A.1 Between Hope and Fear

• Hopes can invigorate others to join in purposeful action
• Often hope must overcome resistance created by fear
• Fear can be a terrifying barrier to change,but also an energizer for action
• Computing is ubiquitous world wide
• Technology extrapolation posits that advances in technology are themselves beneficial to society

Potential issues to shape the future:

• Universal access to computing technology
• convenient, low-cost
• electricity, software, hardware
• reengineered applications and services required
• simplify common tasks
• control panels to tailor interfaces for diverse users
• plasticity of information and services
• policy issue
• while not primary need in many communities, could be part of overall development plan
• Universal medical records
• paper-based systems limit availability of medical information for clinical decision making, quality control, and research
• could be available world-wide, in local language and units of measure
• easy access to details
• convenient links for electronic consultation with other medical professionals
• standardized record formats could speed data entry and access
• could assist in development of treatment plans and in research
• privacy issues and cost must be addressed
• Universal educational support
• education is the hope of civilization
• can teach students how to participate in workgroups, political systems, and communities
• student projects can be real-world and service oriented
• relate-create-donate approach; could be improved with advanced technology
• reliable retrieval of existing knowledge relevant to team projects
• creative activities with brainstorming tools, simulation modeling, design exploration, and authoring tools
• consultation with peers and experts using convenient group-support tools
• dissemination of results through community-information tools