tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/information-and-communications-technology-10971/articlesInformation and communications technology – The Conversation2022-12-14T21:35:01Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1938222022-12-14T21:35:01Z2022-12-14T21:35:01ZCan sending fewer emails or emptying your inbox really help fight climate change?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501113/original/file-20221214-13666-5pwq8e.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=54%2C131%2C5121%2C3748&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Using electricity to manually delete emails can actually have a greater carbon impact than simply storing them.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The massive carbon footprint left behind by emails has been widely discussed by the <a href="https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ottawa/environmental-working-from-home-green-1.5997250">media</a>, but most of the time these discussions are exaggerated. </p>
<p>According to Agnès Pannier-Runacher, the <a href="https://twitter.com/AgnesRunacher/status/1529025579386867712">French minister of energy transition</a>, reducing the number of emails that are sent and deleting them would reduce the individual carbon footprint. News stories have voiced these ideas as well.</p>
<p>In a recently <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.09.025">published paper</a>, we found that some iconic digital activities, such as sending email, contribute marginally to the annual carbon footprint of information and communication technology users. </p>
<p>As researchers working on the environmental impacts of our actions, we believe it is important to dispel this myth, which has persisted for several years, so that we can focus on curbing the bigger sources of carbon footprints.</p>
<h2>The carbon impact of emails</h2>
<p>The idea that sending less email would reduce a significant amount of greenhouse gases (GHG) was popularized by Mike Berners-Lee’s book <a href="https://howbadarebananas.com/"><em>How Bad Are Bananas? The Carbon Footprint of Everything</em></a>. </p>
<p>The book mentions that a <a href="https://www.pawprint.eco/eco-blog/carbon-footprint-email">person’s average annual email usage produces between three to 40 kilograms of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases or Carbon Dioxide Equivalent (CO2e)</a>, which is the equivalent of driving between 16 to 206 kilometres in a small petrol car. These figures were picked up by several media outlets around the world, which helped to reinforce this idea. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two hands typing on a laptop." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501132/original/file-20221214-14933-cj9xs2.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Quantifying the carbon footprint of sending emails, or any other digital service, is not an easy task.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Carbon values, as seen in Berners-Lee’s book, have varied from <a href="https://unpointcinq.ca/agir/carbonoscope-1-5-calculer-empreinte-carbone-au-bureau/">0.3 to 50 grams of CO2e</a> per email. But these numbers are constantly changing and seem minute when compared to the carbon footprints of the so-called solutions. </p>
<p>Quantifying the carbon footprint of sending emails, or any other digital service, is not an easy task. The results depend heavily on the assumptions made and the data used. And the energy efficiency of data transmission and storage is constantly improving.</p>
<h2>Can sending fewer emails or deleting them really help?</h2>
<p>So, what would happen if we decided to send drastically fewer emails or delete emails that are no longer useful? Apart from freeing up some space in the servers that host them, there is no evidence that we could substantially reduce the energy consumption of digital infrastructure. Here is why:</p>
<ol>
<li><p><a href="https://www.carbontrust.com/our-work-and-impact/guides-reports-and-tools/carbon-impact-of-video-streaming">Digital data storage and transmission systems operate 24/7</a>, with a more or less constant base load of energy, even when not in use. Regardless of whether the email is sent or not, networks would use about the same amount of energy.</p></li>
<li><p>An incredible number of spam emails (<a href="https://dataprot.net/statistics/spam-statistics/">122 billion in 2022</a>) and genuine emails (22 billion) are sent every day. While these numbers seem alarming, email exchanges represent <a href="https://www.sami.eco/post/empreinte-carbone-email">only one per cent</a> of Internet traffic. In comparison, <a href="https://www.fiercevideo.com/video/video-will-account-for-82-all-internet-traffic-by-2022-cisco-says#:%7E:text=According%20to%20the%20company's%20newest,connections%20will%20be%20video%20capable">video streaming services account for about 82 per cent of internet traffic</a> and could increase further in the coming years.</p></li>
<li><p>Knowing that 85 per cent of email traffic is actually spam, sending fewer emails at the individual level would have a limited influence on decreasing the amount of email traffic on the web.</p></li>
<li><p>Regardless of whether an email is sent or not, our computers and routers are always on. Electricity consumption associated with electronic devices, therefore, would remain more or less always the same. Very rarely do we turn on a computer just to send an email.</p></li>
<li><p>Impacts that are associated with the use of data centres and transmission networks are extremely low. To give you an idea, driving a kilometre in a compact car emits as much CO2e as the electricity that is used to transmit and store 3,500 emails of five MB. The electricity needed to heat a cup of tea in a kettle consumes as much electricity as transferring and storing about 1,500 emails of one MB.</p></li>
<li><p>Deleting 1,000 emails would have a carbon benefit of about five grams CO2e. However, the impact of using a laptop for 30 minutes (to delete these emails) emits 28 grams of CO2e in <a href="https://www.cer-rec.gc.ca/en/data-analysis/energy-markets/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles/provincial-territorial-energy-profiles-alberta.html">provinces like Alberta that use high-carbon electricity</a>. In Québec, where the <a href="https://www.quebec.ca/en/government/policies-orientations/plan-green-economy/challenges-to-be-met#:%7E:text=Qu%C3%A9bec's%20electricity%20production%20sector%20has,99.8%25%20renewable%2C%20mainly%20hydropower.">electricity production sector has one of the lowest carbon footprints</a>, this figure amounts to about five grams of CO2e. So, manually deleting emails can actually have a greater carbon impact than simply storing them, since you spend more time using the computer.</p></li>
</ol>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A router" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=399&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501143/original/file-20221214-15254-f7lpo7.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=501&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Electricity consumption associated with electronic devices remain more or less the same because our computers and routers are often left on.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Unsplash)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Reducing the carbon impact of our email use?</h2>
<p>In order to quantify the carbon footprint of an email, it is necessary to take into account all of the steps that are involved in its life cycle, ranging from writing to receiving and reading emails, to saving or archiving them.</p>
<p>Overall, the carbon footprint of emails is mainly associated with the manufacturing of electronic devices that are used to write and read them. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1288015223799058433"}"></div></p>
<p>The actual use of the devices becomes more important, and may even be more important than manufacturing, because the electricity that is used to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2022.09.025">power these devices is produced mainly from fossil fuels</a>.</p>
<p>The best way to reduce the carbon footprint of email is to buy fewer electronic products, retain these devices for as long as possible and use ones that consume less electricity.</p>
<p>Send emails when you need to or when you think the recipients will appreciate your message, even if it consists of just a simple thank you. Delete your emails if you want to save storage space, find what you are looking for more rapidly, or many other good reasons besides saving the planet.</p>
<p><em>Daria Marchenko, Founder of the Ecoist Club, also contributed to this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193822/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Luciano Rodrigues Viana received funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jean-François Boucher received funding from Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC).</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Mohamed Cheriet does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Digital activities, like sending emails, contribute marginally to the annual carbon footprint of information and communication technology users.Luciano Rodrigues Viana, Doctorant en sciences de l'environnement, Département des sciences fondamentales, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)Jean-François Boucher, Professeur, Eco-consulting, Université du Québec à Chicoutimi (UQAC)Mohamed Cheriet, Professor, Engineering Department, École de technologie supérieure (ÉTS)Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1274832019-12-04T13:27:54Z2019-12-04T13:27:54ZWhy Americans are staying put, instead of moving to a new city or state<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/303214/original/file-20191122-74557-92lqgm.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A less common sight in the U.S. today.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/children-helping-unload-boxes-van-on-794983378?src=698b3e02-fc92-4fa0-b3c0-e653de87f303-1-23">Monkey Business Images/Shutterstock.com</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The story of America is one of moving. </p>
