Informatics in the future : proceedings of the 11th European Computer Science Summit (ECSS 2015), Vienna, Austria, October 2015

This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 4.0 license. This volume discusses the prospects and evolution of informatics (or computer science), which has become the operating system of our world, and is today seen as the science of the information society. Its artifacts change the world and its methods have an impact on how we think about and perceive the world. Classical computer science is built on the notion of an “abstract” machine, which can be instantiated by software to any concrete problem-solving machine, changing its behavior in response to external and internal states, allowing for self-reflective and “intelligent” behavior. However, current phenomena such as the Web, cyber physical systems or the Internet of Things show us that we might already have gone beyond this idea, exemplifying a metamorphosis from a stand-alone calculator to the global operating system of our society. Thus computer scientists will need to reconsider the foundations of their discipline to realize the full potential of our field. Taking often contradictory developments into consideration, researchers will not be able to tackle specific technological or methodological problems in the future without also a broader reflection on their field. The papers in this book take a first step forward and reflect on these issues from different perspectives. The broad spectrum of topics includes * Informatics: a discipline with a (short) history and a high impact * Interdisciplinarity: how to do research * Ethics: what is our responsibility * Diversity: why are there so few women in informatics * Combining informatics, history and art: a special contribution. This book is intended for all informatics researchers, in academia as well as in industry. It is our responsibility – not only as scientists but also as citizens – to make the public aware of the dichotomies and dialectic relationships of computer science. Preface 5 Informatics, or A Discipline with Short History and High Impact 7 Interdisciplinarity, or How to Do Research 7 Ethics, or What Is Our Responsibility 8 Diversity, or Why So Few Women in Informatics 8 Combining Informatics, History, and Art: A Special Contribution 9 Contents 10 Chapter 1: Shifting Identities in Computing: From a Useful Tool to a New Method and Theory of Science 11 1.1 Introduction 11 1.2 The Birth of a Discipline 13 1.3 The Quest for Independence 15 1.4 Search for Disciplinary Identity 17 1.5 Emergence of a Science 21 1.6 Conclusions 24 References 25 Chapter 2: On the Big Impact of ``Big Computer Science ́ ́ 27 2.1 Introduction 27 2.2 Where ``Big Science ́ ́ Is Really Big: Pharma Industry and Genomics 28 2.3 Where It All Started: ``Fourth Paradigm ́ ́ 30 2.4 Data Science and Academia: Issues and Opportunities 33 2.5 Assessment and Conclusions 35 References 36 Chapter 3: On Informatics, Diamonds and T 37 3.1 Setting the Scene 37 3.1.1 Robotics as an Interdisciplinary Area Involving ICT 38 3.1.2 Specialty Profiles and Interdisciplinary Research 40 3.2 Shaping Centre for Biorobotics: A Case Study 41 3.3 Lessons Learned 43 3.4 Summary and Conclusions 45 References 46 Chapter 4: Leadership and Balance in Research 47 4.1 Introduction 47 4.2 Group Alignment 48 4.2.1 Common Vision 49 4.2.2 Common Approach to Leadership 49 4.3 Maintain the Flow 50 4.4 Flexible Internal Organization 51 4.5 Profile of Group Members 52 4.5.1 Trust 53 4.5.2 Excellence 53 4.6 External Collaboration 54 4.7 Conclusions 55 4.7.1 Characteristics of a Leader 55 4.7.2 Successful Leadership 56 References 57 Chapter 5: Rational Ethics 58 5.1 Introduction 58 5.2 Classical Ethics 59 5.3 Distinctions 60 5.4 Rules of Reason 62 5.5 The Principle of Restraint 65 5.6 The Principle of Importance 66 5.7 Relativism 68 5.8 The Principle of Goodness 69 5.9 The Principle of Fairness 71 5.10 The Principle of Truth 72 5.11 Conclusion 73 Chapter 6: Ethics for the Digital Age: Where Are the Moral Specs? 74 6.1 Introduction, or How to Do Ethics of IT Now? 75 6.2 Value Sensitive Design 77 6.3 Responsible Innovation 80 6.4 Conclusion 84 References 84 Chapter 7: Digital Sovereignty and IT-Security for a Prosperous Society 86 7.1 Introduction 86 7.2 Jurisdiction Aware IT and Communications 88 7.3 Switching Mobile Connections: Floating Cross-Jurisdiction to Reduce Cost 89 7.4 Push Notification: Always on a Short Leash 90 7.5 Cloud Storage: Do We Have to Fear About IPR 91 7.6 Document Collaboration: In the Cloud as You Type 92 7.7 Conclusions 93 References 94 Chapter 8: Women in Computing and the Contingency of Informatics Cultures 96 8.1 Introduction 96 8.2 Women in the History of Computing 97 8.3 The Contingent Female Enrollment in Informatics Studies 98 8.4 Understanding the Findings 101 References 106 Chapter 9: Ada: Poet of Computing 108 9.1 Introduction and Intentions of the Libretto 108 9.2 Short Biographical Notions and Historic Setting 109 9.3 Logistics, Production and Staging 110 9.4 The Acts 111 9.4.1 Biografic Background 111 9.4.2 Act 1 Ada as a Child, Education and Relation to Her Mother 112 9.4.3 Act 2 Men in Adas Life, Her Father, the Scientists 113 9.4.4 Act 3 Ada ́s Relation to Mathematics and Technology 114 9.4.5 Act 4 Sickness, Ediction and Gambling 115 9.5 The Staging 116 References 117 Front Matter....Pages i-xi Shifting Identities in Computing: From a Useful Tool to a New Method and Theory of Science....Pages 1-16 On the Big Impact of “Big Computer Science”....Pages 17-26 On Informatics, Diamonds and T....Pages 27-36 Leadership and Balance in Research....Pages 37-47 Rational Ethics....Pages 49-64 Ethics for the Digital Age: Where Are the Moral Specs?....Pages 65-76 Digital Sovereignty and IT-Security for a Prosperous Society....Pages 77-86 Women in Computing and the Contingency of Informatics Cultures....Pages 87-98 Ada: Poet of Computing....Pages 99-109