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- ZeitschriftenartikelBlockchain and society(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Caradonna, ToniIn this text, the origin of blockchain technology is explained and put into the context of three waves of digitalization: digitalization of information represented by the internet, digitalization of communities and community building tools represented by social media and digitalization of value represented by blockchain. The text will show that blockchain can bring back promised features of digitalization of the first two waves, features that were lost with centralization tendencies created by business models that are independent of the underlying technology. After a short introduction to the terminology, a map of the potential blockchain has for society is sketched. The text also debates the decentralization aspects of the technology and the challenges it poses for individuals and organizations. Later, the storytelling aspects, as well as some religious aspects within and around the blockchain community are analyzed. Finally, some thoughts about adoption scenarios are laid out, and some ideas why blockchains have become very important in Switzerland are formulated. The focus of this text is on the opportunities and strengths of the technology. It deliberately oversimplifies the technological aspects in order to focus on the implication of the technology on society.
- ZeitschriftenartikelMemristoren für zukünftige Rechnersysteme(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Fey, Dietmar Fey; Karl, Wolfgang; Ungerer,TheoAls Memristor bezeichnet man eine Klasse von elektronischen Zweitor-Bauelementen, deren Strom-/Spannungsverlauf eine zumeist durch den Nullpunkt verlaufende eingeklemmte Hystereseschleife aufweist („if it’s pinched it’s a mem- ristor“). Memristoren bieten interessante Eigenschaften wie hohe Speicherdichten, niedrige elektrische Leistungen beim Schreiben und Lesen, Multibit-Speicherfähigkeit und CMOS-kompatbile Herstellungsprozesse. Darüber hinaus lassen sich Memristoren nicht nur zum Speichern, sondern auch zum Verarbeiten von Daten nutzen. Memristoren werden zukünfti- ge Rechensysteme auf verschiedenen Ebenen verändern und mehr in Richtung hin zu Speicher-zentrierten Architekturen verschieben. Dies beginnt bei noch weitgehend konventionellen Ansätzen wie den sog. Storage-Class-Memories, einer neuen Speicherhierarchieebene zwischen Arbeits- und Hintergrundspeicher, und endet bei unkonventionellen Near- und In-Memory-Architekturen, in denen Speichern und Verarbeiten von Daten ohne räumlich große und damit vergleichsweise Energie-intensive Datenbewegen zwischen Prozessoren und Speicher stattfindet. Ferner bieten Memristoren durch die dem biologischen Vorbild eines neuronalen Netzes weitgehend entsprechende direkte Nachbildung von Synapsen als flexible elektrische Widerstände vielfältige Möglichkeiten zur Realisierung neuromorpher und biologisch-inspirierter Schaltkreise und Architekturen.
- ZeitschriftenartikelSchlusspunkt: Demokratie in Zeiten des Internets – (m)ein Reifungsprozess(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Portmann, EdyDie Digitalisierung erfordert von uns verstärkt die Fähigkeit, innovative soziotechnische Systeme zu gestalten. Herbert A. Simon begriff in diesem Zusammenhang Gestaltung als eine «Wissenschaften vom Künstlichen». Als gestaltungsorien- tierter (Wirtschafts-)Informatiker beschäftigte ich mich als Förderprofessor der Schweizerischen Post bis vor kurzem vor allem mit postalischen Innovationen. Um zu innovieren, arbeitet die Post nämlich über (Disziplins-)Grenzen hinweg mit meinem Human-IST Institut zusammen, um für die Schweizer Bürger zukünftige, intelligente Produkte und Dienstleistungen zu entwickeln. In diesem Sinne gehe ich hier zuerst auf diese transdisziplinäre Zusammenarbeit ein, die wegen ihrer technischen Ausrichtung meine bisherige Sicht auf die Demokratie prägte. Danach stelle ich dieser Ansicht jedoch meine heutige Sicht entgegen, die sich (in Zeiten des allgegenwärtigen Internets) mit einer demokratischen (und föderalistischen) Digitalisierung unserer Netzwerkindustrie beschäftigt. Abschliessend befasse ich mich mit dem Auslöser meines Reifungsprozesses, sprich einer regulatorischen Komponente für künstliche Intelligenz, mit welcher sich auch die Europäische Union zum Schutz ihrer Bürger immer stärker beschäftigt.