<p>A total of <a href="https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/tableservices/jsf/pages/productview.xhtml?src=bkmk#">13.6% of Americans today were born in another country</a>, and most of us are descended from immigrants. This story of migration also includes moving within the country. Over the last 200 years, Americans have settled the frontier, moved away from cities toward suburbs and migrated away from cities in the Northeast toward the South and West.</p>
<p>This narrative that Americans are constantly moving within the country is no longer true. </p>
<p>Over the last 35 years, <a href="https://www2.census.gov/programs-surveys/demo/tables/geographic-mobility/time-series/historic/tab-a-1.xls">the number of Americans who have moved</a> – within their county, state or out of state – has steadily declined to nearly half of their previous levels. </p>
<p>Between March 2018 and 2019, only 1.5% of Americans moved from one state to another, and 5.9% moved from one home to another while remaining in the same county. </p>
<p><iframe id="qcoOm" class="tc-infographic-datawrapper" src="https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/qcoOm/6/" height="400px" width="100%" style="border: none" frameborder="0"></iframe></p>
<h2>Why are Americans more rooted?</h2>
<p><a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/psp.1844">The decision to move is a complex one</a>. People are often searching for better opportunities but must also take into account factors like family characteristics, lifestyle and community.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=sn4awyAAAAAJ&view_op=list_works&sortby=pubdate">I have studied American migration for over 20 years</a>, and I see no evidence linking the migration decline to changes in the way people make those decisions. Rather, I see three broad changes that have changed the outcome of those decisions.</p>
<p>First, <a href="https://fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R45090.pdf">real incomes have remained flat for over the last 35 years</a>. Americans have been able to improve their standard of living only by both <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/200720/aftershockinequality-for-all--movie-tie-in-edition-by-robert-reich/">working more and borrowing more</a>. That includes an increase in the number of women working, leading to the growth of dual-income households.</p>
<p>The increase in both family and personal debt both <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2012.724343">makes selling a house more difficult and reduces financial resources available for a move</a>. Meanwhile, the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2012.724343">growth of dual-income households restricts moves</a>, because any long-distance move would require both partners to find a suitable job in a new destination.</p>
<p>Second, <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/e/9781315589282/chapters/10.4324/9781315589282-5">the baby boomer generation</a> has squeezed younger generations out of housing and job opportunities. </p>
<p>Finally, Americans are less likely to move due to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00330124.2012.724343">the widespread adoption of advanced information and communications technologies</a>, such as the internet and smartphones. </p>
<p>My colleague and I investigated the role of these technologies in both <a href="https://www.questia.com/library/journal/1P4-2033290907/migration-and-the-internet">the U.S.</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2111">Northern Ireland</a>. In these studies, we compared people who accessed and used the internet at home, in various ways, to people who did not, and found that internet access was strongly associated with decreased mobility. </p>
<p>We conclude that internet use, and likely all forms of advanced information and communication technologies, allow people to remain in a place, yet access a growing array of remote <a href="https://www.census.gov/prod/2012pubs/p70-132.pdf">employment</a> and <a href="https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED541571">educational opportunities</a>. Moving is just not as necessary as it once was. </p>
<p>What’s more, advanced information and communications technologies <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S001671851300033X">improves the quality of information available about possible places to move</a>. We believe this makes decisions about whether and where to move more efficient and reduces the chances that people will move to a place that they don’t like. </p>
<h2>Rootedness is the new normal</h2>
<p>The currently low levels of geographic mobility are likely to be permanent. </p>
<p>An important principle of migration is that it is <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/psp.2286">self-reinforcing</a> – having moved once enhances the chances of moving again. Moving is expensive and stressful, especially for people who have not migrated before. But having moved once, additional moves become less stressful, new opportunities become available and additional moves become more efficient and less costly. </p>
<p>This self-reinforcing process works in the other direction as well. Having never moved or having moved very little reduces the chances of moving or moving again; migration is viewed as risky, expensive and disruptive. Plus, the longer a person stays in a location, the more attached they grow to their home and job and community.</p>
<p>Since the current U.S. population is more rooted than ever, I think it is likely that the country will continue to have lower migration rates into the future. Young adults who have been raised during the period of declining migration rates of the last 35 years are now less likely to migrate as a consequence. They may then pass this legacy on to their own children.</p>
<h2>The impacts of a more rooted society</h2>
<p>I believe that the migration decline and associated increase in rootedness will have dramatic effects on American society. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41446817.pdf?seq=1">Rootedness has many positive outcomes</a>, such as greater attachment to place and more meaningful social and community connections. These connections to place may then <a href="https://www.pnas.org/content/114/36/E7432.short">serve to provide social and economic support during periods of economic uncertainty</a>.</p>
<p>Second, I suspect that the decline in migration will present a challenge to large corporations and regional economic development agencies, for example, which rely upon migration to attract and retain talent.</p>
<p>Finally, the government’s approaches to resolving regional economic disparities will have to change. Federal and state governments traditionally have not intervened much in regional labor and housing markets, under the presumption that high levels of migration serve to reallocate people from areas with few opportunities and toward areas with many opportunities. </p>
<p>The decline in migration indicates to me that federal and state policy must shift more toward <a href="https://research.upjohn.org/up_press/6/">“place-based” policies</a>, emphasizing training and education, along with developing industries tailored to local skills and resources, similar to what is more common in Europe. </p>
<p>[ <em>Like what you’ve read? Want more?</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=likethis">Sign up for The Conversation’s daily newsletter</a>. ]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/127483/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thomas Cooke does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Over the last 35 years, the number of Americans who have moved has steadily declined to nearly half of their previous levels.Thomas Cooke, Professor of Geography, University of ConnecticutLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1208612019-07-31T12:52:56Z2019-07-31T12:52:56ZCoding in South African schools: what needs to happen to make it work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/285538/original/file-20190724-110187-17b8a56.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">In the near future, the ability to code will be as essential as knowing how to read, write and count.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>South Africa is training a group of teachers to learn how to code and how to teach coding. The subject will be piloted at 1000 schools across five provinces, starting in the 2020 academic year. The announcement has resulted in debates around the country’s ability to deliver on such a commitment, particularly when considering the low literacy and numeracy skills of learners. The Conversation’s Nontobeko Mtshali spoke to Professor Ulrike Rivett to find out more about this.</em></p>
<p><strong>What is coding? Are there African countries teaching it nationally at school level?</strong> </p>
<p>The Department of Basic Education <a href="https://www.education.gov.za/CodingCurriculum010419.aspx">describes</a> coding as the writing of instructions for computation using a programming language to achieve a specific goal or to solve a problem. In simple terms, coding refers to using a language that a computer understands to develop computer programmes, mobile applications, websites etc. </p>
<p>Coding is therefore similar to introducing a new language in the school curriculum. The misconception has often been created that coding requires a talent in maths or physics, but that’s not necessarily the case. Coding, similar to any language we use, has certain structures and rules – like grammar – and these rules have to be learnt and practised. While the discussion around coding has been very closely linked to that of the maths curriculum, there is no reason to believe that students with subjects such as maths literacy cannot learn how to code. The challenges of introducing coding as a subject are manifold, but maths education is not one of them. </p>
<p>There are a number of schools that have already introduced coding. Most are well-equipped schools or private institutions. This is also true for most African countries. </p>
<p>Countries like the UK have well-established national policies. In the UK this was done in 2013. Others that followed included Austria, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, France, Hungary, Ireland, Lithuania, Malta, Spain, Poland, Portugal and Slovakia. Some of these countries have included coding in their national curricula. </p>
