This week I am experiencing one of the most mind bending, eye opening, future looking weeks of my life. I am indulging the technology enthusiast and the geeky side of me by attending the Executive Program at Singularity University.
For those of you not familiar with the concept of the Singularity let me start by explaining what it is. To understand the Singularity concept we must first understand the principle of Moores Law.
Gordon Moore is a co founder of the chip maker Intel. 40 years ago he predicted the following
The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months.”
This prediction has held true for computer technology and explains the rapid and exponential pace of the computer industry – their increasing power, memory, speed, functionality and the rapidly decreasing costs in a relatively short time frame. It is thought that this trend will continue in an exponential manner.
Moores law has also applied to a number of technologies in other industries, for example semiconductors, camera pixels and microarrays or DNA chips
For more information on Moores law click HERE
Ok back to the Singularity. What happens if innovations in numerous technology disciplines occur exponentially at a rate faster than Moore’s law, to the point where they can supersede human intelligence and understanding? This is the principle behind the Singularity. The Singularity is hypothetical futuristic event thought to occur when disruptive technology innovations develop so fast that they cause radical and unpredictable changes to the future. It will involve cross pollination of disciplines such as
- Artificial intelligence and robotics
- Networks and computing systems
- Nanotechnology
- Biotechnology and bioinformatics
- Medicine and neuroscience
- Energy and environmental systems
Singularity University in Silicon Valley is the first multidisciplinary university of its kind aiming to give participants a macro view across all disciplines, an understanding of the applications of the technology and to inspire and foster entrepreneurship and innovation.
It is hoped that the convergence of two or more on these disciplines may serve to solve large global issues that affect 1 billion or more people. Examples of such problems include housing, green energy, water, health care, education.
Cross pollination of technologies from different industries have historically been involved in driving the genomics revolution. The problem of viewing the all the genes in the genome simultaneously wasn’t solved by biology. It was first solved by technology advancements from the semiconductor industry. The convergence of semiconductor technology, engineering and chemistry is what gave us the ability to view all the genes in the genome on the first microarrays commercialized by Affymetrix.
Another example is the effect that imaging and computing technologies have had on medicine and health care. The ability to see inside the human body at high resolution without invasive surgical procedures has rapidly advanced the field of medical diagnostics, prognostics and therapeutic interventions.
This week at Singularity University I am learning all of the disciplines above from some of the thought leaders in these areas. I’m here because as biotechnology and genomics start to play a major role in clinical and medical practice, I would like to have a view of emerging technologies from other disciplines which may be key to solving some of the critical problems in genomic medicine.
The next few posts I will share with you some of the incredible things I have learned and witnessed from some of the most inspirational people in the world.
Watch this space…..
For more info – check THIS out from the founder
Related Articles
- Salim Ismail Promotes Singularity University at LeWeb in Paris (video) (singularityhub.com)
- Maybe There is Hope for Silicon Valley (and the World) After All (techcrunch.com)
- Kauffman Foundation Partners With Singularity University as Corporate Founder (kauffman.org)
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