Contemporary Issues
15 Mar 2017Contemporary Issues
We learn in universities and industry how to analyze circuits, create printed circuit boards, and design code, however; we have a single class dedicated to the ethics and contemporary issues surrounding computer engineering. This is not the most exciting topic to cover, however; it is definitely important because there are real world issues and implications that come along with working in industry. This paper explores the contemporary issues surround computer engineering.
Section 2 will contain the research regarding the impacts of computer engineering and the economy and vice versa. Section 3 will contain research regarding the social and cultural impacts of computer engineering around the world. Section 4 will contain research regarding the environmental impact of the technology surrounding computer engineering. Section 5 will contain the research regarding contemporary ethical issues. Section 6 will contain the research regarding contemporary technical issues. Section 7 will contain the research regarding current events and present computer engineering problems. Finally, Section 8 will contain concluding remarks.
Section 2 - The Global Economy
The global economy is a large, driving force that has a hold on all industries all over the world. Computer engineering is large and strong enough to have an effect on the global economy such as automation, online shopping, and bringing computing power to consumers. [1]
The Industrial Revolution was a huge boom in productivity around the time period from 1760s to 1840s. New technologies such as steam engines, machine tools and metallurgy created a large boom in material production, labor and jobs, as well as wealth for those in the right industries. However, with the dawn of the Information Age, a second push and boom occurred in technology and productivity. The Information Age brought about the automation of previously labor-intensive jobs. [1]
With computer systems engineered to run factory floors with minimal human input, productivity skyrocketed while companies saved on labor costs and time. Also, automations such as automated teller machines (ATMs) reduce labor costs and increase convenience and appeal for banks. Automation has been a huge increase in productivity and reducing cost and is overall a positive thing for the global economy. [2]
Online shopping retail sales are predicting to grow to $370 billion in 2017. It isn’t difficult to see how big of an impact online shopping has had on the global economy. As computer engineers continue to create new ways for retailers to interact with consumers online, we can only expect that figure to increase and grow. The convenience and luxury to shop at home or on the go is a huge engineering feat that affects the global economy everyday.
The recent events in computer engineering has led to a large amount of computing power in consumer’s hands. Smartphone devices, laptops, and desktop PCs, are all cheaply available to consumers. This has allowed people to be more connected and productive than ever before. With the dawn of social media, family, friends and people in general are more interconnected than ever. Also, with the increase in applications that are made available, people are able to accomplish tasks faster, more efficiently, and in more mobile locations.
There global economy also affects the computer engineering industry. Some examples include the pressures of the global economy push advances in technology, high demand in applications and people have began learning and designing on their own, as well as more attention placed on technology involving online and offline security. [2]
The pressures from the global economy has continuously pushed the development of new technologies. One specific example, is the company Apple faces the pressure to roll out a new iteration of the iPhone every few months or so. From the release of the first iPhone back in June 29th, 2007, there has been nearly 1 billion iPhones sold all time ranging across 13 different models. The improvements from one generation of iPhone to the next isn’t revolutionary, however, the pressures from the global economy force the rapid development and production of the next generation of the iPhone every year. [3]
Continuing with the example of Apple, their application store has nearly 1.782 billion dollars in sales. As a result, content creators are no longer limited to large software development companies. Individuals and small companies are starting to make a splash in the development market. People are starting to learn how to develop and design applications on their own in order to claim their stake in an ever growing market. [4]
The security market has also exploded because of the influx of online shopping and online transactions. Trust is a huge deal when it comes to placing credit cards numbers on the internet and authorizing payments through a computer. As a result, a large amount of resources are dedicated to improving the security surround these issues. Therefore, it has become a necessity that security and surveillance has become a large industry.
In the future, computer engineering will continue to push forward the global economy in many ways. A couple examples are the Internet of Things craze that has began to take hold as well as augmented and virtual reality. [3]
I am currently taking EE 491E which is an internet of things course. We discuss networking principles and the problems and issues surrounding the emerging field of the connected device and internet of things. With the increase in connected products in environments such as the home, office or the city, the world is getting smarter. With the surge of information that will become available, it isn’t difficult to see that this feat of computer engineering will progressively push the global economy forward.
Augmented and virtual reality is a young technology that is starting to hit the mainstream market. From the HTC Vive to Pokemon Go, there has been a good showing for augmented and virtual reality in the market recently. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that the success will continue. With many practical applications ranging from medical to entertainment, this new computer engineering solution will affect multiple sectors of the global economy.
Section 3 - Societal Impacts
There are a few societal impacts that computer engineering has had all across the world. With the increase in collaboration due to open source projects, people have been more collaborative than ever before. Also, the invention of social media has allowed a more globalized and connected world. Finally, the internet has allowed communication and interactions that we previously not possible. [5]
Because more projects have become open-sourced and available to the public, collaboration and connectivity has become a more powerful tool than ever before. Previously, we did not have the technologies and applications such as Git or collaborative documents such as Google Docs or Slides to effectively collaborate on the large scale. However, it is now possible to combine easily get results from multiple people’s work in an efficient manner.