<p><strong>What are the challenges in the way of making this a regular subject in schools?</strong> </p>
<p>It’s great that South Africa has decided to roll out coding nationally. But the complexity is that the foundations are not in place for effective implementation. Dr Mmaki Jantjies, a senior lecturer at the University of the Western Cape’s Department of Information Systems, <a href="https://theconversation.com/five-things-south-africa-must-get-right-for-tech-in-schools-to-work-118612">cites</a> five core elements that need to be in place for effective rollout. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>infrastructure, </p></li>
<li><p>teacher training and support, </p></li>
<li><p>localised learning content, </p></li>
<li><p>technical support, and </p></li>
<li><p>safety and security. </p></li>
</ul>
<p>To provide a good foundation in digital skills, computers have to be available on the school premises together with the relevant IT infrastructure and internet connectivity. This translates effectively into having an IT department at the school that can manage the equipment, keep it up and running and be able to support teachers and learners when problems arise. This requirement translates directly into a cost factor that is not a once-off investment, but rather a regular addition to the annual budget in the form of a recurrent cost item.</p>
<p>The second challenge involves teachers and a curriculum. Teacher training is expensive and currently teachers don’t learn how to code. To develop an integrated and sustainable curriculum, it will be essential to reflect on the current requirements for teachers, and to understand how they are trained.</p>
<p>Another challenge of making coding and robotics a regular subject at school is time. In an already crowded timetable, which subject do we remove or allocate less time to? Do learners have to spend more time at school? In the UK, a solution was found by integrating digital skills into other subjects.</p>
<p>In South Africa coding and robotics will be introduced through the existing technology subject taught until Grade 9, or through a new subject called “digital skills”.</p>
<p>The curriculum is expected to provide learners with the necessary knowledge and skills to become “inventors of new technologies to make a valuable contribution towards the global community”. </p>
<p><strong>What are the risks if school children don’t attain this skill at the basic education level?</strong> </p>
<p>The need for coding is becoming ubiquitous. In the same way that employees are currently expected to have the ability to read, write and count, in the near future there will be an expectation to have the literacy of coding. This will allow learners to harness the power of computers.</p>
<p>Right now, the most sought after careers are in the IT space. From the retail sector to financial institutions, our world is becoming digital. Online shopping, online banking, online TV watching – the risk of not being able to attain the skill of coding will be a risk of not attaining a job.</p>
<p><strong>What needs to be done going forward?</strong> </p>
<p>Throwing equipment such as tablets or laptops at schools without addressing the training of teachers hasn’t resulted in any sustainable solutions on the continent.</p>
<p>An opportunity that should be more widely investigated is the engagement of universities in the initiative. Many of the computer labs of higher education institutions are empty for 26 weeks of the year. We took the opportunity to link up with CodeSpace during the June vacation to host a <a href="https://www.codespace.co.za/blog/high-school-robotics-robocampct">coding camp for high school learners on UCT campus</a> - the labs were filled with excitement in an otherwise deadly quiet time and it gave us insight on the potential of using our resources to fill a real need. </p>
<p>With the experience of hindsight, South Africans know that curriculum changes have not always been as successful as had been hoped and that a radical change - such as making coding and robotics a school subject - might be too much for some schools. Will the country end up with another subject that creates “have and have-nots”? </p>
<p>This is an opportunity to engage, to grapple with a difficult challenge and for higher education institutions to draw alongside the Department of Education, our schools, teachers and learners. This might be the one time where the lofty heights of academia can provide some insight and practical space to introduce a subject that will provide our children with a skill for future success.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/120861/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ulrike Rivett receives funding from the National Research Foundation which is not connected to this article</span></em></p>South Africa’s introducing coding as a school subject but until teacher education, IT infrastructure and internet connectivity issues, among others are addressed, the country has a long way to go.Ulrike Rivett, Professor, Information Communication Technologies, University of Cape TownLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/499362015-11-03T11:07:23Z2015-11-03T11:07:23ZIn our Wi-Fi world, the internet still depends on undersea cables<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100571/original/image-20151102-16507-fs65z0.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Cables crisscross the oceans carrying your internet info.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.submarinecablemap.com">Telegeography Submarine Cable Map</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Recently a digital blackout <a href="http://surfacing.in/?place=nukualofa-tonga">in Tonga</a> — caused by the <a href="https://phys.org/news/2019-01-tonga-country-facebook-youtube.html">severing of the country’s only undersea cable</a> — generated widespread recognition of the submerged systems our connected world depends upon.</p>
<p>Not many people realize that undersea cables transport nearly <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=LQDXAQAAQBAJ&pg=PA362&dq=submarine+telecommunications+cables&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBGoVChMI5Pm8_oPyyAIVBG4-Ch379Al9#v=onepage&q=99&f=false">100 percent of transoceanic data traffic</a>. These lines are laid on the very bottom of the ocean floor. They’re about as thick as a garden hose and carry the world’s internet, phone calls and even TV transmissions between continents at the speed of light. A single cable can carry tens of terabits of information per second. </p>
<p>While researching my book “<a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/The-Undersea-Network">The Undersea Network</a>,” I realized that the cables we all rely on to send everything from email to banking information across the seas remain largely unregulated and undefended. Although they are laid by only a few companies – including the American company SubCom and the French company Alcatel-Lucent – and often funneled along narrow paths, the ocean’s vastness has often provided them protection. When one is broken, as the Tonga cable was this week, data traffic comes to a halt.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100398/original/image-20151030-16532-1tr7ho1.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=543&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">2015 map of 278 in-service and 21 planned undersea cables.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Telegeography</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Far from wireless</h2>
<p>The fact that we route internet traffic through the ocean – amidst deep-sea creatures and hydrothermal vents – runs counter to most people’s imaginings of the internet. Didn’t we develop satellites and Wi-Fi to transmit signals through the air? Haven’t we moved to the cloud? Undersea cable systems sound like a thing of the past. </p>
<p>The reality is that the cloud is actually under the ocean. Even though they might seem behind the times, fiber optic cables are actually state-of-the-art global communications technologies. Since they use light to encode information and remain unfettered by weather, cables carry data faster and cheaper than satellites. They crisscross the continents too – a message from New York to California also travels by fiber optic cable. These systems are not going to be replaced by aerial communications anytime soon.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100394/original/image-20151030-16535-1rv67sd.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A tangled cable caught by fishermen in New Zealand.</span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>A vulnerable system?</h2>
<p>The biggest problem with cable systems is not technological – it’s human. Because they run underground, underwater and between telephone poles, cable systems populate the same spaces people do. As a result, they’re accidentally broken all the time. Local construction projects dig up terrestrial lines. Boaters drop anchors on cables. And submarines can pinpoint systems under the sea. </p>
<p>Most media coverage about these systems has been dominated by the question of vulnerability. Are global communications networks really at risk of disruption? What would happen if these cables were cut? Should we all be worrying about a digital blackout – whether caused by accident or terrorists? </p>
<p>The answer to this is not black and white. Any individual cable is always at risk, but likely far more so from boaters and fishermen than any saboteur. Over history, the single largest cause of disruption has been people unintentionally dropping anchors and nets. The <a href="https://www.iscpc.org">International Cable Protection Committee</a> has been working for years to prevent such breaks.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100395/original/image-20151030-16532-1ouvfiw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An undersea cable lands in Fiji.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nicole Starosielski</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As a result, cables today are covered in steel armor and buried beneath the seafloor at their shore-ends, where the human threat is most concentrated. This provides some level of protection. In the deep sea, the ocean’s inaccessibility largely safeguards cables – they need only to be covered with a thin polyethylene sheath. It’s not that it’s much more difficult to sever cables in the deep ocean, it’s just that the primary forms of interference are less likely to happen. The sea is so big and the cables are so narrow, the probability isn’t that high that you’d run across one.</p>
