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Convergence Platforms: Human-Scale Convergence and the Quality of Life

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Book cover Convergence of Knowledge, Technology and Society

Part of the book series: Science Policy Reports ((SCIPOLICY))

Abstract

Information technology is experiencing a particularly significant growth and impact on society, but it is nevertheless inspired by and built upon convergences with other technologies. This chapter focuses on the interdependencies between information technology and nanotechnology, especially in electronics, visualization and simulation of data, and computational tools; it notes connections of information technology to biotechnology as well, and also gives attention to the connections between information technology and cognitive and social sciences. Examples of societal impacts are “creative disruption” in economy and society, the gradual democratization of the Internet via open-source software and the expansion of “citizen science”; the broadening of the global information infrastructure built of participatory communities of users of shared content; evolution of “consumer robotics,” and conceptualization of computing as services and thus dependent upon the co-evolution of information technology with “rules”—with impacts on future policymaking and governance. The focus is on improving human quality of life through convergence of information technology with other technologies. Equity of access between communities and nations is an ongoing area of concern.

Corresponding editors M.C. Roco (mroco@nsf.gov) and W.S. Bainbridge (wbainbri@nsf.gov).

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Notes

  1. 1.

    http://www.onr.navy.mil/en/Media-Center/Fact-Sheets/Human-Robotic-Interaction.aspx

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. MacGregor Bates, Inc., Cottage Grove, OR, USA

    Donald MacGregor

  2. Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI, USA

    Marietta Baba

  3. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Aude Oliva

  4. North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA

    Anne Collins McLaughlin

  5. University of California, Irvine, CA, USA

    Walt Scacchi

  6. Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA

    Brian Scassellati

  7. Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, DC, USA

    Philip Rubin

  8. University of Washington, Seattle, WA, USA

    Robert M. Mason

  9. IBM Global University Programs, San Francisco, CA, USA

    James R. Spohrer

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  1. Donald MacGregor
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  3. Aude Oliva
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, USA

    Mihail C. Roco

  2. National Science Foundation, Arlington, Virginia, USA

    William S. Bainbridge

  3. Department of Political Science, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

    Bruce Tonn

  4. Dept of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    George Whitesides

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MacGregor, D. et al. (2013). Convergence Platforms: Human-Scale Convergence and the Quality of Life. In: Roco, M., Bainbridge, W., Tonn, B., Whitesides, G. (eds) Convergence of Knowledge, Technology and Society. Science Policy Reports. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-02204-8_2

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