Social media has brought about both positives and negatives to the cultures and societies around the world. More people are being connected and being made aware of the world around them. Young people are getting more involved and aware of what is going around the world and begin to form their own opinions on the world around them. However, this opens up many people to danger such as predators and social engineering that is used in a negative manner. Negative slander and dangerous predators are lurking online and could potentially lead to illegal and dangerous situations online that normally wouldn’t happen. There is a tradeoff between the connectivity and freedom from social media, however, there is a lack of security and regulation and such with the increase in freedom. [5]
The internet has allowed a transfer protocol that has allowed applications to be shared as well as documents and other pieces of information. Individuals as well as machines are able to make connections and share information faster and more efficiently than ever before. A specific application is IBM’s Watson. This machine is able to communicate with servers and databases all over the world to make educated decisions in things like medical diagnosis and weather reports.
Section 4 - Environmental Impacts
The environment is open in many different ways due to the effects of computer engineering. Using a similar IoT example as before, we are able to monitor the environment and our surroundings like never before. Also, we are now able to interact with our environment in new ways, also using connected devices and the IoT space. Finally, more and more electricity and power is being drawn with the increase of computing devices.
The large increase in connected devices means that we have a large sensor network that is constantly growing and being deployed. As a result, we have a large increase in data from our surroundings. We are now able to create context aware conclusions that without the large pool of information, were not possible before.
Similarly, with the increase of connected products acting as sensors, we have them as actuators and automation. These devices allow us to communicate and interact with the environment around us. This has ties into augmented reality in which our environment is literally augmented around us. [6]
Finally, we can make the logical conclusion that the more devices that draw more power are introduced into the environment, the more power the world needs to run. This puts a strain on the environment because there is a need to source more power from different sources such as solar, wind, and hydro electrics. [7]
There are a couple ways that the environment in the future will be affected by computer engineering solutions. One way is that the world will eventually demand an increasing large amount of electricity due to the demand in computer power, conversely, the technology that is developed such as smart grids and other forms of energy efficiency can lead to an increase in energy savings and lower the footprint that technology has on planet Earth.
It is fair to assume that the more computing power that is demanded from the world, the more power that is required. As a result, we know that the demand for computing power will definitely increase, as a result, the more power that will demanded.
However, we can also make the conclusion that the more technology improves, the more energy efficient we can become. Therefore if the efficiency improves, the demand can improves as well. As a result, we can see that perhaps that we may not be in as critical of a situation as long as we continue to put a priority on increasing energy efficiency.
Section 5 - Contemporary Ethical Issues
With the recent events in the news about Alexa and Amazon’s Web Services involved in a murder, there is an ethical dilemma regarding the release of information captured by an Amazon Echo device. Another issue is that the National Security Agency requested Apple to place backdoors in their products to allow the NSA access to terrorist messages and communications. [8]
We discussed the ethical issues with the Alexa case in our IoT class. Information that was captured by an Amazon Echo device could have implications in the murder of a man. As a result, the local police requested the information from Amazon in order to collect evidence. There was a dispute in whether or not releasing this information was an invasion of privacy or that it was legally obtained when consenting to setting up one of these devices. Ultimately, the information was handed over to the police.
A second ethical issue involved the NSA and Apple. The National Security Agency requested to Apple that a backdoor be placed into Apple devices in order to access communications by terrorists. However, this would clearly be an invasion of privacy for many people with iPhone devices. Ultimately, it was ruled that Apple did not have to implement these backdoors. [8]
An opposing view to the Alexa case is that it was okay for data that is captured by an IoT device. By having this device in your home and connected, there is an understanding that information is constantly being collected. As a result, it should make sense that these devices should have information that is readily available.
Section 6 - Contemporary Technical Issues
The Power Wall has always been a concern for technologies, especially CPUs and GPUs. Therefore power consumption goes hand in hand with the power wall issue. Finally, with the increase in automation there is an issue with Artificial Intelligence in order for us to more smartly interact with technology. [9]
The Power Wall is a limit to the computing power that we can get out of silicon semiconductors. As a result, the heat that is generated by a high clock speed and computing power will form an upper bound as heat that is generated anywhere beyond the upper limit will cause device failure. This limits the amount of computing power that can be generated with the current technology.
We can also see that the problem of power consumption also goes hand in hand. The more power that is drawn, the more power that is dissipated and we also run into the issue of the power wall as well as overall consumption that is required around the world.
Artificial Intelligence is not a new concept. However, perfecting the craft has yet to be done. With the invention of AI, technology would be increasing easier to interact with and that automation will increase production.
Section 7 - Current Events/Issues and Computer Engineering
The NSA and Apple case is a good example of a contemporary political issue. This is due to the National Security Agency which is a government organization wanted a backdoor into a device that is held by millions of Americans. This was seen as an invasion of privacy. As a result, the conclusion that was made was that it was unconstitutional. This was a huge stand for the privacy of individuals and their technologies.
There is a large job market that is developing as a result of computer engineering. Therefore job opportunities are springing up everywhere. There are many programs that encourage the next generation to get involved in STEM fields. This is a good thing as it will continue to progress the field forward.
A current social event is that the events surrounding social media recently has brought social media in both a positive and negative light. A positive effect is that people get connected and news spreads more easily. However, a negative effect is that negative ideas and opinions such as racism or police brutality spread rampant and people are exposed to things that they would normally not have. [10]
Concluding Remarks
Overall, the realm of computer engineering extends well beyond just the technology sphere. There are many ways that computer engineering affects things like the global economy, ethical issues and current events. Personally, I feel like there is more positive that comes from computer engineering as opposed to negative effects.
References
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