<p>Sabotage has actually been rare in the history of undersea cables. There are certainly occurrences (though none recently), but these are disproportionately publicized. The World War I <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fanning_Raid">German raid of the Fanning Island cable station</a> in the Pacific Ocean gets a lot of attention. And there was <a href="http://www.economist.com/node/10653963">speculation about sabotage</a> in the cable disruptions outside Alexandria, Egypt in 2008, which cut 70 percent of the country’s internet, affecting millions. Yet you hear little about the regular faults that occur, on average, about 200 times each year.</p>
<h2>Redundancy provides some protection</h2>
<p>The fact is it’s incredibly difficult to monitor these lines. Cable companies have been trying to do so for more than a century, since the first telegraph lines were laid in the 1800s. But the ocean is too vast and the lines simply too long. It would be impossible to stop every vessel that came anywhere near critical communications cables. Nations would need to create extremely long, “no-go” zones across the ocean, which itself would profoundly disrupt the economy. Even then, the cables could still be at risk from undersea landslides.</p>
<p>There are only <a href="http://submarinecablemap.com">several hundred cable systems</a> that transport almost all transoceanic traffic around the world. And these often run through narrow pressure points where small disruptions can have massive impacts. Since each cable can carry an extraordinary amount of information, it’s not uncommon for an entire country to rely on only a handful of systems. In many places, like Tonga, it takes only a single cable cut to take out large swathes of the internet. If the right cables were disrupted at the right time, it could disrupt global internet traffic for weeks or even months.</p>
<p>The thing that protects global information traffic is the fact that there’s some redundancy built into the system. Since there is more cable capacity than there is traffic, when there is a break, information is automatically rerouted along other cables. Because there are many systems linking to the United States, and a lot of internet infrastructure is located here, a single cable outage is unlikely to cause any noticeable effect for Americans.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/100400/original/image-20151030-16527-17y489n.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Surfacing.in is an interactive platform developed by Erik Loyer and the author that lets users navigate the transpacific cable network.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Any single cable line has been and will continue to be susceptible to disruption. And the only way around this is to build a more diverse system. But as things are, even though individual companies each look out for their own network, there is no economic incentive or supervisory body to ensure the global system as a whole is resilient. If there’s a vulnerability to worry about, this is it.</p>
<p><em>This is an updated version of an article originally published on Nov. 3, 2015.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49936/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicole Starosielski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The cloud lies under the ocean. Thin cables about as big around as a garden hose traverse the Earth’s oceans carrying all our intercontinental internet data.Nicole Starosielski, Assistant Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, New York UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/474092015-09-21T20:10:47Z2015-09-21T20:10:47ZWant your kids to learn another language? Teach them code<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95484/original/image-20150921-19274-1sds0yq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Coding: it's just another language to learn at school.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/colegioabg/16162384887/">Flickrabg_colegio</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Among <a href="http://www.malcolmturnbull.com.au/media/transcript-vote-on-the-liberal-party-leadership">Malcolm Turnbull’s first words</a> as the newly elected leader of the Liberal Party, and hence heading for the Prime Minister’s job, were: “The Australia of the future has to be a nation that is agile, that is innovative, that is creative.”</p>
<p>And near the heart of the matter is the code literacy movement. This is a movement to <a href="https://theconversation.com/an-education-for-the-21st-century-means-teaching-coding-in-schools-42046">introduce all school children</a> to the concepts of coding computers, starting in primary school.</p>
<p>One full year after the computing curriculum was introduced by the UK government, a survey there found that six out of ten parents want their kids to learn <a href="http://www.ocadogroup.com/news-and-media/news-centre/2015/20150901python.aspx">a computer language instead of French</a>.</p>
<h2>The language of code</h2>
<p>The language comparison is interesting because computer languages are first and foremost, languages. They are analogous to the written versions of human languages but simpler, requiring expressions without ambiguity.</p>
<p>They have a defining grammar. They come with equivalent dictionaries of nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs; with prepositions and phrase patterns, conjunctions, conditionals and clauses. Of course the dictionaries are less extensive than those of human languages, but the pattern rendering nature of the grammars have much the same purpose.</p>
<p>Kids that code gain a good appreciation of computational thinking and logical thought, that helps them develop good critical thinking skills. I’ve sometimes heard the term “<a href="http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/language+lawyer">language lawyer</a>” used as a euphemism for a pedantic programmer. Code literacy is good for their life skills kit, never mind their career prospects.</p>
<p><a href="https://scratch.mit.edu/">Scratch</a> is one of a new generation of block programming languages aimed at teaching novices and kids as young as eight or nine to write code.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
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<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Scratch teaches code with movable instruction blocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://studio.code.org/hoc/15">Screenshot from code.org</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The Scratch language uses coloured blocks to represent the set of language constructs in its grammar. A novice programmer can build up a new program by dragging-and-dropping from a palette of these blocks onto a blank canvas or workspace.</p>
<p>The individual shapes of the blocks are puzzle-like, such that only certain pieces can interlock. This visually enforces the grammar, allowing the coder to concentrate on the creativeness of their whole program.</p>
<p>The Scratch language (and its derivatives) are embedded in a number of different tools and websites, each dedicated to a particular niche of novice programmers. The <a href="https://code.org/">code.org</a> website is a prime example and has a series of exercises using the block language to teach the fundamentals of computer science. </p>
<p>Code.org is a non-profit used by 6 million students, 43% of whom are female. It runs the <a href="https://hourofcode.com/au/en">Hour of Code</a> events each year, a global effort to get novices to try to do at least an hour of code.</p>
<p>For a week in May this year, Microsoft Australia partnered with Code.org to run the <a href="https://news.microsoft.com/en-au/2015/05/15/microsoft-inspires-australian-students-to-start-computer-coding-now/">#WeSpeakCode</a> event, teaching coding to <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-05-15/hundreds-of-students-learn-coding/6473344">more than 7,000 young Australians</a>. My local primary school in Belgrave South in Victoria is using Code.org successfully with grade 5 and 6 students.</p>
<p>Unlike prose in a human language, computer programs are most often interactive. In the screenshot of the Scratch example (above) it has graphics from the popular <a href="http://www.popcap.com/games/plants-vs-zombies/online">Plants vs Zombies</a> game, one that most kids have already played. They get to program some basic mechanics of what looks a little like the game.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=510&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/95493/original/image-20150921-22462-1okbuh7.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=641&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Hit the ‘Show Code’ button at it reveals the JavaScript language behind the coloured blocks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://studio.code.org/hoc/15">Screenshot from code.org</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>But code.org has a ‘Show Code’ button that reveals the JavaScript code generated behind the coloured blocks (see above). This shows novices what they created in tiles, translated into the formal syntax of a programming language widely used in industry.</p>
<h2>It’s not all about the ICT industry</h2>
<p>Both parents and politicians with an eye to the future see the best jobs as the creative ones. Digging up rocks, importing, consuming and servicing is not all that should be done in a forward-thinking nation.</p>
<p>But teaching kids to code is not all about careers in computer programming, science and <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-bit-of-coding-in-school-may-be-a-dangerous-thing-for-the-it-industry-42259">software engineering</a>. Introducing young minds to the process of instructing a computer allows them to go from “I swiped this” to “I made this”. From watching YouTube stars, to showing schoolyard peers how they made their pet cat photo meow.</p>
