Chapter Seven

Other emerging technologies

Prepared By: Kassahun T.

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The following other emerging technologies will be discussed under this chapter:
 Nanotechnology
 Biotechnology
 Block-chain technology
 Cloud and quantum computing
 Autonomic computing (AC)
 Computer vision
 Embedded systems
 Cyber security and
 Additive manufacturing (3D Printing)
Nanotechnology
• It is science, engineering, and technology conducted at the nanoscale,
which is about 1 to 100 nanometers.
• Nanoscience and nanotechnology are the study and application of
extremely small things and can be used across all the other science
fields, such as chemistry, biology, physics, materials science, and
engineering.
• The ideas and concepts behind nanoscience and nanotechnology
started by physicist Richard Feynman at an American Physical
Society meeting during December 29, 1959, long before the term
nanotechnology was used.

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Cont’d…
• In his talk, Feynman described a process in which scientists would be
able to manipulate and control individual atoms and molecules.
• Over a decade later, in his explorations of ultraprecision machining,
Professor Norio Taniguchi coined the term nanotechnology.
• It’s hard to imagine just how small nanotechnology is.
• One nanometer (1nm) is a billionth of a meter or of meters.
• 1nm is about 100,000 times smaller than the width of a human hair
(single human hair).
• Making new things at this incredibly small scale is called nano
technology
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 Cont’d…
• Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the ability to see and to
control individual atoms and molecules. Everything on Earth is made
up of atoms.
• But something as small as an atom is impossible to see with the naked
eye. In fact, it’s impossible to see with the microscopes typically used
in high school science classes.
• The microscopes needed to see things at the nanoscale were invented
relatively recently about 30 years ago.
• As small as a nanometer is, it's still large compared to the atomic
scale.
• An atom has a diameter of about 0.1 nm.
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 Cont’d…
• Nanoscience and nanotechnology involve the ability to see
and to control individual atoms and molecules. Everything
on Earth is made up of atoms.
• Nanoscience can be defined as the study of phenomena and
manipulation of materials at atomic, molecular and
macromolecular scales, where properties differ significantly
from those at a larger scale.
• Nanotechnologies defined as the design, characterization,
production, and application of structures, devices, and
systems by controlling shape and size at the nanometer scale.
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 Applications of nanotechnology
 Medicine: customized nanoparticles the size of molecules that can deliver drugs
directly to diseased cells in your body.
 Electronics: it has some answers for how we might increase the capabilities of
electronics devices while we reduce their weight and power consumption.
 Food: it has an impact from how food is grown to how it is packaged. Companies
are developing nanomaterials that will make a difference not only in the taste of
food but also in food safety and the health benefits delivery.
 Agriculture: It can possibly change the whole agriculture part and nourishment
industry anchor from generation to preservation, handling, bundling,
transportation, and even waste treatment.
 Vehicle manufacturers: Much like aviation, lighter and stronger materials will be
valuable for making vehicles that are both quicker and more secure. Burning
motors will likewise profit from parts that are all the more hardwearing and higher
temperature safe.
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 Biotechnology
• It is technology based on biology - biotechnology harnesses cellular and
biomolecular processes to develop technologies and products that help improve
our lives and the health of our planet.
• Brewing and baking bread are examples of processes that fall within the concept
of biotechnology which is the traditional one. One example of modern
biotechnology is Genetic engineering.
• Genetic engineering is the process of transferring individual genes between
organisms or modifying the genes in an organism to remove or add a desired trait
or characteristic. Today, biotechnology covers many different disciplines (eg.
genetics, biochemistry, molecular biology, etc.)
• New technologies and products are developed every year within the areas of e.g.
Medicine (development of new medicines), agriculture (development of
genetically modified plants) or industrial biotechnology (production of food).
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Cont’d…
Application of biotechnology
 Agriculture (Green Biotechnology): Biotechnology had contributed a lot to modify
the genes of the organism known as Genetically Modified Organisms such as Crops,
Animals, Plants, Fungi, Bacteria, etc.
 Medicine (Medicinal Biotechnology): This helps in the formation of genetically
modified insulin known as humulin. This helps in the treatment of a large number of
diabetes patients. It has also given rise to a technique known as gene therapy
 Aquaculture Fisheries: It helps in improving the quality and quantity of fishes.
Through biotechnology, fishes are induced to breed via gonadotropin-releasing
hormone.
 Environment (Environmental biotechnology): is used in waste treatment and
pollution prevention.
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Blockchain technology
• Originally blockchain is a growing list of records, called blocks, that
are linked using cryptography.
• Each block contains a cryptography hash of the previous block, a
timestamp, and transaction data (generally represented as a Merkle
tree).
• Blockchain is a time-stamped series of immutable records of data
that is managed by a cluster of computers not owned by any single
entity.
• Each of these blocks of data (i.e. block) is secured and bound to
each other using cryptographic principles (i.e. chain).

