Voting really feels good to this werewolf. (credit: State of Michigan)
You can't just ask the Internet to vote on something and assume you'll get a "normal" result.
The town of Fort Wayne, Indiana, learned this the hard way in 2011, when an online vote to name a new government center in town went with "Harry Baals." Though Mr. Baals was in fact a respected former mayor of the town back in the 1930s, contemporary officials weren't convinced that his name was chosen out of merely historical interest.
Or there was the time in 2015 when the British Columbia Ferry Service asked Internet users to name its newest ships and perhaps win a $500 prize. Contest entries included:
This year’s IEEE Vision, Innovation, and Challenges Summit and Honors Ceremony, held on 2 and 3 May in Boston, celebrated pioneers in engineering who have developed technologies that changed people’s lives, such as the Internet and GPS. The event also included a trip to the headquarters of cloud service provider Akamai Technologies.
Here are highlights of the sessions, which are available on IEEE.tv.
Akamai hosted a panel discussion on 2 May on innovation, moderated by Robert Blumoff, the company’s executive vice president and CTO. The panel featured IEEE Senior Member Simay Akar, IEEE Life Fellow Deepak Divan, and IEEE Fellows Andrea Goldsmith and Tsu-Jae King Liu. Akar is the founder and CEO of AK Energy Consulting, which helps companies meet their sustainability goals. Divan heads Georgia Tech’s Center for Distributed Energy. Goldsmith is Princeton’s dean of engineering and applied sciences, and King Liu is the dean of the University of California, Berkeley’s College of Engineering.
The panelists were asked about what or who inspired them to pursue a career in engineering, as well as their thoughts on continuing education and diversity, equity, and inclusion.
Most said they were inspired to become engineers by a parent. Goldsmith, the recipient of this year’s IEEE James H. Mulligan Jr. Education Medal, credits her father. He was a mechanical engineering professor at UC Berkeley and suggested she consider majoring in engineering because she excelled in math and science in high school.
“When I was young, I didn’t really understand what being an engineer meant,” Goldsmith said at the panel. Because her parents were divorced and she didn’t see her father often, she thought he drove trains. It wasn’t until she was at UC Berkeley, she said, that she realized how technology could change people’s lives for the better. That’s what pushed her to follow in her father’s footsteps.
When asked what keeps them motivated to stay in the engineering field, King Liu said that it’s IEEE’s mission of developing technology for the benefit of humanity. She is this year’s IEEE Founders Medal recipient.
“Diversity is about excellence. The biggest battle is convincing people who don’t believe that diversity has a positive impact on teams and companies.” —Andrea Goldsmith
“Engineering work is done for people and by people,” she said. “I draw inspiration from not only the people we serve, but also the people behind the technology.” The panelists also spoke about the importance of continuing education. “Learning is a lifelong process,” King Liu said. “Engineers need to seek out learning opportunities, whether it’s from having a design fail or from more experienced engineers in their field of interest.”
Diversity, equity, and inclusion was a hot discussion topic. “Diversity is about excellence,” Goldsmith said. “The biggest battle is convincing people who don’t believe that diversity has a positive impact on teams and companies.
“Another issue is finding ways to bring in diverse talent and helping them achieve their full potential,” she added. “One of the things I’m most proud of is the work I’ve done with IEEE on DEI.”
Goldsmith helped launch the IEEE Diversity and Inclusion Committee and is its past chair. Established in 2022 by the IEEE Board of Directors, the committee revised several policies, procedures, and bylaws to ensure that members have a safe and inclusive place for collegial discourse and that all feel welcome. It also launched a website.
Robert E. Kahn proudly displays his IEEE Medal of Honor at this year’s IEEE Honors Ceremony. He is accompanied by IEEE President-Elect Kathleen Kramer and IEEE President Tom Couglin.Robb Cohen Photography & Video
The IEEE Vision, Innovation, and Challenges Summit got underway on 3 May at the Encore Boston Harbor. It featured a “fireside chat” with Robert E. Kahn followed by discussions with panels of award recipients on topics such as career advice and concerns related to artificial intelligence.
Kahn was interviewed by Caroline Hyde, a business and technology journalist. Widely known as one of the “fathers of the Internet,” he is this year’s IEEE Medal of Honor recipient for “pioneering technical and leadership contributions in packet communication technologies and foundations of the Internet.”
