Keynote Speech Prof. Mike Hinchey (University of Limerick) – Is There Anything that Isn’t Software?

In this rapidly changing world, evolving technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Machine Learning, Cloud Computing, Big Data, the Internet of Things, and Mobile Computing are combining to disrupt traditional models and radically change how we live, work, and interact. More importantly, these technologies change the way we live and do business: the world’s largest bookstore is a Cloud Computing provider, and the largest fleet of cars in the world is operated by an app provider. Areas such as healthcare have been transformed dramatically, with better analysis, imaging, detection, diagnosis, treatment, robot-assisted surgery, and even significant advances in sharing health records. We eagerly await the day when cars, buses, trucks, and railways are self-driven, and Industry 4.0 is already upon us, and of course we claim the use of AI in just about everything. All of these advances are entirely dependent on software. We ask the question: is there anything that isn’t software?