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1st
appeared 28 January 1999
CSPAN Founder Discusses Implications of the Digital Age for
Science
One of the founders of CSPAN, the cable television service that provides gavel-to-gavel
coverage of Congressional and Senate proceedings, came to UCSF on Wednesday to discuss the
digital age and its implications for science and education.
 John D. Evans, who co-founded CSPAN in 1979, has a professional
interest in telecommunications technologies as well as a personal interest in science
education, particularly concerning HIV. A member of the advisory board of the Institute of
Human Virology headed by Robert Gallo, Evans was invited by the UCSF AIDS Research
Institute to share with the campus community his vision of how emerging technologies will
change the lives of scientists, health care providers, educators and students.
"In science, [the digital age] impacts how research is conducted, how lab notes are
kept and reviewed, how scientists collaborate, how discoveries are published, how
therapies are deployed and how the general public receives health care," Evans said.
"For really that is what all this is about, to increase the longevity and quality of
life for our fellow man."
Evans discussed some exciting technologies that will be available to consumers within the
next decade, such as Internet telephony and video-on-demand, as well as the development of
Internet 2, which is expected to soon be launched. The implications of Internet 2, which
was initiated by a consortium of research universities, including the University of
California, in response to Internet congestion, is widespread, especially in the fields of
education and science, he said.
First of the advanced applications of Internet 2, according to Evans, is the accelerated
development of digital libraries. "These efforts will take millions of pages of
historical documents, social and scientific research, medical outcomes and history and
make them digitally available to all," he said.
Second is distance learning, which will allow students to manipulate several windows on
their computer screens in which they can simultaneously see the professor, their notes,
the white board and the other students in class. And, of course, they can email the
homework directly to the professor. Already available in some places, Evans said, are
"electronic books," which allow students to download textbooks, as well as
homework assignments and notes, in their dorm rooms.
The third application of Internet 2, Evans said, is tele-immersion. "A tele-immersion
system will allow individuals at different locations to share a single virtual
environment," Evans explained. "For example, individuals could share and
manipulate data, simulations and models of molecular, physical or economic constructs, and
jointly participate in the simulation, design review and evaluation process. Another
example might be scientists from various locations all participating in using a high
intensity electron microscope with a super computer to model the HIV virus as it infects
cells."
The fourth application is virtual laboratories, which Evans described as a heterogeneous,
distributed problem-solving environment that enables a group of researchers located around
the world to work together on a common set of projects.
All these advances, Evans said, will allow for "some of the greatest collaboration
that man has ever seen." However, challenges need to be met in order for the benefit
to be realized, such as providing resources to schools and colleges to utilize the tools
of the digital age and educating and training scientists on taking advantage of digital
technologies, he said.
No technology talk given this year would be complete without mentioning the Y2K computer
bug. Evans said that economists estimate that this problem will cost the world $1 trillion
and will shrink the US gross domestic product by 0.3% in the year 2000. He also said there
will be substantial costs to fix the errors that are certain to be made while
"fixing" the Y2K problem.
"Some economists are predicting a recession by 2001 due to Y2K glitches in
information flow," Evans said.
Although he sounded a warning of Y2K's potential negative impact and acknowledged that
social problems may result from inequities in access to technology, Evans was
overwhelmingly optimistic about the positive impact new technologies will have in people's
lives.
With over 328 million people expected to be connected to the Internet by 2002, the
delivery of health care could vastly improve, Evans said. An experiment is already under
way in Georgia that has participants using health care devices to monitor their vital
signs at home. Their stats are then downloaded into a computer and accessed by their
health care providers. Evans also cited the example of a sailor who recently became ill
while at sea but who was able, through satellite technology, to perform a surgery on
himself through Internet contact with a physician.
And already being tested in some areas are "smart cards" that contain a person's
full medical history and can be downloaded by health care providers all over the world.
"There's no doubt you'll be carrying a smart card that has all your medical records
on it," he said.
The digital age is a reality, said Evans, who urged scientists, educators, technologists,
and government officials to join together in order to use the evolving technology wisely.
"Those who don't embrace the digital age will lose out," Evans said.
"Education, science and our lives will be forever changed. We can either embrace it
with love or run from it in fear."
Links:
UC page on Internet 2
UCSF AIDS Research Institute
HIVInsite
CSPAN
Source: Paula Murphy, Daybreak
Editor |