The IEEE Life Fellow reminisced about his experience collaborating with Vint Cerf on the design of the Transmission Control Protocol and the Internet Protocol. Cerf, an IEEE Life Fellow, is another father of the Internet and the 2023 IEEE Medal of Honor recipient.
While working as a program manager in the U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s information processing techniques office in 1973, Kahn and Cerf designed the Internet’s core architecture.
One audience member asked Kahn how engineers can create opportunities for young people to collaborate like he and Cerf did. Kahn said that it begins with having a problem to solve, and then thinking about it holistically. He also advised students and young professionals to partner with others when such opportunities arise.
The conversation on career advice continued at the Innovation and Collaboration in Leading Technology Laboratories panel. Panelists and IEEE Fellows Eric Evans, Anthony Vetro, and Peter Vetter offered insights on how to be a successful researcher.
It’s important to identify the right problem and develop a technology to solve it, said Evans, director of MIT Lincoln Laboratory.
When asked what qualities are important for job candidates to showcase when interviewing for a position, Vetro said he looks for employees who are willing to collaborate and are self-driven. Vetro is president and CEO of Mitsubishi Electric Research Labs in Cambridge, Mass. He also stressed the importance of learning how to fail.
During the AI and Society: Building a Future with Responsible Innovation session, Juraj Corba, Christopher D. Manning, Renard T. Jenkins, and IEEE Fellow Claire Tomlin discussed how the technology could affect a variety of fields. They agreed the technology is unlikely to replace humans in the workforce.
“People need to think of AI systems as tools—like what Photoshop is to a photographer.”- Renard T. Jenkins
“People need to think of AI systems as tools—like what Photoshop is to a photographer,” said Jenkins, president of consulting firm I2A2 Technologies, Labs and Studios.
“AI doesn’t have learning and adaptability [capabilities] like humans do,” Manning added. The director of Stanford’s Artificial Intelligence Laboratory is this year’s IEEE John von Neumann Medal recipient. “But there is a good role for technology—it can be life-changing for people.” One example he cited was Neuralink’s brain implant, which would enable a person to control a computer “just by thinking,” according to the startup’s founder, Elon Musk.
ChatGPT, a generative AI program, has become a hot topic among educators since its launch two years ago, said panel moderator Armen Pischdotchian, data scientist at IBM in Cambridge, Mass. Tomlin, chair of the electrical engineering and computer science department at UC Berkeley, said AI will make education more interactive and provide a better experience. “It will help both students and educators,” said the recipient of this year’s IEEE Mildred Dresselhaus Medal.
The highlight of the evening was the Honors Ceremony, which recognized those who had developed technologies such as assistive robots, GPS, and the Internet.
The IEEE Spectrum Technology in the Service of Society Award went to startup Hello Robot, headquartered in Atlanta, for its Stretch robot. The machine gives those with a severe disability, such as paralysis, the ability to maintain their independence while living at home. For example, users can operate the robot to feed themselves, scratch an itch, or cover themselves with a blanket.
The machine consists of a mobile platform with a single arm that moves up and down a retractable pole. A wrist joint at the end of the arm bends back and forth and controls a gripper, which can grasp nearby objects. Sensors mounted at the base of the arm and a camera located at the top of the pole provide the sensing needed to move around from room to room, avoid obstacles, and pick up small items such as books, eating utensils, and pill bottles.
More than six billion people around the world use GPS to navigate their surroundings, according to GPS World. The technology wouldn’t have been possible without Gladys West, who contributed to the mathematical modeling of the shape of the Earth. While working at the Naval Surface Warfare Center, in Dahlgren, Va., she conducted seminal work on satellite geodesy models that was pivotal in the development of the GPS. West, who is 93, retired in 1998 after working at the center for 42 years. For her contributions, she received the IEEE President’s Award.
The ceremony concluded with the presentation of the IEEE Medal of Honor to Bob Kahn, who received a standing ovation.
“This is the honor of my career,” he said. He ended his speech saying that he “hasn’t stopped yet and still has more to do.”
Klopt dat artikel wat je net op het internet gelezen hebt wel? Of is het desinformatie of foutief? Het zijn vragen die meer Nederlanders stellen. Volgens cijfers van het CBS las of zag 67% van de bevolking van 12 jaar of ouder vorig jaar informatie op het internet die volgens hen niet waar was of waarbij ze twijfelden aan de waarheid ervan. Dat geldt zeker voor 18- tot 35-jarigen.
