Abstract

The editors of this volume set out to compile a set of personal views about the long-term direction of computer science research. In responding to this goal, we have chosen to identify what we perceive as a longterm challenge to the capabilities of computing technology in serving the broader needs of people and society, and to discuss how this ‘Grand Challenge’ might be met by future research. We also present our personal view of the required research methodology.

Introduction

Much of present-day computer technology is concerned with the processing, storage and communication of digital data. The view taken in this contribution is that a far more important use of computers and computing is to manage and manipulate human-related information. Currently, the provision of such structured information has been tackled at the level of single organisations (company, institution, government department, etc.) by the use of databases which are often limited to single functions within the organisation. Databases are closed, in the sense that the information itself can be viewed in a limited number of ways, and the ways in which it can evolve are carefully controlled. Interaction between databases containing related data is prohibited, except through the mediation of human experts. This is an unnecessarily restricted concept of information processing, and one which fails to recognise its real social and economic potential. We foresee a huge market for personal information services based on open access to a continually evolving global network of stored information. Although there are significant technical difficulties associated with creating and controlling such networks and services, we predict that the economic incentives will ensure that the necessary development occurs and that this information market will – within a period of decades – dwarf the market in computing machinery and software.