- ZeitschriftenartikelForeword(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Kelso, Patricia H.Marshall McLuhan thought that Johannes Gutenberg’s invention of movable type created the modern world. What kind of society will the Internet create? Will it be a democracy or a surveillance state, like Eastern Germany under the Stasi? We cannot have both! The Internet was developed by the U.S. Government during the Cold War to spy on foreign governments and to identify potential dissidents at home. It was explicitly designed as an instrument of espionage and control. But that was not what its early-stage originators intended, before the government took over. The original inventors were romantic peaceniks who believed that they were creating a good thing for humankind. The powerful in every age have tried to control access to information. Can the new generation of electronic technology experts devise ways to realign the Internet so that it can serve democracy?
- ZeitschriftenartikelDemocracy and the language of power(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Stone, RobData is a language spoken and transcribed by those without literacy. A form of capital produced by those without knowledge of its production. Our data has become a language owned as a capital. The concentration of ownership over “data capital” has created an unprecedented asymmetry of information and economic power; which calls into question the viability of a political and economic democracy. Meanwhile, we are presented with a singular yet temporary opportunity to take back ownership and control over the new language of power by claiming ownership over the productive power of the data we collectively serve to create. The following essay seeks to examine (a) the distinct nature of current technology platforms (b) the network effects at work within such platforms (c) the implications of replacing a platfrom owned by “absenstee” shareholders with one owned by those who comprise the platform/network.
- ZeitschriftenartikelUser trusts: broad-based ownership for online platforms(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Schneider, NathanThis essay introduces what promise a novel broad-based capital strategy—trusts serving platform users—might hold for the online economy, especially as an enabler of more widespread, organized, and democratic user accountability. It draws on lessons from the experience of employee ownership alongside emerging opportunities for other kinds of broad-based ownership structures. User-oriented trusts could enable meaningful co-governance and profit sharing among essential stakeholders, a prospect that merits research and experimentation.
- ZeitschriftenartikelMitteilungen der Gesellschaft für Informatik 261. Folge(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Gesellschaft für Informatik e.V.
- ZeitschriftenartikelFrom Intelligent to Wise Machines: Why a Poem Is Worth More Than 1 Million Tweets(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Picca, DavideIn recent years, the interest in artificial intelligence and big data has grown exponentially, and the amount of data produced every day is truly staggering. Data are considered to be the “new oil” making algorithms capable of delivering meaningful information, which makes them more “intelligent.” In this position paper, we review the DIKW pyramid model, shedding a new light on each component. In particular, examining the engineering point of view, we focus on the definition of information, giving it a new conceptual structure. If tradition has always considered information as data-bearing meaning, in this paper, we argue that information is not meaningful. In fact, from the analysis of Shannon’s studies in communication engineering, we highlight how the notion of meaning is not necessary for the definition of information. It follows that we need to explore other paths in order to find a sustainable conceptual theory able to provide a new insight. Therefore, we show how it will not only be necessary to carry out a semiotic revolution to be able to introduce meaning into the communicative act, but it is also necessary to introduce the figure of an interpreting agent. Thanks to the interaction between such interpretative acts, which take place in conscious freedom à la Eco, cultural units emerge. Thus, we should address part of today’s research into new forms of data in order to facilitate a semiotic revolution. In particular, digital humanities and cultural heritage can funnel a new type of data for which semiotic representativeness has a greater degree of quality. Knowledge and wisdom are the next steps to truly craft intelligent machines.
- ZeitschriftenartikelWhat if we had a democratic, capitalistic online marketplace?(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Vogt, JoëlCan consumer ownership schemes provide a more democratic financing mechanism for the online marketplace? When it comes to being successful as an online platform, size matters. The network effect, which tells us that the value of a platform increases exponentially as a function of the user base, creates a natural concentration of power, if you’re a vendor trying to sell or advertise products, you will pick the platform with the largest audience. The network effect also creates an exit barrier, as moving to a competing platform without the same reach and user base means fewer potential customers. The consumer ownership scheme that I will be focusing on is the Consumer Stock Ownership Plan pioneered by Louis Kelso. The CSOP is a method of corporate finance that enables consumers to buy an ownership interest in a company on which they heavily rely. It is a democratic capitalistic tool to mitigate the harm caused monopolies or oligopolies. A CSOP does not require consumers to buy the company’s shares in the stock market. Instead, the company acquires its shares in a trust on behalf of consumers and uses dividends to amortise the investment. Shares that are fully amortised are transferred to their owners. In this essay, I make the case that CSOP financing for online marketplaces makes sense for three reasons. A CSOP does not discriminate against those who lack the capital to acquire shares in the first place;
- ZeitschriftenartikelDatentrickserei im Taxigewerbe – von Abzocke bis Steuerbetrug(Informatik Spektrum: Vol. 43, No. 1, 2020) Lenz, Hans-J.