Microsoft’s Chairman declares his company’s commitment to delivering Internet access to the world.

Software guru Bill Gates gave a keynote welcome via a holographic video on day one of the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in Kuala Lumpur. To an audience of almost 3,000 international delegates, he spoke of the benefits of access to education through the Internet as one of the key drivers to innovation and growth.

Gates said, “In some ways, we are only at the beginning of changes. Now, one billion people currently have access to the Internet, and there are still five billion to go. As a company we are committed to expanding access to all.”

He then introduced Microsoft’s corporate vice president, Dr Ya-Qin Zhang, who leads research into innovations that would drive a sustainable economy.

Speaking on stage at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre, Dr Zhang opened by detailing some of his early findings attained through his involvement with the International Advisory Panel (IAP), which took place earlier in the week. He said he was impressed by the calibre of Malaysia’s e-government services and infrastructure development.

Changing Forms

Dr Zhang shared some key technology and industry trends, two of which were, “the emergence of mobile communications and software as a service.”

“Over the last the last 50 years, research and development has taken computer from mainframe to mid-frame to the PC in the mid 80s. However, it is the Internet that has brought a new major change to form factor,” said Zhang.

He said that we are now moving toward “a web-centric model, where the PC will continue to play a part in the communication and entertainment process”.

However, the definition of PC is stretched to mobile wallets, mobile phones and full computing devices, using a change in the model from client-to server to cloud-to-client computing. Real computing takes place in data centres, Zhang said.

In a connected world, he explained, software is not so much a product but a service. The licence form may disappear while software plus will emerge.

“This will impact, in the next five to 10 years, how we conduct business,” he said. “There are certain megatrends. These include the following: performance of hardware, ubiquitous broadband, mobility & new services, unlimited storage, high definition displays and natural user interfacing.”

Communication and access is becoming more affordable and storage is now becoming a commodity, he said.

An interesting change is in human interfacing; in the past humans adapted to the computer. Now, the computer is starting to adapt to the human, according to Dr Zhang.

This has led to an intuitive interactive approach, surface computing using touch, called Microsoft Surface. He demonstrated the new process that uses a coffee table format, which allows a flick of the wrist to move information around.

“The new world will not be new in some ways,” he said. “The connected world—the live Vision—enables devices and software with three themes: people, service and data along with four C’s. Content, community, communications and commerce.”

LiveMesh - cloud and client computing

“We are developing a box for all your data and live IDs called LiveMesh, based on the cloud and client, software and service using the power of the Internet,” announced Dr Zhang. “Mobility is essential to Microsoft’s development curve. Market growth of smart mobile devices continues to grow at a factor of 10 over the last six years. There were 120 million smart devices by end of 2007.”

These advances in mobile computing from voice-to-voice plus data, and data superseded voice during 2007. Now, he said, the PIP model (personal information model) forms an essential base in the future.

“Infrastructure is expected to move from 3G to 5G, and beyond,” Zhang proclaimed. “This indicates that wireless will be the practical solution in last-mile connectivity, though different countries may take a different approach to the actual technology used for that last mile.”

An all-IP network will allow full convergence of mobile, Internet and PC, he said. The three industries—wireless, PC and Internet—will continue to converge.

Just the Tip of the Iceberg

Moving ahead, Dr Zhang said there are two basic ingredients: IQ, which he defined as talent; and, IP (intellectual property). These drive innovation, which embraces process innovation as well as creativity. “There must be agile use of different models. For instance, in China, over 10 people million engaged in ICT development,” said Dr Zhang, who applauded Malaysia’s efforts in placing ICT as a core focus in the country’s economic future. “In Asia, there may be a danger of over-emphasising outsourcing, but this is not the backbone for future growth.”

“China, India and Malaysia need to emphasise ICT to close the digital divide,” he said. Malaysia is ahead in some of those areas such as the national ID programme. “We have only seen the tip of the iceberg of the opportunities and changes that are to come,” he concluded.

(Watch Bill Gates addressing WCIT 2008 here)

Contact: AvantiKumar

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