According to a report produced by the European Network on High Performance and Embedded Architecture and Compilation (HiPEAC), the end of computing as we know it represents an opportunity for Europe to steer the development of future systems that will respect the planet and humanity. HiPEAC Vision editor-in-chief, Marc Duranton claims, “We’ve been headed here for a while, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that we can’t keep shrinking components while increasing performance. Acceleration for specific applications is the short-term route to performance gains, while we investigate new paradigms such as neuromorphic and quantum computing – which will however complement, rather than replace, silicon semiconductor technology.”
The HiPEAC report explores the state of the art and outlines future directions. As well as needing to be safe, secure and energy efficient at a reasonable cost, modern computers using artificial intelligence (AI) techniques also need to follow ethical principles. However, AI could also hold the key to surmounting the increasingly unmanageable complexity of modern systems.
For HiPEAC’s computing roadmap, the Vision’s board drew on the expertise of the 2,000 members of the HiPEAC community. Their findings include:
- investing in the development of accelerators and disruptive architectures while seeking alternatives to current semiconductor technology
- bringing computer engineers and scientists out of their silos to consider the compute continuum as a whole
- shifting value to the edge and building on Europe’s leading position in domains such as automotive, aerospace and trains
- Europe should lead the way towards more humane and environmentally friendly systems by using collective data, developing a sustainable electronics industry, investing in the future workforce and, more generally, creating a compelling digital ethics framework.
For more revelations and illuminations, download the HiPEAC Vision 2019 roadmap for free.