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Cont’d…
• “Blocks” on the blockchain are made up of digital pieces of information.
Specifically, they have three parts:

i. Blocks store information about transactions like the date, time, and dollar
amount.

ii. Blocks store information about who is participating in transactions.

iii. Blocks store information that distinguishes them from other blocks.

• When a block stores new data it is added to the blockchain.

• Blockchain, as its name suggests, consists of multiple blocks strung together.

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Cont’d…
• In order for a block to be added to the blockchain, however, four things must
happen:

i. A transaction must occur.

ii. That transaction must be verified.

iii. That transaction must be stored in a block.

iv. That block must be given a hash. Once all of a block’s transactions have been
verified, it must be given a unique, identifying code called a hash. Once
hashed, the block can be added to the blockchain

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Cont’d…
• By design, a blockchain is resistant to modification of the
data.
• It is "an open, distributed ledger that can record
transactions between two parties efficiently and in a
verifiable and permanent way".
• The blockchain network has no central authority; it is the
very definition of a democratized system. Since it is a
shared and immutable ledger, the information in it is open
for anyone and everyone to see.
• Reading Assginment : Discuss the History of Blockchain.
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 Cont’d…
• A blockchain carries no transaction cost but it carries the infrastructure cost.

• The blockchain is a simple yet ingenious way of passing information from A to B

in a fully automated and safe manner.

 One party to a transaction initiates the process by creating a block.

 This block is verified by thousands, perhaps millions of computers distributed

around the net.

 The verified block is added to a chain, which is stored across the net, creating
not just a unique record, but a unique record with a unique history.

• Falsifying a single record would mean falsifying the entire chain in millions of
instances. 14
Cont’d…
The Three Pillars of Blockchain Technology
 The three main properties of Blockchain Technology are
Decentralization, Transparency and Immutability:
i. Decentralization:
The information is not stored by one single entity
Everyone in the network owns the information.
if you wanted to interact with your friend then you can do so directly
without going through a third party.
That was the main ideology behind Bitcoins.

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Cont’d…

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 Cont’d…
ii. Transparency: A person’s identity is iii. Immutability: Immutability, in the
hidden via complex cryptography and context of the blockchain, means that
represented only by their public address. once something has been entered into the
So, if you were to look up a person’s blockchain, it cannot be tampered with.
transaction history, you will not see The reason why the blockchain gets this

“Bob sent 1 BTC” instead you will see property is that of the cryptographic hash

“1MF1bhsFLkBzzz9vpFYEmvwT2Tby function. hashing means taking an input

string of any length and giving out an
Ct7NZJ sent 1 BTC”. So while the
output of a fixed length by using hashing
person’s real identity is secure, you will
algorithm (Bitcoin uses SHA-256) which
still see all the transactions that were
gives an output of a fixed length.
done by their public address.
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 Cont’d…
 Let’s see how the hashing process works. We are going to put in certain inputs.
For this exercise, we are going to use the SHA-256 (Secure Hashing Algorithm
256).

