Europe can seize the opportunity presented by the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on how we use technology to develop user-centred IT systems that prioritize security and convenience. This is according to a major new communication produced by HiPEAC, the European Network on High Performance Embedded Architecture and Compilation.
“We are now truly in the era of cyber-physical systems – think of self-driving cars, healthcare monitoring devices or factory automation - and these systems are going to be enhanced with artificial intelligence. This will bring with it increased need for trust, autonomy, safety, security and efficiency,” says the HiPEAC Vision coordinator, Marc Duranton (CEA). “Systems will need to work more and more with each other, and applications will be distributed, becoming a ‘continuum of computing’ across platforms and devices, from the deep edge to the cloud, HPC and data centres.”
“The continuum of computing is an idea that has been pushed by several editions of the HiPEAC Vision and it’s now much more widely recognized,” adds Professor Koen De Bosschere (Ghent University), the HiPEAC network coordinator. “The 2021 Vision looks at how all the pieces can – and should – fit together. There’s a range of perspectives considered such as use of legacy software and the need for EU digital sovereignty.”
The Vision 2021 has taken on a fresh new format and consists of a set of recommendations for the computing systems community and the European Commission underpinned by topic-based articles written by the editorial board and other experts. The topics span four core dimensions (societal, business, European and technical). By way of example, Peter Bauer et al. present a use case for the newly formed ‘TransContinuum Initiative’, Frank K. Gürkaynak of ETH Zürich explores the rise of open source hardware, while Thomas Ernst (CEA-Leti) and Jean-Pierre Raskin (Université catholique de Louvain) look at options for an ICT circular economy.
“The 2021 Vision explores changes and progress in the development of hardware and software, but it doesn’t stop there,” adds Marc Duranton. “We also look at the cultures and movements that contribute to these evolutions. Environmental sustainability and the need for computing systems and devices that are secure by design are also core underlying themes.”
For example, other themes explored in the Vision include:
• Interoperability • The ‘as a service’ trend • Code migration and containerization • Artificial intelligence • Managing complexity • Cybersecurity
The range of themes explored drive a more global vision of what the ICT infrastructure of tomorrow could be; through the Vision, HiPEAC proposes to bring it to life through a multidisciplinary moonshot programme referred to as ‘Guardian Angels’. This programme will rely on existing technologies available from several domains but will coordinate and enhance them for ease of use. Guardian Angels will understand humans’ natural ways of communicating and will orchestrate and enhance services to protect people and businesses from the complexity and dangers of cyberspace.
HiPEAC proposes to Europe to consolidate and coordinate its talents to create this paradigm, and unify and synergize existing technical solutions, for the benefit of humanity.
The HiPEAC Vision 2021 is available for free download.