile diagnosis.
For example, Nanobiosym have developed Gene-RADAR -- one of several contenders
for the Qualcom Tricorder XPRIZE.
23andMe and others are pioneering click-&-spit testing which may link to future
VA AIs.
Rapid Gene Sequencing
While Moores Law charts the increasing speed and falling cost of computing power,
so the Carlson Curve does the same for human genome sequencing.
Today, Illumina HiSeq X hardware can sequence 50 genomes a day at $1,000 a
genome, with a 72 hour cycle time.
In the 2020s, we may see genome sequencing for less than a dollar, or even a few
cents.
This could open up all kinds of medical and other possibilities including lick-andpay!
The Pharmacogenomic Revolution
Today, we know that different drugs work differently for different patients, but we
generally do not know why.
Pharmacogenomics matches drugs to patients based on their part- or whole genetic
profile.
This should improve patient outcomes while saving healthcare costs.
Already Assurex is offering its GeneSight pharmacogenomic tests.
The value of pharmaceutical back catalogue may skyrocket . . .
Future Genetic Therapies
While decades away, genetic therapies for diseases ranging from cancer to heart
disease and Alzheimers are being actively researched.

These aim to correct gene defects by (eg) inserting a healthy gene, most
commonly using vectors (GM viruses), or artificial liposomes or polymers that stick to
target cell surfaces.
Tests on X-SCID and cystic fibrosis patients have resulted in successes and failures,
while in other patients, vision has been improved and (in animals) colour blindness
cured.

Genomic Upgrading . . . ?
As gene therapy develops, what constitutes a disability will need to be questioned . . .
Already a synthetic virus called Repoxygen (that increases red blood cell production)
can be injected to increase the performance of manual workers or soldiers and
athletes . . .
Ought people to be allowed to have germline (as opposed to somatic) genetic therapies
that will pass on traits to future generations . . . ?
And ought animal genes ever to be introduced transgentically into humans . . . ?!
Designer Babies . . .
Already about 1.5 % in babies born in the UK & US are conceived in a laboratory via IVF.
Clinics like The Fertility Institutes in the US screen for 400+ hereditary diseases, and
offer sex selection with a 100% guarantee to enable family balancing.
They are also technically capable of offering the a choice of hair and eye colour (but do
not).
Swedin (2006) predicts (fears?) the emergence of a potential smart baby gap
between nations -- eg China and the United States . . .
Bioprinting
Bioprinting also known as tissue printing, organ printing or additive cellular
assembly uses a 3D printer to create living tissue.
In 2002, Professor Makoto Nakamura experimented with a standard Epson inkjet.
In 2003 he printed living cells by encasing them in sodium alginate and jetting them
into a calcium-chloride solution.
By 2008, his teams bioprinter was capable of producing 15 mm of biotubing a minute.
Bioprinting at Organovo
March 2008: Professor Gabor Forgacs bioprinted functional blood vessels and cardiac
tissue using cultured chicken cells.
Jan 2009: Organovo took delivery of the first commercial bioprinter: the NovaGen
MMX.
This technology injects bio-ink spheroids containing an aggregate of tens of
thousands of cells into a hydrogel bio-paper. Nature then takes over, and the cells
fuse (self-assemble).
In 2014, Organovo started selling bioprinted human liver tissue, and in 2015 partnered
with L'Oreal to develop human skin printing . . .
Organ Repair and Replacement
Organovo has already implanted bioprinted materials into rats, and has 3D printed
human arterial tissue.
Jeremy Mao at Columbia University has trialled bioprinted tooth scaffolds in rats and
joint-repair meshes in rabbits.
Ibrahim Tarik Oblate is working on printing thick tissues, like a human pancreas.
Anthony Alata at the Wake Forest Institute is conducting animal trials of in-situ
bioprinting to repair burns and other wounds.
Bioprinting Horizons
Organ donor waiting lists could disappear.
Keyhole techniques may be developed to remove old cells and bioprint new ones inside
a patient during an operation.
Like plastic surgery today, future in situ bioprinting may be used to augment the body
(eg printing new muscles), or even for cosmetic purposes (perhaps allowing face
printing!).

