Introduction

Abstract

The progress of the last half-century can be characterized by the exponential improvements in information technology (IT), due to consistently shrinking transistors (Moore’s Law) [Moo1965, Itrs2007] combined with ever-improving algorithms and software [Bro2004]. IT has brought us mainframes, personal computers, video games, cell phones, the internet, smartphones, and cloud computing. It plays a role in almost every aspect of our lives: we snap photos with cell phones and immediately send them to loved ones, rediscover friends on Facebook, call distant relatives for free over the internet, and start a company with headquarters a continent away and customers two continents away. IT is touching every field, from decoding the genome, to brain scanning, to developing alternative fuels.

No sensible decision can be made any longer without taking into account not only the world as it is, but the world as it will be.

– Isaac Asimov