<p>It opens up young minds to the creative aspects of programming. Not only widening the possible cohort who may well study computer science or some other information and communications technology (ICT) professions, but also in design and the creative arts, and other fields of endeavour yet to transpire or be disrupted.</p>
<p>For most kids, teaching them to code is about opening their mind to a means to an end, not necessarily the end in itself.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/47409/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Steve Goschnick has received research funding from the Australian Research Council, Ericsson Australia Ltd (1998-2000), The University of Melbourne, and a Telstra Broadband Development Grant (2004). He has been the Managing Director of Solid Software Pty Ltd, a data modelling and software development consultancy, since 1998. </span></em></p>Computer coding should be thought of as teaching children another language. If they get the basics right at an early age, who knows where their new-found language skills can take them.Steve Goschnick, Adjunct Professor, Swinburne University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/290282015-06-18T05:22:46Z2015-06-18T05:22:46ZA new space race is on to bring the internet to the whole world<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/85476/original/image-20150618-23217-18b8bgn.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Signals from space: can a network of satellites really provide affordable access for all to the internet?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Shutterstock/Tatiana Shepeleva</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>The race is on to get billions of people connected to the internet via a global network of satellites. Europe’s Airbus announced this week that it is to design and <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/16/us-space-satellite-airbus-group-idUSKBN0OW00I20150616">build up to 900 satellites</a> for the privately owned OneWeb Ltd, which includes Richard Branson as a board member.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.oneweb.world/#news">statement from OneWeb</a> said the plan was to begin launches in 2018 to bring “affordable internet access for everyone” by providing approximately 10 terabits per second of low-latency, high-speed broadband.</p>
<p>That estimate of 10 terabits per second may be misleading, though. The broadband access rates experienced by customers are more likely to be in the range of 2 to 50 megabits per second (Mb/s).</p>
<p>It is an ambitious move and <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/spacex-founder-files-with-government-to-provide-internet-service-from-space/2015/06/09/db8d8d02-0eb7-11e5-a0dc-2b6f404ff5cf_story.html">follows reports</a> that the entrepreneur Elon Musk’s company SpaceX is seeking US government approval of a network of 4,000 satellites to provide similar internet access.</p>
<p>Accessing the internet via satellite is nothing new. Our own NBN Co plans to <a href="http://www.zdnet.com/article/first-nbn-satellite-to-be-launched-in-september/">launch a satellite</a> this September to help bring people in regional areas to its high-speed network.</p>
<p>But what makes OneWeb and SpaceX’s ventures interesting is their plan to connect people anywhere on the planet, similar to <a href="https://theconversation.com/googles-plan-for-internet-access-from-the-sky-27720">Google’s plan</a> revealed last year.</p>
<p>Facebook’s <a href="http://internet.org/">internet.org</a> is another project that aims to make it easier for more people anywhere to connect to the internet.</p>
<h2>A truly world wide web</h2>
<p>Only about <a href="http://www.internetlivestats.com/internet-users/">40% of the world’s population</a> currently has access to the internet and annual growth has been slowing from from 10.5% in 2013 to 8% in 2013 and 7.9% last year.</p>
<p>Any further growth requires cost-effective access such as a global satellite network. With the mass production of micro-satellites, building such a pervasive broadband internet powered by a constellation of satellites opens up many possibilities. </p>
<p>It makes business sense for large internet companies such as Facebook and Google to increase access in the developing world. Having benefited from the huge uptake of internet connectivity among developed countries, these companies see an as-yet-untapped market opportunity among those who do not currently have internet access.</p>
<p>If other large technology companies hungry for users want to increase affordable internet access, then governments should take advantage of these opportunities. Connecting the unconnected to the internet has many positive advantages for the community. </p>
<p>The internet supports development by transforming a younger generation’s ability to acquire knowledge and skills and contribute productively to national growth. It can also help an ageing population to remain active and access cost-effective health care.</p>
<p>Connectivity is transforming transport, manufacturing, logistics and environment management. All forms of government can achieve greater efficiency and cost-effectiveness through their citizens being online and connected.</p>
<p>Access to digital connectivity is essential in the networked society and it is imperative that there is equitable and universal access throughout the world.</p>
<h2>Access needs to be affordable</h2>
<p>The <a href="http://a4ai.org/">Alliance for Affordable Internet</a> has long highlighted the need to increase access by making the internet affordable to a greater percentage of the global population.</p>
<p>Its latest <a href="http://a4ai.org/affordability-report/report/#affordability_a_global_picture">Affordability Report</a> says only 5% of the population of the world’s 49 most underdeveloped countries are online. But for the two billion people living on less than US$2 per day, basic broadband access can exceed 40% of their monthly income.</p>
<p>The low income of many regions does not create the necessary demand to drive investment in affordable internet access options. This leaves these communities in a vicious cycle, which is widening the gap between the connected and non-connected.</p>
<p>A global satellite network may be one solution to providing such access.</p>
<h2>But how will it work?</h2>
<p>Delivering broadband over such a network faces significant challenges in design, deployment and operation of such a global infrastructure. It must also make sure it’s affordable for those from economically disadvantaged or remotely located regions. </p>
<p>A large constellation of satellites requires agile and cost-effective backhaul technology to provide interconnections between the satellites to form an extension to the internet. Backhaul refers to the links or network required between satellites and the internet to provide customers with internet access.</p>
<p>This can be achieved with laser beams or microwave beams operating at millimetre-wave frequencies. They will also require self-aligning systems to pin-point other satellites and maintain links despite fluctuations in their relative positions.</p>
<p>Alternatively, the satellites could form the necessary backhaul by connecting to ground stations suitably connected close to major internet gateways. Either way, satellite networks also need ground stations and internet gateways, which adds to the cost and the complexity of deploying and managing the network.</p>
<p>With a large constellation of satellites, we can expect a portion of satellites to be dysfunctional at times. The operators need to factor that into the operation and also account for potential impacts and risks of losing satellites. That is why the OneWeb/Airbus deal is for 900 satellites but a plan to launch only 700. </p>
<p>The current cost of satellite-based broadband access may only be within the reach of those living in rural communities of developed countries and for emergency communications. The key question remains whether operators can reduce the cost further by leveraging these early markets to deliver affordable access to the remaining two billion people earning US$2 a day. </p>
<p>The world needs connectivity and it is now needed in places where it has been nearly impossible. Micro-satellites could offer real potential that needs to be explored and may fuel a space race once more among the internet companies.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/29028/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas is a Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering. He is the Director of the Melbourne Networked Society Institute which has received funding from a range of sources including the University of Melbourne, industry partners and Victorian Government. He is also the Co-Founder and the Academic Director of Melbourne Accelerator Program which helps to promote entrepreneurship culture through acceleration of start-ups. Views expressed in this article is entirely that of the author and do not reflect the views of his employer - University of Melbourne. He receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Several companies are planning to build network of satellites in space to provide intenet access across the globe. But can it work and will it be affordable?Thas Ampalavanapillai Nirmalathas, Director - Melbourne Networked Society Institute, Professor of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Co-Founder/Academic Director - Melbourne Accelerator Program, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/287572014-07-28T20:25:15Z2014-07-28T20:25:15ZC'mon girls, let’s program a better tech industry<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/55009/original/q52vp7s4-1406524878.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Women can help deal with a shortfall of people in ICT industries.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/european_parliament/8704362988">Flickr/European Parliament</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Twitter is the latest tech company to reveal figures showing women are still underrepresented in the information and communication technology (<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-got-ict-talent-so-how-do-we-make-the-most-of-it-22842">ICT</a>) workforce.</p>