As technologies converge, we may also start to bioprint all kinds of materials that will
self-assemble and die on digital cue after printout.

Business Beyond the 4th Discontinuity

As the technology becomes available to allow businesses to genetically control and to
otherwise synthetically recreate our bodies and other organic materials, what will be
the implications?
Is this the true LDM revolution?
Will customers want this technology? And who if anybody should regulate it? And
how?
What will be the competitive, international and religious implications?
Are we heading toward Humanity 2.0 . . . ?
Lecture 9
Deterministic Drivers of Humanity 2.0?
Cloud and other computing developments, together with technology as a social actor
(Kellys independent technium).
Post-genomic medicine and bioprinting.
Synthetic biology.
Nanotechnology.
The transhuman agenda.
The first four of these involve new ways of connecting, altering and
(re)programming the physical world and ourselves. The fifth is advocating
that we actually should . . .
Humanity 2.0: The Cloud & the Technium
Is Humanity 2.0 actually just the cloud?
In other words, is the cloud an increasingly intelligent cyborg? The captured
connections and experiences of civilization?
Are we starting to think differently in and / or because of our connection to the cloud?
In other words, do the cloud / technium now determine our lifestyles and actions?
In particular, what are the implications of the cloud as a panoptic apparatus (aka
Jeremy Bentham, late 18th century).
Nano-Bio-Info-Cogno (NBIC)
Biotechnology (inc synthetic biology), nanotechnology, IT, cognitive science (AI) and
neurotechnology are all rapidly converging.
Together they could significantly expand our average life span and improve the quality
of our lives. Yet, with each of these technologies, a sequence of small, individually
sensible advances leads to an accumulation of great power and, concomitantly, great
danger (Joy in Orca, 2010).
How will business & society respond?
Humanity 2.0?
The history of our species is a stream of discoveries . . . that have allowed us to
progress and direct, to some extent, the course of our evolution (Chan, 2010)
But today, is individual enhancement using NBIC technologies ethically acceptable? For
example, removing / altering bad genes?
And if not, where is the line of acceptability?
Is the use of genetics, nanotech, bioprinting and cybernetics inevitable? Even essential?
Can non-enhanced humanity survive . . .?
Cybernetic Enhancement
Artificial additions to the human body from teeth to heart valves are not uncommon.
All that is changing is the sophistication of the artificial body parts we do and may use
to repair and upgrade ourselves.
Any creature with both natural and artificial body parts is technically known as a
cyborg.
Cybernetic enhancement may therefore change our very nature.
But an increasing number of people will live at least some of their lives as a
cyborg . . .

From Dumb to Smart Prosthetics . . .

Dumb prosthetics ie those without an information processing capability will be
improved with 3D printing technologies.
Dumb prosthesis are also likely to become organic either bioprinted, or perhaps grown
in humanized animals.
200,000+ people now have a cochlear implant.
In time, our ability to artificially connect to and stimulate the optic nerve will only
improve . . .

