Converging Technologies

for Improving Human Performance NANOTECHNOLOGY, BIOTECHNOLOGY, INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY INTEGRATED PRODUCT DESIGN AND MANUFACTURING DEVELOPMENT IN MANUFACTURING SECTOR AND COGNITIVE SCIENCE

Concentrated efforts can unify science based on the unity of nature, thereby advancing the combination of nanotechnology, biotechnology, information technology Integrated Product Design and  Development in Manufacturing Sector and new technologies based in cognitive science. With proper attention to ethical issues and societal needs, converging technologies could achieve a tremendous improvement in human abilities, societal outcomes, the nation’s productivity, and the quality of life. This is a broad, cross- cutting, e merging and timely opportunity of interest to individuals, society and humanity in the long term.

The phrase “ convergent technologies” refers to the synergistic combination of four major “ NBIIPDC” ( Nano-Bio-Info-IPD -Cogno) provinces of science and technology, each of which is currently progressing at a rapid rate: (a) nanoscience and nanotechnology; (b) biotechnology and biomedicine, including genetic engineering; (c) information technology, including advanced computing and communications; (d) Integrated Product Design and manufacturing Development in Manufacturing Sector and  (e) cognitive science, including cognitive neuroscience.

Timely and Broad Opportunity. Convergence of diverse technologies is based on material unity at the nanoscale and on technology integration from that scale. The building blocks o f matter that are fundamental to all sciences originate at t he nanoscale. Revolutionary advances at the interfaces between previously separate fields of science and technology are ready to create key transforming tools for NBIIPDC technologies. Developments in systems approaches, mathematics, and computation in conjunction with NBIIPDC allow us for the first time to understand the natural world, human society, and scientific research as closely coupled complex, hierarchical systems. At this moment in the evolution of technical achievement, improvement of human performance through integration of technologies becomes possible.

Examples of payoffs may include improving work efficiency and learning, enhancing individual sensory and cognitive capabilities, revolutionary changes in healthcare, improving both individual and group creativity, highly effective communication techniques including brain-to-brain interaction, perfecting human- machine interfaces including neuromorphic engineering, sustainable and “intelligent” environments including neuro-ergonomics, enhancing human capabilities for civil purposes, reaching sustainable development using NBIIPDC tools, and ameliorating the physical and cognitive decline that is common to the aging mind.

The workshop participants envision important breakthroughs in NBIIPDC-related areas in the next 10 to 20 years. Fundamental research requires about the same interval to yield significant applications. Now is the time to anticipate the research issues and plan an R&D approach that would yield optimal results.

This addresses key issues: What are the implications of unifying sciences and converging technologies? How will scientific knowledge and current technologies evolve and what emerging developments are envisioned? W hat visionary ideas can guide research to accomplish broad benefits for humanity? What are the most pressing research,practice and education issues?How can we develop a transforming national strategy to enhance individual capabilities and overall societal outcomes? What should be don e to achieve the best results over the next 10 t o 20 years?

This  underlines several broad, long-term implications o f converging technologies in key areas of hum an activity, including working, learning , aging, group interaction, and human evolution. If we make the correct decisions and investments today, many of these visions could be addressed within 20 years’ time. Moving forward simultaneously along many of these paths could achieve an age of innovation and prosperity that would be a turning point in the evolution of human society. The right of each individual to use new knowledge of wisdom and technologies in order to achieve personal goals, as well as the right to privacy and choice, are at the core of the envisioned developments.

This report is based on exploratory research and practice already initiated in representative research and practice organizations and on the opinions of leading scientists and engineers using research data.

Strategies for Transformation. It is essential to prepare key organizations and societal activities for the changes made possible by converging technologies. Activities that accelerate convergence to improve human performance must be enhanced, including focused research and practice development, in creased technological synergy from the nanoscale, developing of interfaces among sciences and technologies, and a holistic approach to monitor the resultant societal evolution. The aim is to offer individuals and groups an increased range of attractive choices while preserving such fundamental values as privacy, safety, and moral responsibility. Education and training at all levels should use converging science and technology and prepare people to take advantage of them. We must experiment with innovative ideas to motivate multidisciplinary research and development, while finding ways to address ethical, legal, and moral concerns. In many application areas , such as medical technology and healthcare, it is necessary to accelerate advances that would take advantage of converging technologies.

Towards Unifying Science and Converging Technologies. The evolution of a hierarchical architecture for integrating natural and human sciences across many scales, dimensions, and data modalities will be required. Half a millennium a go, Renaissance leaders were masters of several fields simultaneously. Today, however, specialization has splintered the arts and engineering, and no one can master more than a tiny fragment of human creativity. The sciences have reached a watershed at which they must unify if they are to continue to advance rapidly. Convergence of the sciences can initiate a new renaissance, embodying a holistic view of technology based on transformative tools, t he mathematics of complex systems, and unified cause-and-effect understanding of the physical world f rom the nanoscale to the planetary scale.

