The Hindu Business Line : Advancing technology offers infinite possibilities

The reassurance comes from Mr Cleon Anderson, International President, Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). He said this when asked if the body of professionals that he heads, arguably the world's largest, could suggest a technology to reduce world's dependence on oil.

"Even if we used up all our oils in the years to come, we would have found other ways for survival. For instance, we can process sand to produce silicon that will lubricate our machines. If we manage to develop the appropriate technology, then I would not worry about oil at all," Mr Anderson told Business Line.

The Earth has an abundance of oil just waiting to be tapped. "We know about more oil today than we probably knew about 20 years back. We have so much of it that we often put it to inappropriate use. We burn precious quantities in order to create electricity. This can be totally avoided if we turn to nuclear energy, which can be tapped far more efficiently to create electricity.

"So in West Asia , they burn oil as if there is no tomorrow. In the US, we use gas to create electricity. This is proof, if proof is needed, of our endowments, and enough of them. In Northern Alaska, for instance, we are not currently allowed to drilling offshore. But we really can do with some drilling," Mr Anderson said.

Looking into the future, he said the big bangs in computing and software technology will be followed by the emerging one in biomedical technology.

"We know about laparoscopy where major operations can be performed with a small penetration on the human body. Computer and mechanical technologies are used to remotely perform these operations more accurately than a surgeon standing over a patient. This is because a video displays ten-times magnified the area that he's working on. So I see more of that coming to the forefront."

Bioinformatics is another emerging technology that would "enable us to know so much more about human race than we would probably need to." Already, there is a fear that with revelations about DNA being what they are, insurance companies can predict when one is going to die. So these companies will think twice before deciding on the type of cover, if at all.

Then there is computer and information security, technologies that are shaping up in a big way. People are worried about using card numbers for fear of being appropriated by unscrupulous elements.

"I believe a time will come when somebody commits a fraud of this nature, his electronic fingerprints would give the game away. Forgeries of this nature will thus come to pass."

Biometrics, biomedicals, information and computer security are all really big prospects. Beyond them is nuclear power, which promises Utopia for everybody "provided we manage to control access to nuclear materials given their proclivity to being misused to propagate terror. I hope we will be able to develop the required technology in the days to come."

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