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CASC Remarks Garrison Walters. September 23, 2009. The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education. Then Computing and the Economy. US lead in technology Computer technology-driven zero PCs in 1980 to 50 million in 1990 (BLS hadn’t a clue) applied in ways no one expected
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CASC RemarksGarrison Walters September 23, 2009 The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
ThenComputing and the Economy • US lead in technology • Computer technology-driven • zero PCs in 1980 to 50 million in 1990 (BLS hadn’t a clue) • applied in ways no one expected • IBM’s initial marketing of the PC • Telecom revolution of the ‘90s amplified computer impact • HPC role rapidly increasing in importance over quarter century • Accelerating product development cycle • Toyota Avalon—no mules • Jaguar XK—at least a year shorter • People more important than hardware (but we had both)
A Note on Computers and the American University • First electronic computer • First spinoff company • Entire new discipline • Huge numbers of grads • Vast numbers of innovations: UNIX, RISC, etc. • Who says universities are slow to change?
NowComputing and the Economy • U.S. no longer most educated • Especially weak at younger levels (means we’ll fall further soon) • Especially weak in science and technology. • Yesterday’s HPC= today’s mainstream? • Offers the potential of huge increases in productivity and competitiveness • We’d like to think that will happen, but will we have the talent? • Hardware not an issue--available everywhere • Making HPC mainstream means two things: • Enough people to take HPC-type solutions to medium-sized and smaller business • Progress in restructuring code for greater parallelization • Will require scale of understanding as well as central R&D
The FutureComputing and the Economy • Standard solution to talent problem: do more of what we’ve been doing and hope we get a different result • An alternative approach • Replace all required K-12 mathematics instruction with math embedded in computer/ computational science • Easily cover all the important topics • Pure mathematics an elective • Outcomes • Make today’s HPC mainstream • And also • More people ready for science, not just computer/computational • More people graduating from high school and college • Math now is a barrier to graduation and a filter to science
Conclusion • US recognizes the problem of competing on knowledge, but not doing much. • Renewed emphasis on computer/computational science is a key part of a successful solution. The South Carolina Commission on Higher Education Garrison Walters