Major Themes. Scientific leaders and policy makers across a range o f fields prepared written statements for a December 2001 workshop, evaluating the potential impact o f NBIIPDC technologies on improving human cap abilities at the microscopic, individual, group, and societal levels. During the workshop, participants examined the vast potential in six different areas of relevance:

• Overall potential of converging technologies. Representatives of government agencies and the private sector set forth the mission to explore the potential of converging technologies and research needs to improve human performance,

Executive Summary as well as the overall potential for revolutionary changes in the economy and society.They identified the synergistic development of nano-,bio-, information- integrated product design and manufacturing development of manufacturing sector and cognition-based technologies as an outstanding opportunity at the interface and frontier of sciences and engineering in the following decades, and proposed new visions of what is possible to achieve.

    •    Expanding human cognition and communication. Highest priority was given to “ The Human Cognome Project,” a multidisciplinary effort to understand the structure, functions, and potential enhancement of the human mind. Other priority areas are: personal sensory device interfaces; enriched community through humanized technology; learning how to learn; and enhanced tools for creativity.

    •    Improving human health and physical capabilities. Six priority areas have been identified: nano-bio processors f or research and development of treatments, including those resulting from bioinformatics, genomics and proteomics; nanotechnology-based implants and regenerative biosystems as replacements for human organs or for monitoring of physiological well-being; nanoscale machines and com parable unobtrusive tools for medical intervention; multi-modality platforms f or increasing sensorial capabilities, particularly for visual and hearing impaired people; brain-to-brain and brain- to-machine interfaces; and virtual environments for training, design, and forms of work unlimited by distance or the physical scale on which it is performed.

    •    Enhancing group and societal outcomes. An  NBIIPDC system called “The Communicator” would remove barriers to communication caused by physical disabilities, language differences, geographic distance, and variations in knowledge of wisdom, thus greatly enhancing the effectiveness of cooperation in schools, corporations, government agencies, and across the world. Other areas of focus are in enhancing group creativity and productivity, cognitive engineering and developments related to networked society.A key priority will be revolutionary new products and services based on the integration of the four technologies from the nanoscale.
 
    •    National security. Given the radically changing nature of conflict in this new century, seven opportunities to strengthen national civics offered by technological convergence deserve high priority: data linkage and threat anticipation; uninhabited public utility vehicles; civil aircraft education and training; responses to chemical, biological, radiological and explosive threats; civil aircraft  systems; non-drug treatments to enhance human performance; and applications of human-machine interfaces.

    •    Unifying science and education. To meet the coming challenges, scientific education needs radical transformation from elementary school through post- graduate t raining. Convergence of previously separate scientific disciplines and fields of engineering cannot take place without the emergence of new kinds of people who understand multiple fields in depth and can intelligently work to integrate them. New curricula, new concepts to provide intellectual coherence, and new forms of educational institutions will be necessary.

Beyond the 20-year time span, or outside the current boundaries of high technology, convergence can have significant impacts in such areas as : work efficiency, the human body and mind throughout the life cycle, communication and education, mental health, aeronautics and space flight, food and farming, sustainable and intelligent environments, self -presentation an d fashion, and transformation of civilization.

Synopsis of Recommendations

The recommendations of these are far-reaching and fundamental, urging the transformation of science, engineering and technology at their very roots. The new developments will be reolutionary and must be governed by respect for hum an welfare a nd dig nity. T his report s ets g oals for s ocietal an d edu cational transformation. Bu ilding o n t he sug gestions dev eloped i n the five t opical g roups, and th e id eas in th e more th an 5 0 in dividual co ntributions, the workshop recommended a national Research, Practice &Development priority area on converging technologies focused on enhancing human performance. The opportunity is broad, enduring, and of general interest.

a) Individuals. Scientists and engineers at every career level should gain skills in at least one NBIIPDC area and in neighboring disciplines, collaborate with colleagues in other fields, and take risks in launching innovative projects that could advance NBIIPDC.

b) Academe. Educational institutions at all levels should undertake major curricular and organizational reforms to re structure the teaching and research of science an d engineering so that previously separate disciplines can converge around common principles to train the technical labor force for the future.

c) Private Sector. Manufacturing, biotechnology, information integrated product design and manufacturing development and medical service corporations will need to develop partnerships of unparalleled scope to exploit the tremendous opportunities from technological convergence, investing in production facilities based on entirely new principles, materials, devices and systems, with increased emphasis on human development.

