Rigging computer networks so they can diagnose and treat their own problems presents a technical challenge, but perhaps the biggest hurdle is sociological, a Chicago software maven has found.
As computer systems get more complex, it becomes increasingly necessary that they become more self-sufficient. Experts at IBM have coined the term autonomic computing to invoke the notion of the human body’s autonomic nervous system that enables people to adjust to changing surroundings without thinking about it.
But some people may not want their computers to get too independent, Al Wasserberger has found.
“I think there’s a certain fear of HAL,” said the chief executive of Spirian Technologies Inc., a Chicago software company. HAL was the fictional (and Illinois-built) computer in “2001: A Space Odyssey,” the novel and film written by Arthur C. Clarke. HAL, which had a mind of its own, became a rogue and sought to kill people aboard a spaceship.
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Wasserberger’s company markets a software platform that enables firms to upgrade their computer systems. It can analyze problems, suggest fixes and even make those fixes automatically, but so far no customers want Spirian’s software platform to perform to its full potential.
“We have to put in stops along the way,” said Wasserberger. “These are places where the computer alerts a human to the situation, proposes alternatives and then waits for instructions. People want that. They don’t want the computer doing everything on its own.
“The future of autonomic computing is more a social and political question than a technical one. Social change is much more difficult than technological change.”
Unused tool: Many businesses have found that electronic commerce is a dandy and inexpensive way to reach customers and generate revenue, but non-profit organizations have been much slower to embrace the technology, a new survey finds.
The survey by Vijay Prathap, a consultant to non-profit organizations and a graduate student at DePaul University, found that while most Chicago-area non-profits have Web sites, few use them to generate contributions.
Prathap got responses from 117 people who are members of the Chicago chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals and found that about 80 percent said the chief purpose of their Web site was to provide the public with information about their organization.
Larger organizations and those focused on providing health care were more likely to use Web sites to solicit funding, but smaller ones generally don’t do it, Prathap found.
“Most organizations don’t do any planning to use the World Wide Web in their fundraising,” he said. “Those that do plan have success, but most don’t.”
Flat R&D: Industry spending for research and development will be flat for the coming year, according to a forecast by Battelle, a research corporation based in Columbus, Ohio, and R&D Magazine.
They forecast that overall U.S. R&D spending will rise to nearly $302 billion, up some 3 percent. Federal spending for R&D, expected to be $89 billion, will be up 10 percent, and spending by universities and other non-profit groups will be more than $18 billion, up about 7 percent.
But spending by the private sector is pegged at about $194 billion, or the same as in 2002. Forecasters blamed a stagnant economy for the flat outlook and say it may represent a trend.
“The events of the recent past do not represent a speed bump,” said Jules Duga, the study’s author. “They create a detour, one which may not return the system to a more predictable path for several years to come.”