Abstract:

The Darwin lecture on Technology Development will start with an overview of General Purpose Technologies which changed the world economy 24 times. It will then home in on the 6 waves of computing and show how each of the waves developed its own characteristics and lead companies. It is remarkable that the lead company in one wave has never become the lead company in the following wave. The 6th and so far last wave of computing is completely different in nature as it is based on Machine Learning, an Artificial Intelligence technology which could transform not just our economy but every aspect of our future lives. It is man’s most powerful but also the most unpredictable technology. Aspects of the speed with which this change will happen will be discussed together with the consequences it may have for employment and how likely it is that Superintelligences will emerge and when.



Biography



Serial Entrepreneur and Co-founder of Amadeus Capital Partners, Dr Hermann Hauser CBE has wide experience in developing and financing companies in the information technology sector. He co-founded a number of high-tech companies including Acorn Computers which spun out ARM , E-trade UK, Virata and Cambridge Network. Subsequently Hermann became vice president of research at Olivetti. During his tenure at Olivetti, he established a global network of research laboratories. Since leaving Olivetti, Hermann has founded over 20 technology companies. In 1997, he co-founded Amadeus Capital Partners. At Amadeus he invested in CSR , Solexa, Icera, Xmos and Cambridge Broadband.



Hermann is a Fellow of the Royal Society, the Institute of Physics and of the Royal Academy of Engineering and an Honorary Fellow of King’s College, Cambridge. In 2001 he was awarded an Honorary CBE for ‘innovative service to the UK enterprise sector’. In 2004 he was made a member of the Government’s Council for Science and Technology and in 2013 he was made a Distinguished Fellow of BCS , the Chartered Institute for IT. In 2015 he was awarded an KBE for services to engineering and industry.



Hermann has honorary doctorates from the Universities of Loughborough, Bath, Anglia Ruskin and The University of Strathclyde.