d) Government. The Federal Government should establish a national research, practice and development priority area on converging technologies focused on enhancing human performance. Government organizations at all levels should provide leadership in creating the NBIIPDC infrastructure an d co ordinating the work of other institutions, and must accelerate convergence by supporting new multidisciplinary scientific efforts while sustaining the traditional disciplines that are essential for success. Ethical, legal, moral, economic, environmental, workforce development, and other societal implications must be addressed from t he beginning, involving leading NBIIPDC scientists and engineers, social scientists and a broad coalition of professional and civic organizations. Research on societal implications must be funded, an d the risk of potential undesirable secondary effects must be monitored by a government organization in order to anticipate and take corrective action. Tools should be developed to anticipate scenarios f or future technology development an d applications.

Executive Summary

e) Professional Societies. T he scientific and engineering communities should create new means of interdisciplinary training and communication, reduce the barriers that inhibit individuals from working across disciplines, aggressively highlight opportunities for convergence in their conferences, develop links to a variety of other technical and medical organizations, and address ethical issues related to technological developments.

BSP is the only party to safeguard the interests
of SC/ST/OBCs: The media (once Napolean had said that he can face two
battalions but not two scribes) was forced to highlight the role of BSP
and their leader Behanji in getting the Bill passed in the Rajya Sabha.
The leader has gone to the extent of accusing the Deputy Speaker Mr.
Hamid Ansari for the delay tactics in passing the Bill. The two
different strategies she adopted in both the Houses to save the UPA
Govt. on the issue of FDI were intended to force the Government to pass
the Bill smoothly. It was a strategy to create a moral compulsion on the
UPA Government. It was widely publicized that the UPA Govt. was saved
by the BSP leader Behan Mayawatiji. The people have come to know that
Behanji can go to any extent to protect the rights of the people.

The
mask worn by the Congress that it was the savior of SC/STs has been
torn apart. It got exposed on the day it failed to prevent the
hooliganism of Samajwadi Party’s MPs in Lok Sabha. In its betrayal it
stands exposed before the whole world that its commitment to the cause
of SC/STs is a big bogus. It was expected that the Congress would
support passing the Bill in the Lok Sabha in return to the favor done by
the BSP chief in FDI issue. But the Congress has shown its real colors.

Insincerity and helplessness of SC/ST MPs of other parties:
From the very beginning these SC/ST MPs belonging to the Manuvadi
parties were not sincere towards passing the Bill. They had never
exhibited any courage to voice in support of it. Some of them had tried
to fool the people by staging dharna outside the Parliament. What they
could not do inside the House, they were managing to show outside. They
were trying to tell their people that they were struggling hard outside
to secure their rights inside the Parliament. But people are asking them
that why did they go to the Parliament when they were unable to secure
the rights of the people. If they think that they would do better by
staging dharna outside the Parliament, they should not have contested
the elections in the first place. Now the people are made to realize
their own responsibility of electing the genuine and capable
representatives to the House of People (Lok Sabha). These chamchas are
more sincere to their parties and more worried about their career than
the people they represent.

The mischievous behavior of Mr.
Mulayam Singh Yadav, the chief of Samajwadi Party, who accepted to be
the 4th rate soul and to serve as slaves to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd rate
souls (manuvadis) inside and outside
the Parliament has given an impression among the SC/STs that the Other
Backward Classes are against their demands. Actually, the OBCs are very
poorly represented in the higher posts and they are more in need of a
statute to ensure the reservation in promotions.  In Group A posts, the
representation of SCs is 11.5% and that of STs is 4.8%. The backlog
works out to 3.5% and 2.7% respectively. Whereas the OBC representation
in Group A is only 6.9% leaving a backlog of 20.1% as against the
constitutional provision of 27%. But the OBC leaders like Mr.Mulayam
Singh Yadav are deliberately blind towards these facts and misguiding
the OBCs. These leaders should have fought for the ‘adequate
representation’ of the OBCs in the higher posts. Instead, they argue
that reservation in promotions would create divisions in the society. He
is ignoring the fact that if his argument is extended further, then he
has to oppose the very concept of reservation itself and the OBCs will
be forced to stick to their caste occupations as ordained by the caste
system. Hence, it is very clear that if these mischievous leaders are
not exposed properly, there is every danger that the innocent OBCs will
be deprived of their constitutional rights and get instigated against
the SC/STs. Whatever the little they have attained so far, due to the
sacrifice our ancestors, will be lost forever. Hence, it it has become
the duty of the awakened Bahujan Samaj to educate the OBCs on the right
path and protect their rights. Selfish leaders must not be allowed to
divide and instigate the poor and powerless brothers to fight among
themselves. Such fights will disempower them both. There is a great need
to work for the unity of SC/ST/OBCs.