Het aantal mensen dat onjuiste informatie ziet op het internet of informatie waaraan getwijfeld wordt, is gestegen. In 2021 ging het namelijk nog om 63%. De stijging vindt bovendien in alle leeftijdsgroepen plaats. Toch valt op dat 18- tot 35-jarige 2,5 keer zo vaak als 75-plussers online informatie te hebben gezien waarbij ze twijfelden of deze waar is. Maar dat kan natuurlijk ook te maken hebben met dat deze mensen überhaupt vaker op het internet zitten.
Veel van dergelijke informatie of mogelijke desinformatie vinden we op sociale media. Ruim de helft van de Nederlanders zegt daar zulke berichten te hebben gezien of gelezen. Daarnaast noemt ongeveer een kwart nieuwssites als bron.
Wie twijfelt over informatie die op het internet gevonden wordt, controleert deze niet altijd, aldus het CBS. 66% deed dat wel, wat betekent dat ruim een derde dit niet doet. Een belangrijke reden om informatie niet te controleren, is als we vermoedden dat het niet waar is, aldus 20%.
Informatie controleren doen we het meeste door meer informatie op andere online nieuwssites of Wikipedia op te zoeken (83%). Daarnaast controleren we de bron of bespreken we de informatie offline met anderen, geeft respectievelijk 50% en 33% aan.
Bron: CBS
Van alle EU-landen doen we het overigens wel het beste op dit gebied – al wordt op Europees niveau gekeken naar het gedrag van 16- tot 75-jarigen, terwijl we in Nederland al vanaf 12 kijken. Kijken we naar de 16- tot 75-jarigen, dan heeft Nederland met 71% het hoogste percentage inwoners dat op internet informatie gezien heeft die volgens hen niet waar is of waarbij ze twijfelden aan de waarheid ervan. Finland volgt op de tweede plaats (70%).
Verder geeft 46% van de Nederlanders in deze groep aan de informatie te controleren door op internet naar meer informatie te zoeken, de bron te controleren, op internet discussies te volgen of door offline informatie te bespreken. Ook dat is het hoogste percentage in de EU, waar het gemiddelde 24% is.
Lees Klopt wat je op internet leest wel of niet? Steeds meer mensen twijfelen daaraan verder op Numrush
Hoe verder we digitaliseren, hoe meer data we online hebben staan. Vorig jaar zei 89% van de Nederlanders van 12 jaar of ouder maatregelen te treffen om die data te beschermen. Zij nemen diverse soorten stappen voor databescherming, zoals het beperken van toegang tot profielgegevens op sociale media en de veiligheid van websites controleren.
Het aantal mensen in de Nederlandse bevolking dat maatregelen neemt om zijn online data te beschermen, is vorig jaar iets gestegen. Waar dat in 2023 89% was, was dat in 2021 nog 82%, blijkt uit cijfers van het CBS. Nederlanders beperken nu vooral vaker toegang tot profielgegevens: 70,3% doet dat nu, tegenover 54,8% in 2021.
De meest genomen maatregel is echter nog altijd het beperken van toegang tot locatiegegevens, wat 77,9% nu doet. De minst genomen maatregel is het laten verwijderen van gegevens: slechts 14,2% van de Nederlanders deed dat in 2023.
Bron: CBS
De cijfers van het CBS laten flinke verschillen tussen leeftijdscategorieën zien wat betreft databescherming. Van de groep Nederlanders tussen de 12 en 65 jaar is 93% actief bezig met het beschermen van zijn persoonlijke informatie. Zeker de groep tussen de 18 en 25 jaar doet veel aan databescherming. In die groep gaat het om maar liefst 95,8%.
Onder ouderen is echter een heel ander beeld zichtbaar. Van de Nederlanders tussen de 65 en 75 jaar is 84,8% actief bezig met databescherming. Onder 75-plussers is dat zelfs maar 60%. Maar dit kan natuurlijk ook te maken hebben met dat ouderen überhaupt minder vaak op het internet zitten dan jongeren en daar dus ook minder persoonlijke data hebben staan.
Over het algemeen genomen is Nederland wel koploper in de beveiliging van persoonsgegevens op het internet. Gemiddeld neemt slechts 67% van de Europeanen maatregelen om zin data te beschermen. In Nederland heeft tegelijkertijd ook het grootste aantal mensen toegang tot het internet in Europa, namelijk 81%.
Lees 9 op de 10 Nederlanders neemt stappen om persoonlijke data op internet te beschermen verder op Numrush
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