Neural Interfaces . . .
Smart prosthetics like artificial limbs are rapidly advancing, and may already be
controlled using myoelectrics (eg the Open Bionics or Touch Bionics hands) and TMR.
Battelle have developed an implantable chip called Neurobridge that can link the
brain to a limb, bypassing a damaged spinal chord
The University of Washington and others are developing brain-computer interfaces
(BCIs) eg allowing subjects wearing EEG headsets to control the limbs of others over
the Internet.
Direct Brain Connections . . .
The BrainGate Consortium has been developing an implantable 4x4 mm electrode
array since 2002.
In 2004, this allowed a monkey to feed itself using a robotic arm.
In 2008, a human subject implanted with a BrainGate controlled a TV, lights and e-mail.
In 2012, two human BrainGate subjects successfully controlled robotic arms.
Are beyond-medical applications inevitable?
Beyond the Inorganic
Today cybernetic prosthesis are all inorganic.
But with developments in LDM, future organic augmentations (as opposed to repairs)
to the human body are a distinct possibility.
Pioneer Ibrahim Ozblat has suggested fitting multiple, small bioprinted pancreas organs
to improve on human biology.
And there may be many more ways to increase our fault tolerance and broader
functionality including nanobots & implantable biomodules.
Life Extension
Last century, improvements in diet, healthcare, living conditions and industrial
technologies roughly doubled global life expectancy.
This century, technologies including genetic medicine, bioprinting and (organic)
cybernetics could potentially do this again.
Anti-ageing is the fastest growing medical speciality around the globe (LEF).
The genes that control ageing are starting to be discovered. EG: the enzyme
telomerase may be developed as an anti-ageing therapy.
The Broader Implications
Ron Klatz has predicted that half of the baby boom generation will live healthily beyond
100.
Our bodies may become mash-ups of organic and inorganic parts at both the
traditional and nanoscales and of a wide variety of ages.
Where will the money/resources come from to pay for this?! Traditional retirement is
unlikely to remain an option. And/or will some people decide that (very) old age is not
worth the financial pre-commitment?
We will need new social and cultural norms.
Beyond the flesh . . . ?

A 1.19 billion EU undertaking called the Human Brain Project is seeking to build a
computer simulation of the hardware of the human brain.
They are intending to model the chemical and electrical function of each neuron in
order to deliver radical advancements in neuroscience, computing (AI) and medicine.
Already a few neuroscientists are speculating about the options for human minds to
live inside a machine

Managing an Enhanced Workforce

Kunster (2010) ponders what it will be like when there are employees driven by laws
other than those governing organic life.
How will norms cope when others in the workforce have enhanced IQ, emotions,
strength or immune systems?
And how, by say 2030, will leaders manage Enhanced Singular Individuals (ESIs)?
Is leadership an organic quality that only applies when followers have certain
biological traits . . . ?
A Step too Far . . . ?
As Orca noted, we will increasingly have the technological opportunity to take control of
our bodies and lifespans.
Humanity has always evolved and advanced by using increasingly sophisticated
tools.
But are things now progressing too fast, with new technological developments
accelerating beyond a reasonable level of cultural comfort?
Or should we see the wide technological progress that we have studied in this module
as a positive and natural evolutionary step?
The Transhumanist Philosophy
Transhumanism is the view that we should take a proactive role in upgrading
the human species.
The term comes from Julian Huxley in 1927, who wrote of man remaining man, but
transcending himself.
In 1990 Max More defined transhumanism as a class of philosophies of life that seek
the continuation and acceleration of the evolution of intelligent life beyond its currently
human form and human limitations by means of science and technology.
A Rising Debate . . .
A Transhumanist Declaration is maintained by Humanity+ ( humanityplus.org ).
Some people also actively pursue extreme transhumanist practices such as cryonics.
However, transhumanism today is probably where the green movement was
several decades ago.
The question especially for organizations is the extent to which it may (like the
green movement) merge with mainstream thought and action in the decades ahead.
A Battle of Ideologies . . .
Does advocating the maximum ethical exploitation of new technologies imply that we
are meddling with nature and playing God?
Most technologies on the horizon are far more ethically charged than those of the
Information Age.
Transhumanism also has religious connotations, with both religion and transhumanity
being matters of conviction and belief. (But can / may they compliment?).
Where, can and should the boundaries be drawn? And how / what ought we to
regulate?
Evolving into Space . . . ?
Potentially, at least one branch of our species may require transhuman upgrading in
pursuit of obtaining resources from space.
Homo Sapiens are not well-suited to the non-matter-hugging vacuum of space.
Just as our ancestors took on different forms as they left the oceans, so we may
physically evolve ourselves to journey into space.

This could even involve an evolution into a modular species, with future space mariners
adopting different bodies as required . . .

Frightening? Offensive? Exciting?

The reading materials for this topic area ought at the very least to evoke a reaction.
Think about the implications of mirco technology developments at a macro level: what
do they mean in terms of:
The future techno-economic paradigm?
Convergence?
Determinism?
Individuals and society?
(AND HENCE)
Organizational activity?