<p>Men make up 70% of the overall staff and women just 30%, according to a <a href="https://blog.twitter.com/2014/building-a-twitter-we-can-be-proud-of">blog post</a> by Janet Van Huysse, the company’s vice president for diversity and inclusion.</p>
<p>But within technical jobs at the social media giant only one in ten of employees are women, she also revealed.</p>
<p>Lately everyone seems to be talking about attracting women to ICT. Last year, Stanford University released the <a href="http://sheplusplus.stanford.edu/">She++</a> documentary about recruiting women to study computing that was screened in 11 countries.</p>
<p>Google made a big splash last month with its new venture, <a href="https://www.madewithcode.com/">Made with Code</a>, aimed at inspiring girls to try coding.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/aFF8PYDU0D8?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>Other ventures include <a href="http://www.techgirlsmovement.org/">TechGirls</a>, <a href="http://digitaldivasclub.org/">Digital Divas</a> and <a href="http://www.robogals.org/">RoboGals</a>.</p>
<h2>Why the focus on girls and women?</h2>
<p>Twitter isn’t the only ICT company in which women are vastly underrepresented.</p>
<p>Pinterest has <a href="http://engineering.pinterest.com/post/92753543099/diversity-and-inclusion-at-pinterest">also revealed</a> that only 40% of its overall staff are women and that figure drops to just 21% of the technical workforce.</p>
<p>Google <a href="http://www.google.com/diversity/at-google.html">said in May</a> that 30% of its overall workforce is female, although only 17% of its technical workforce. <a href="http://blog.linkedin.com/2014/06/12/linkedins-workforce-diversity/">LinkedIn</a> and <a href="http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/06/building-a-more-diverse-facebook/">Facebook</a> have similar numbers.</p>
<p>Australia’s gender numbers look much the same. A <a href="https://acs.org.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0004/28570/Australian-ICT-Statistical-Compendium-2013.pdf">2013 survey</a> by the Australian Computer Society found that women made up 28% of all ICT workers across a range of industries, and about 18% of the technical and professional workforce within the ICT industry itself.</p>
<h2>Why does this matter?</h2>
<p>The ICT sector is doing well, regardless of this gender imbalance. Technology is one of the primary drivers of the modern economy and a sector where productivity is rapidly increasing.</p>
<p>Salaries are good and rising. Job growth has remained consistent, despite the current economic crisis. But Europe <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/newsroom/cf/itemdetail.cfm?item_id=5824">projects a deficit</a> of at least 700,000 skilled ICT workers by 2015, and the Australian Workforce and Productivity Agency <a href="http://www.awpa.gov.au/our-work/sector-specific-skill-needs/Pages/ICT%20workforce%20study.aspx">projects shortfalls</a> in most ICT occupations by 2025.</p>
<p>An ICT workforce without women is bad for women. Women will be left behind economically. Women will be shut out of some of the most influential positions in industry and government due to lack of relevant skills and experience. Women’s interests will not be adequately represented in the products and services produced by the ICT industry.</p>
<p>An ICT workforce without women is bad for the ICT industry and more broadly for the economy. If women do not enter the industry, it will be difficult to meet projected demand for ICT skills.</p>
<p>Perhaps more importantly, diversity is good for business. According to the US <a href="http://www.ncwit.org/ncwit-fact-sheet">National Center for Women in Technology</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Groups with greater diversity solve complex problems better and faster than do homogenous groups, and the presence of women in a group is more likely to increase the collective intelligence of the group.</p>
</blockquote>
<h2>Why is this happening?</h2>
<p>University enrolments in ICT tell a clear story: women are not choosing to study courses that lead (directly) to ICT careers. Completions of ICT degrees are down across the board, approximately 30% since 2003.</p>
<p>The relative proportion of women has decreased as well. Only 19% of ICT enrolments in Australia in 2013 were of women, down from <a href="http://highereducationstatistics.education.gov.au/">25% in 2001</a>.</p>
<p>This then begs the question of why women aren’t studying ICT. The Victorian <a href="http://dsdbi.vic.gov.au/our-department/strategies-and-initiatives/victorian-ict-workforce-development-plan">ICT Development Plan</a> cites research that confirmed negative and stereotypical attitudes to ICT careers among high school students.</p>
<p>A Victorian study suggests that lack of early exposure to software tools impacts female students’ <a href="http://www.ijikm.org/Volume5/IJIKMv5p237-260Miliszewska452.pdf">interest in ICT</a>.</p>
<h2>Is there a solution?</h2>
<p>There are general programs aimed at stimulating interest in ICT among young people, such as the <a href="http://www.ichoosetechnology.com.au/">Digital Careers program</a> and the <a href="http://www.ncss.edu.au/">National Computer Science School</a>.</p>
<p>But such programs typically attract students who are already interested in technology, rather than providing a venue to discover a new interest. As a case in point, when I offered a term-long <a href="http://csunplugged.org/">Computer Science Unplugged</a> enrichment class at my daughter’s primary school, the students who signed up were all boys who were avid gamers (plus my daughter).</p>
<p>Career expos can go some way to highlighting career paths and identifying the tremendous opportunities available in technology, possibly also correcting misconceptions about the impact of off-shoring on ICT jobs.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=328&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/54998/original/c29dnwft-1406519992.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=412&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An early start is a great way to get girls interested in ICT.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/barsen/5466781508">Flickr/Ed Ivanushkin</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Capturing girls’ interest</h2>
<p>So, if we can agree that we want more women in tech, how do we draw them in?
Here are my suggestions, based on my personal experience as a woman and a computer scientist.</p>
<h3><em>DO</em> start early</h3>
<p>We must engage girls in ICT long before tertiary education, preferably starting in primary school. While our young students gain basic computer literacy, the focus is too much on <em>using</em> computers, and not enough on <em>innovating</em> through them.</p>
<h3><em>DO</em> provide opportunities for girls to experience the creative side of ICT</h3>
<p>With visual programming tools such as MIT’s <a href="http://scratch.mit.edu">Scratch</a> and Carnegie Mellon’s <a href="http://www.alice.org/">Alice</a> (used in New Zealand’s <a href="http://www.pc4g.org.nz/">Programming Challenge 4 girls</a>), it’s easier than ever to jump right in to building things with code. Similarly fun, hands-on projects are available for other areas of ICT.</p>
<h3><em>DO</em> highlight role models and diverse career paths</h3>
<p>It’s not easy to aspire to be part of an industry where you can’t see yourself in the people already there. One of the more inspiring experiences of my career was attending the <a href="http://gracehopper.org/">Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing</a>, simply because it was a convention centre full of females excited about technology. Who knew there were so many of us? We’ll be trying to do that here in Victoria next month, with the <a href="http://gogirl.org.au/">Go Girl, Go for IT</a> event aimed at female high school students.</p>
<h3><em>DON’T</em> overly stereotype girls</h3>
<p>In an attempt to target ICT activities specifically at girls, it is important not to go overboard in making those activities too “girly”. US high school student Abby Wheat <a href="http://thewesternhemisphere.org/1157/opinion/dont-make-everything-pink/">wrote eloquently</a>:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>Do people really think that the only way you will ever get a girl to write coding for innovative software is to stick a butterfly somewhere in there?</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Google’s Made with Code <a href="http://www.sfgate.com/news/article/How-not-to-attract-women-to-coding-Make-tech-pink-5602104.php">has been criticised</a> for starting with a project that creates jewellery with code. </p>
<p>Jewelry, pink and sparkles don’t appeal to all girls. More importantly, it reinforces the message that girls in ICT are outsiders and need their own special (separate) space to do ICT. Women should be drawn into the common space, not a pink-walled zone.</p>
<h2>Now, about those stereotypes …</h2>
<p>When young people think of ICT, they apparently imagine a nerdy hacker working in solitude in a dark room (or so my teenager tells me). This simply does not reflect the reality of the many collaborative and creative ICT workplaces.</p>
<h3><em>Misconception #1:</em> ICT requires mathematical skills</h3>
<p>There are many aspects of ICT that don’t use mathematics at all. Web programming and software engineering are much more about algorithms – a sequence of instructions that a computer must follow to solve a problem or to respond appropriately to a request.</p>
<h3><em>Misconception #2:</em> Programming is logical and sterile</h3>
<p>Programming does require translating an idea into a logical breakdown of that idea that a computer can understand. In my experience the process of working out that logic often requires tremendous creativity. Solutions to problems are not always obvious, and there may be many different ways to solve the same problem.</p>
<h3><em>Misconception #3:</em> People who work in ICT aren’t social</h3>