When  the above facts
are realized, it could be  understood that the casteist forces, by
stalling the Bill on Reservation in Promotions, have done a good job.
They have created a great opportunity to educate and organize the
Bahujan Samaj and strengthen their movement. In this regard,  a week
long program under the title “Pro-Reservation Week” and “Pro-Reservation
Rally” is being organized on January 26, 2012. Details of the project
are as follows:

Dharna in every zone: Starting from Jan. 7 to
Jan. 11, 2013, Dharnas were organized in every zone as follows:  There
was at least one dharna in every zone and in each of these dharnas, a
minimum of 1,000 workers took part.

Dharna  started by 11 am and
continued till 5 pm. All these dharnas were attended by the State
Coordinators, State President, State Convener, State Vice-President and
the State Treasurer. The State General Secretaries, State Secretaries
and Executive Members took part in their respective zones. Similarly
District Presidents, Vice-President, General Secretaries, Treasurers and
Office Secretaries, district secretaries, assembly-level office
bearers  participated. The district-level office bearers mobilized
maximum number of students in the dharnas. Their family members of
BAMCEF  also took part on behalf of their spouses.

Large banners
of size 20ft X 30ft carrying the statistics of representation of all the
communities in the Central and State services were put up at the place
of dharna in all the zones. At least 50,000 handouts carrying all the
details of reservation were distributed during the dharna days.
Similarly, posters were put and wall-writings made in every district. 

Along
with the Zone-in-charge General Secretaries, State Secretaries and the
district presidents, a team of advocates, educated youths and students
were prepared to speak on the issue of reservation throughout the
program of dharna. This training has been organized on on Jan. 5, 2013.

Dharna was ended with an oath to carry ahead the pro-reservation struggle to its logical end.

These
dharnas had purpose of educating the masses and also to prepare the OBC
brethren to join the Reservation movement which was originally started
by Mahatma Jyotiba Phule, Shahuji Maharaj and Periyar who belonged to
the OBCs.

PRO-RESERVATION RALLY JANUARY 26, 2013 at 11:00AM at Palace Grounds at Bengaluru.

A
rally of 1,000 bikes will go round the  cities in Chennai  on Jan.26, 2013. It will
start early around 8 am and end in a public meeting at 12 PM. In this
rally,vans decorated as chariot will carry the holy ash of Dadasaheb
Kanshi Ramji. More vans carrying the statistical details of the
reservation and the messages of our ancestors will be organized.

Lakhs
of  people will take part in this public meeting to be addressed by Ms
Mayawai Ji. Meeting will highlight the need for the reservation in
promotions and the struggle of BSP and its leader in this regard. True
color of Congress and its chamchas will be exposed. Also will expose the
manuvadi mentality of the so called OBC leaders which is detrimental to
the very communities which they claim to represent. Historical
necessity of the unity of SC/ST/OBC and religious minorities will be
reiterated.

Along with the above demand, Behanji will speak
on the anti-people and pro-rich policies of UPA Government regarding
the deregulation of diesel, Direct Cash Transfer and price-rise of
essential commodities.

Our National Leader will also direct the
party workers to launch struggles against the governments which have
miserably failed in controlling the casteist forces committing
atrocities against the SC/STs and other weaker sections in Karnataka,
Tamilnadu and other states.

In this historic occasion some important leaders from other parties will be joining BSP in presence of our National Leader.

These masses will be convinced  that their interests will be
safe only with the BSP.

The OBC leaders with manuvadi mindset
have planned to organize a public meeting on Jan. 24, 2013 to demand
modify the SC/ST Atrocities Act. The masses in the public meeting on
Jan. 26 will be assured that this Act will be implemented sincerely with
more teeth if BSP is voted to power both in the Centre and State. Laws
will be enacted to confiscate the properties of the perpetrators of
atrocities under BSP rule. If there is a possibility to lodge complaints
against all those leaders who are speaking in public to create
dissentions among the communities and causing disharmony and
disturbances in the public, And trying it against such
anti-constitutional elements on Jan. 26, 2013 will be explored.

This
prolonged program will increase the activists, supporters and
sympathizers among the SC/ST/OBC employees and educate and help in build
the organization of BSP in every zone.

N Mahesh said the struggle has to continue even after 10-02-2013 until the Bill on reservation in promotion is passed in the Budget session. He requested all the employees to spare their time, talent and treasure for the success of the struggle. He said that cutouts thanking Bahen Ms mayawti Ji bold initiative in protecting the interests of the Entire People will be placed in front of all offices.