Change processes at an Australian university

Greetings from the lawn outside the maths building at the Australian National University, where the new Provost, social scientist, is taking about how to integrate tech and people. They are qualified to talk on this, being an engineer and social scientist. This is opportune with the ANU engineering just renamed "Systems and Society".

Apartment Complex Electrification in a Vault With a Chef

Greetings from the "Vault" in Fishwick, Canberra, for the "Apartment Complex Electrification - Information Session". The vault is a windowless concrete structure, on a secured industrial site, looming like something from an action movie. Inside the Vault is an industrial kitchen, complete with a chef. As I walked in someone said "High Tom good to hear you on radio". 

This all distracted me from the public servants presenting on the Apartment Complex Electrification project. Some time ago I was on a working group advising the Chief Minister how to reduce energy use in the ACT. We focused on apartments as there were already programs for houses. But it turns out this is difficult for technical, legal and social reasons, thus the pilot program. 

After a few minutes it was explained the chef is demonstrating cooking on a low energy induction cooktop. The food was excellent.

The call for applications from apartment buildings to participate in the pilot will be released Monday.

Film screening - EveryOne, EveryWhere, EveryWhen

Greetings from the world premier of "EveryOne, EveryWhere, EveryWhen". This film discusses the environmental and social effects of water use in Australian rivers. As it happens, I took part in a tour of the Baaka, one of the rivers featured, & met Dobby, who is now on the panel discussion.

Calibrating AI For Saftey

Greetings from the Australian National University, where I attended the weekly AI, ML and Friends seminar. Jiawei Liu was speaking on "Uncertainty Calibration for Deep Neural Networks". I didn't understand the equations, but the idea, as I understand it, is to have a measure of how well AI is doing.

What got my attention was an example of recognising a speedboat. From the original photo it was clear to a human what this was. But the black and white outline, as used by some algorithms, looked to me like a USV (Uncrewed  Surface Vessel). These are being used, right now, in the Black and Read Seas, laden with explosives, to attack ships. The crews of warships have to maintain a lookout 24 hours a day, for weeks, trying to spot drone attacks. The USVs are modified speedboats so it is difficult to tell them from fishing boats. This type of AI analysis can help ensure mistakes are not made which could result in the loss of a ship, or the sinking of an innocent fishing boat.

Addressing Aging with AgeTech

Greetings from the IEEE AgeTech Aging and Longevity Webinar. This is early in the morning for me in Australia, so I was reluctant to attend. But being an IEEE Life Member I am in the age bracket for the topic. I am of an age where I have to deal with an increasing number of health, financial, and other issues, so Interest in how tech can help me. In recent weeks I have been to clinics, hospitals, transported by ambulance, scanned by CT & MRI devices, hooked to computer monitors, struggled to use health apps.

The webinar has good speakers, but is a little frustrating by being very US-centric & also having limited feedback. One speaker described the coming presenters as "pinch hitters", which I assume is a baseball term, so lost on Australian participants brought up on cricket. ;-) In the Q&A I asked about this, but did not get a reply. The chat forum is turned off, which limits the ability of participants to have a discussion. 

Speakers have covered some of the issues to do with the need for agetech to address the interfaces needed for people aging, the potential for technology in the home to provide more independence (and lower costs). 

I suggest we also should look at the positives. Smart phone offer the opportunity for better interfaces for those with a disability. These applications also help others, via the "Curb-Cut Effect": an accessibility feature introduced for one group can help other people. 

From purely self interest, AgeTech also has a group of increasinly wealthy & powerful customers. Older users represent a group whom many have disposable income & will vote for government funding to be spent on services for. 

One problem with this webinar is that it is taking a long time (44 minutes so far) to get to the call to action. So far none of the speakers has said what I can do, as a technologist, educator & IEEE member. Eventually I found a form to express interest for IEEE SA Industry Connection: IC24-010: Technology Standards for Aging (Age Tech). 

Australian Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency Proposed

An Australian Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, modeled on the US DoD's DARPA, has been proposed in a paper published by the Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI). I support the proposal, and not just because I suggested it myself in 1999. My proposal got some positive press at the time. I also had the honor of being pilloried in a public statement from DSTO, now Defence Science and Technology Group (DSTG). ;-)

Robert Clark and Peter Jennings propose a partnership between the Defence Department, industry and universities for research & development. This would be extended internationally to instutions in Australia's closet allies (the so called "Five-Eyes"). 

Jack Dalton's comments on ASPI's proposal are curious in that he expresses a grudging admiration for the Chinese political system. He notes the benefits of a centralized one party state in terms of economic development. However, I suggest centralized five-year plans are not necessarily a good way to become a world leader in a technical field. Japan tried this approach with the Fifth Generation Computer Systems project and found that throwing money at something does't necessarily work. Australia needs something more decentralized, fluid and flexible. Even in the case of China, their central plans are not as centralized as they appear.

University course ad written by AI

In its latest social media promotion Torrens University has boasted "Think this ad was written by an AI expert? You'd be right. Apply now to graduate with a Graduate Certificate of Software Engineering". It is a bold move, but a little confusing as there is a lot more to software engineering than AI. Also a graduate certificate is only six months full time study. That would make a good start, but a lot more training & study is needed to be a software engineer.

At this time of year universities promote alternate forms of education and entry, for those students unable to enter via high school results. UNSW is promoting their diploma entry: "Missed the ATAR for your dream UNSW degree? Don’t let that stand in your way. A UNSW College Diploma is your seamless pathway to your preferred degree – without losing time".