<p>As technology becomes more complex, diverse project teams must work together to design and build solutions. Teams might involve a user experience expert, a graphic designer, a database expert, a domain expert and programmers with various areas of focus.</p>
<p>Many of these suggestions apply equally to boys and girls. But girls do seem to be disproportionately disinterested in ICT.</p>
<p>Targeted action is needed to help girls find rewarding career paths in ICT, and to support them to stay on those paths. The effort will pay off in innovation benefiting us all.</p>
<p>C'mon girls, ICT is fun!</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/28757/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Karin Verspoor is currently a volunteer for the organising committee of Go Girl, Go for IT, presented by VicICTForWomen. She previously worked for NICTA, which hosts the Digital Careers program.</span></em></p>Twitter is the latest tech company to reveal figures showing women are still underrepresented in the information and communication technology (ICT) workforce. Men make up 70% of the overall staff and women…Karin Verspoor, Associate Professor, Department of Computing and Information Systems, The University of MelbourneLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/228422014-06-17T05:32:49Z2014-06-17T05:32:49ZAustralia’s got ICT talent – so how do we make the most of it?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51120/original/8wm8d9m8-1402881797.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">As an enabling technology, ICT reaches into many fields including health, cybersecurity and engineering (shown here).</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/ucdaviscoe/6046652813">Kevin Tong/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>AUSTRALIA 2025: How will science address the challenges of the future? In collaboration with Australia’s chief scientist <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/ian-chubb-5153/profile_bio">Ian Chubb</a>, we’re asking how each science discipline will contribute to Australia now and in the future. Written by luminaries and accompanied by two expert commentaries to ensure a broader perspective, these articles run fortnightly and focus on each of the major scientific areas. This instalment takes a look at ICT’s role.</em></p>
<p>It’s finally dawning on private and public sectors that information and communications technology (ICT) is an enabling technology. ICT is relevant to companies – whether making drugs, mining coal, building a bridge or providing banking services – and government agencies, such as the Australian Taxation Office (<a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/">ATO</a>), operators of an urban railway systems and (obviously) Social Security and Defence Science and Technology Organisation (<a href="http://www.dsto.defence.gov.au/">DTSO</a>). </p>
<p>One or two decades ago, it was common for casual commentary to suggest that Australia had missed the ICT bus:</p>
<ul>
<li>ICT multinationals, almost all foreign-owned, generally weren’t interested in doing more than selling in Australia</li>
<li>ICT-based small and medium enterprises (SMEs) faced the usual challenges impacting all SMEs, and the additional one – their ICT specialist R&D staff were less qualified on average than R&D staff across other disciplines</li>
<li>CSIRO was perceived – perhaps unfairly – as not having significant impact in the area</li>
<li>international rankings of Australian computer science publication citations showed us <a href="http://ict-industry-reports.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2013/10/2000-Australias-ICT-Research-Base-PMSEIC-Report.pdf">a long way behind</a> even the world average. </li>
</ul>
<p>These days, public perceptions of ICT’s importance are far more developed. Almost every day, we interact with a supermarket scanner, we check our email, we pass under a motorway toll point, we download our power bill or we check what our friends on Facebook are doing. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51101/original/25k89rhn-1402878989.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/louisa_catlover/5478816632">Louise Billeter/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There is <a href="http://www.nicta.com.au/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/25682/Software_from_NICTA_spin-out_company_Open_Kernel_Labs_secures_one_billion_mobile_handsets_.pdf">Australian software</a> in more than a billion mobile phones worldwide. And while just a small fraction of those phones are in Australia, there are certainly enough that the community at large appreciates the transformational power of ICT and how pervasive it is, even if it is often behind the scenes. </p>
<p>The National Broadband Network (<a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-the-national-broadband-network-nbn-207">NBN</a>), an ICT construct if ever there was one, has been the subject of significant <a href="https://theconversation.com/can-australia-afford-the-coalitions-nbn-17494">political controversy</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-what-do-you-think-of-the-nbn-17647">raised public awareness</a> of the pervasiveness of ICT. </p>
<h2>What’s down the track, then?</h2>
<p>Our everyday lives are going to be affected in an extraordinary number of ways, most involving the coupling of ICT ideas with technologies with which we are familiar. Likely scenarios include:</p>
<ul>
<li>instead of swallowing pills or receiving injections, devices in our body may <a href="https://theconversation.com/wearable-electronic-skin-delivers-drugs-and-stores-data-25279">administer drugs automatically</a>, at times and dosage levels tuned to our body’s requirements</li>
<li>firemen will be equipped with micro <a href="https://theconversation.com/not-just-for-war-how-drones-can-be-used-for-good-12692">airborne vehicles</a> to search a burning building for survivors</li>
<li>all road vehicles will be <a href="https://theconversation.com/self-driving-cars-and-autonomous-robots-where-to-now-19879">fitted with sensors</a> and devices to communicate with other vehicles and roadside infrastructure, to lessen collisions, and to reduce congestion through the provision of real-time advice; in due course, traffic densities on freeways will be increased through automated control of vehicles</li>
<li>the <a href="https://www.ato.gov.au/General/Online-services/In-detail/Online/Getting-started/?page=8#Online_services_for_individuals">ATO website</a> will accept queries on curly tax issues and provide an answer via an automated service which the taxpayer can rely on in meeting his or her tax obligations</li>
<li>partial sight will be restored through a <a href="https://theconversation.com/we-have-the-technology-progress-in-the-race-to-the-bionic-eye-3019">bionic eye</a> to people who have become blind through diseases such as macular degeneration (see video below)</li>
</ul>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/dKy8OgVUmoo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<ul>
<li>people will improve their qualifications through enrolment in massive open online courses (<a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/massive-open-online-courses">MOOCs</a>), receiving a grade after automated processing of their assignments and examination papers</li>
<li>many farm fences will be eliminated; farm animals will be provided with sensors designed to localise the animal’s position and deliver an electric shock when it strays from a defined region</li>
<li>people will discuss contracts with a non-English-fluent Korean businessman using a two-way, unobtrusive real-time translation <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-smartphone-apps-are-revolutionising-language-learning-25165">phone app</a>, or via an add-on to a <a href="https://theconversation.com/turning-it-on-for-work-meetings-is-avatar-kinect-the-new-you-621">three-dimensional Skype</a> system</li>
<li>robot <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of2HU3LGdbo">floor cleaners</a> in the home will be as fast and as efficient as vacuum cleaners pushed by a human.</li>
</ul>
<p>This list highlights the pervasiveness of ICT applications, and no doubt countless more examples can be advanced. Almost everyone would agree too that we would be better off with such advances (though with qualifications with issues such as privacy and security). So what is involved in getting there?</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=785&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51110/original/rfs79cbp-1402880414.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=986&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/arlophoto/8664276888">Arlo Bates/Flickr (cropped)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>A passive approach is to imagine that using money earned from trade in agriculture or mining or education, we could simply buy tasty ICT morsels catching our fancy in the international market. But this won’t work. </p>
<p>We must have ICT skills: if we don’t, not only do we miss out on the pots of gold associated with the different business opportunities, but we will be ill-informed purchasers of sophisticated products. </p>
<p>If buying internationally, we could be as much victims of a ruthless vendor as the Icelandic bankers who purchased foreign financial products that <a href="http://jbh.is/09TIE53_2Sigurjonsson.pdf">ruined their country</a> in 2008. Imagine trying to decide what is the best technology or technologies for an NBN with little or no expertise. </p>
<p>The required human capital clearly must come from universities, and will only be up-to-date if the universities have adequately resourced staff of international standard. </p>
<h2>Three simple steps to maximise ICT talent</h2>
<p>First, it needs to be very easy for ICT researchers to collaborate with researchers in other disciplines; so many future applications will rest on a further disciplinary pillar besides ICT, precisely because it is an enabling technology. </p>
<p>Of course, institutional players such as the universities and the Australian Research Council (<a href="http://www.arc.gov.au/">ARC</a>) will sign on to this proposition, but giving effect to it can be still very challenging. </p>
