Trends In Higher Ed

04/10/23 1

Frank J. MonacoCIO/VP, IT Pace University NY

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[email protected]

“Trends in Higher Education and Technologies to Support

the Evolution”

04/10/23 22

Based on almost 15 years as a Higher Education Chief Information Officer, I see the following :

• Computational devices and their functionality will further converge and further proliferate

• Networks will further support “pervasive ubiquity” as “seamless inter-network transfer” is delivered

• Social interactivity will dominate, changing classroom models further

• and, of course, Moore’s Law will continue to enable the evolution

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• Computational devices will continue to physically and logically converge: – Voice, data, video, music, chat, IM, web, GPS (“location aware”), TV/TIVO, radio,

gaming systems, desktop, laptop, notebook, pocket, “ultra mobiles”, wearable, embedded, teleconferencing, etc. will continue to come together

– Convergence may include two or more of these technologies in the same form factor/functionality

» iPhone, location-enabled/GPS technology, inventory aware point of sales, etc. just the tip of the iceberg

» Many combinations/permutations will fail but some will succeed

• Classrooms of the future will be radically different because of these devices and their convergence/functionality – making the “classroom without walls” more of a reality than it already is

• One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) Initiative - $100 Wireless Laptops – widespread device penetration

Device Convergence/Functionality/Proliferation

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• Networks will physically and logically converge, enabling seamless application transfer/no loss of functionality, and there will finally be “net neutrality”

• Networks now are mostly discrete and distinct: – Wired Voice/Data/Video/Different Vendors

– Cell Voice/Data/Video/Different Vendors

– Other Wireless Voice/Data/Video

• Problems– roaming within

– roaming between

– “gaps”

– billing

• Need to continue to improve – Should be totally integrated functionally

– Should be seamless transfer between protocols without quality functional degradation/lost data/billing issues

– Should be “{net} neutral”

– Should be seamless to end user!

– Devices should not need 3 or four “cards” for network connectivity

• Once in place, “pervasive ubiquity” will be better enabled

Ubiquity/Seamless Network Transfer

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• Elementary school through high school through college and in the workplace – growing up on IM, IRC, Chat, Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, interactive video gaming, LinkedIn, Web 2.0, etc.– “Digital networks have evolved from carrying data in a purely transactional

sense to facilitating social interaction. The Internet is increasingly seen as a resource for social interaction rather than just information transport”

– Emerging: systems that interject users into cyber-space, like Wii and Second Life – interactive, real time simulations

– “Viral videos” will continue to reach “epidemic” proportions

• Increasingly, interactivity is becoming “many to many”, instead of “one to one”– “Group-user” model of interaction, especially “informal”

– Net Generation is already {cyber} “team” savvy

Social Interactivity

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• “Moore's Law” (1965) states that the number of transistors on a chip doubles about every two years. This observation about silicon integration … has fueled the worldwide technology revolution.

• Intel and IBM: separate chip-making advances using high-k (better insulators than silicon dioxide) – and smaller chips (45-nm) that run faster on less power

• Chip designers had been physically running out of room on silicon chips using 65 nanometer (nm) chip building process; in addition, the silicon chips were generating too much heat

• Intel: - “Moore’s Law (because of high-K 45 nm chip building process) will continue to thrive well into the next decade”

• First systems that use 45-nm high-K chips in 2008• Pace University ran a conference “Keeping Pace with Moore’s Law” in 2004 – the 3rd Annual

NYS Higher Education CIO Conference.– There is no end in site; although we are reaching the physical boundaries of silicon, other materials (nano technology and

now 45-nm high-K) will continue and might surpass Moore’s Law– Universities will continue to have trouble keeping up

» Some will be early adapters» Most will be later adapters once the technology stabilizes» Technologies enabled by Moore’s Law will also follow the Gartner Hype Cycle of New

Technology• What to teach?

Of course, Moore’s Law continues to enable the evolution

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[email protected]


[email protected]

“Trends in Higher Education and Technologies to Support the

Evolution”