<p>Fundamentally, prestige for an academic grounded in his or her achievements is generally seen as easier to attain when a single discipline is involved. Those crossing two (or more) disciplines are more likely to be considered as not making it well in either rather than achieving a high standard in more than one discipline. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=419&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51117/original/fwgr5w8s-1402881678.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=526&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">An example of cross-disciplinary research: brain-computer interfacing.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/sybrenstuvel/3492628090">Sybren Stüvel/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Then there’s the question of money: if discipline-based panels allocate research funds, such researchers can lose out.</p>
<p>The second qualification is that the route to commercialisation of ideas needs to be straightforward. </p>
<p>In the ICT area commercialisation has been hugely assisted by the creation in 2002 of <a href="http://www.nicta.com.au/">NICTA</a>. This organisation has provided a bridge not only between its own researchers and the commercial world (including business creation with start-ups) but also between affiliated ICT researchers in universities and the commercial world. </p>
<p>Commercialisation is less the core business of universities than it is of NICTA, and most universities have less depth of ICT-relevant commercialisation skill set than NICTA has. </p>
<p>A third requirement is that it must be possible to pursue large-scale research ideas with public sector finance. With the limited exceptions provided by Cooperative Research Centres (<a href="http://crca.asn.au/">CRCs</a>) or ARC centres and defence-oriented work in DSTO, CSIRO and NICTA are probably the only examples.</p>
<p>A healthy coupling of the university sector to the commercial world is certainly not the whole story. That coupling needs to be grounded in a solid disciplinary base where the individuals can match it with the best in the world. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51124/original/csq789kp-1402882115.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The science of cyber analytics supports better predictions and guides adaptive responses of computers and computer networks.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pnnl/4295162815">PNNL - Pacific Northwest National Laboratory/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Specialists are needed in subdisciplines such as <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/cybersecurity">cyber security</a>, machine learning, computer and communication networking, large scale and distributed systems, mobile communications and computing and <a href="https://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-big-data-13780">big data</a>, to name a few. </p>
<p>But without our ICT experts, we’ll be left behind the wayside – and catching up will be more difficult than ever.</p>
<hr>
<h2><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/david-glance-148/profile_bio">David Glance</a>, Associate Professor at the University of Western Australia</h2>
<p>It is easy to confuse Australia’s passion for being users of the latest technology with a passion to be involved in creating them. </p>
<p>In fact, as the US continues to see a rise in <a href="http://cra.org/govaffairs/blog/2013/03/taulbeereport/">enrolments</a> in computer science degrees, Australia has seen a continuous <a href="http://www.acs.org.au/news-and-media/news-and-media-releases/2012/declining-enrolments-and-skills-shortages-threatens-future-of-ict">decline</a>. </p>
<p>It is not that Australians are less bright or resourceful or less hard working. It is not even a tyranny of distance because if there is one thing you can do remotely, it is develop and sell technology, especially software.</p>
<p>No – it may simply be the fact that on the whole, Australians are just not interested in developing ICT.</p>
<p>This is not a particular problem in a globalised world in which the ways of doing things in Australia are not that different to how things are done in the US or in Europe. </p>
<p>We can possibly rely on others to produce the technologies that we will need to drive a growing economy past the mining phase.</p>
<p>What will be vital as a minimum, though, will be the ability and desire to utilise ICT to support innovation in everything else that we actually do. </p>
<p>So even if being a primary provider of ICT is not in Australia’s future, being expert at using them will be.</p>
<hr>
<h2><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/toby-walsh-51/profile_bio">Toby Walsh</a>, Research Leader at NICTA</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=557&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=700&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=700&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/51126/original/nvrxbswr-1402882578.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=700&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption"></span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/pgoyette/3866601916">Paul Goyette/Flickr (cropped)</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/">CC BY-NC-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>ICT has been a great driver for change over the past 10 years – and, as illustrated by Brian’s examples above, it is sure to continue being one of the most important drivers over the next decade.</p>
<p>So let’s not forget the immense environmental, societal as well as economic pressures that are building across the globe.</p>
<p>Australia, the lucky country, has escaped many of the troubles so far, but our luck can only last so long, and ICT is one of the few hopes we have to mitigate the problems that lie ahead. </p>
<p>We already work closely with our <a href="https://theconversation.com/optimising-the-future-with-mathematics-22122">mathematician colleagues</a> to develop equations to help government and business optimise their activities, and do more with less. It’s computers that <a href="http://www.techworld.com.au/article/542261/nicta_calls_smarter_infrastructure/">ultimately solve</a> these problems.</p>
<p>As the <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/business/comment-and-analysis/google-and-fairfax-playing-a-different-tax-game-20140509-37z0y.html">recent debate</a> over tax bills of multinationals demonstrate, nations must produce – not consume – intellectual property in the ICT space to reap the rewards.</p>
<p>Take Google, for example. Google sits on around <a href="http://investor.google.com/financial/tables.html">US$60 billion</a> – not bad for a company founded on the back of a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PageRank">computer algorithm</a>. But those rewards don’t go to the users of Google. They flow back to the producers.</p>
<p>For this reason, Australia must produce ICT to ride the coming wave of change.</p>
<hr>
<p><br>
<strong>This article is part of the <a href="https://theconversation.com/topics/australia-2025-series">Australia 2025: smart science series</a>, co-published with the <a href="http://www.chiefscientist.gov.au/2014/02/australia-2025-smart-science/">Office of the Chief Scientist</a>. Further reading: <br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australias-future-depends-on-a-strong-science-focus-today-22075">Australia’s future depends on a strong science focus today</a> <br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/physics-a-fundamental-force-for-future-security-22121">Physics: a fundamental force for future security</a> <br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/proteins-to-plastics-chemistry-as-a-dynamic-discipline-22123">Proteins to plastics: chemistry as a dynamic discipline</a> <br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/optimising-the-future-with-mathematics-22122">Optimising the future with mathematics</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/australia-can-nurture-growth-and-prosperity-through-biology-22255">Australia can nurture growth and prosperity through biology</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/a-healthy-future-lets-put-medical-science-under-the-microscope-23190">A healthy future? Let’s put medical science under the microscope</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/groundbreaking-earth-sciences-for-a-smart-and-lucky-country-22254">Groundbreaking earth sciences for a smart – and lucky – country</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/to-reach-for-the-stars-australia-must-focus-on-astronomy-22124">To reach for the stars, Australia must focus on astronomy</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/marine-science-challenges-for-a-growing-blue-economy-22845">Marine science: challenges for a growing ‘blue economy’</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/building-the-nation-will-be-impossible-without-engineers-23191">Building the nation will be impossible without engineers</a><br>
<a href="https://theconversation.com/agriculture-in-australia-growing-more-than-our-farming-future-22843">Agriculture in Australia: growing more than our farming future</a></strong> </p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/22842/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Anderson receives research funding from the Australian Research Council and National ICT Australia (NICTA). He works for the Australian National University. He owns shares in a number of companies which will benefit by the increased adoption of information and communications technology. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Toby Walsh's research is supported by the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy, the Australian Research Council and the Asian Office of Aerospace Research and Development through grants AOARD-104123 and AOARD-124056.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Glance does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>AUSTRALIA 2025: How will science address the challenges of the future? In collaboration with Australia’s chief scientist Ian Chubb, we’re asking how each science discipline will contribute to Australia…Brian Anderson, Distinguished Professor, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.