 As you can see, in the case of SHA-256, no matter how big or small your input is,
the output will always have a fixed 256-bits length. This becomes critical when
you are dealing with a huge amount of data and transactions. So basically, instead
of remembering the input data which could be huge, you can just remember the
hash and keep track.
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Cont’d…
How Blockchain Works
 Picture a spreadsheet that is duplicated thousands of times across a
network of computers.
 Then imagine that this network is designed to regularly update this
spreadsheet and you have a basic understanding of the blockchain.
 Information held on a blockchain exists as a shared and continually
reconciled database. The blockchain database isn’t stored in any
single location, meaning the records it keeps are truly public and
easily verifiable. No centralized version of this information exists for
a hacker to corrupt.
 Hosted by millions of computers simultaneously, its data is
accessible to anyone on the internet
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Cont’d…
• The reason why the blockchain has gained so much admiration is
that:
 It is not owned by a single entity, hence it is decentralized

 The data is cryptographically stored inside

 The blockchain is immutable, so no one can tamper with the data
that is inside the blockchain
 The blockchain is transparent so one can track the data if they
want.
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Cont’d…
Why do people use the peer-to-peer network?
 One of the main uses of the peer-to-peer network is file sharing, also called
torrenting. If you are to use a client-server model for downloading, then it is
usually extremely slow and entirely dependent on the health of the server. Plus,
as we said, it is prone to censorship.

However, in a peer-to-peer system, there is no central authority, and hence if

even one of the peers in the network goes out of the race, you still have more
peers to download from.

It is not subject to the idealistic standards of a central system.

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Cont’d…
• Comparison between Traditional Centralized Downloading and Decentralized
Peer-to-Peer Downloading.

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 Applications of blockchain
Some of the application areas of blockchain are:
 The sharing economy- By enabling peer-to-peer payments, the blockchain opens the door to direct
interaction between parties a truly decentralized sharing economy results.
 Crowdfunding- Crowdfunding initiatives like Kickstarter and GoFundMe are doing the advance
work for the emerging peer-to-peer economy.
 Governance- By making the results fully transparent and publicly accessible, distributed database
technology could bring full transparency to elections.
 Supply chain auditing- Distributed ledgers provide an easy way to certify that the backstories of
the things we buy are genuine. Transparency comes with blockchain-based timestamping of a date
and location
 File storage- Distributing data throughout the network protects files from getting hacked or lost.
An internet made up of completely decentralized websites has the potential to speed up file transfer
and streaming times.
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Cloud and quantum computing
• Cloud computing: is a means of networking remote servers that are hosted on the
Internet. Rather than storing and processing data on a local server, or a PC's hard drive,
one of the following three types of cloud infrastructure is used.

i. public cloud: Here a third-party provider manages the servers, applications, and
storage much like a public utility. Anyone can subscribe to the provider’s cloud
service, which is usually operated through their own data center.

ii. private cloud: which is typically used by a business or organization.

iii. hybrid cloud: Here private clouds are connected to public clouds, allowing data and
applications to be shared between them. It includes multiple service providers .

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Cont’d…
• a hybrid offers a business more flexibility and can offer more computing capacity
for a business application when the need for its spikes.
• Hybrids also enable applications to keep sensitive client data in a private cloud
but connect to end-user software in a public cloud.
• Cloud computing services can focus on infrastructure, web development or a
cloud-based app.
• Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) gives you management of the whole deal:
servers, web development tools, applications.
• Platform as a Service (PaaS) offers a complete web development environment,
without the worry of the hardware that runs it.
• Finally, Software as a Service (SaaS) allows access to cloud-based apps, usually
through a web browser interface.
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Cont’d…
• Cloud computing has been around since 2000. Yet, it’s only in the last 10 years
that major players like IBM, Amazon, and Google have offered commercially
viable, high-capacity networks.
Advantages of cloud computing
Cheap computing power.
Cloud providers have vast resources of computing power at their fingertips.
The cloud allows you and multiple users to access your data from any
location.
With cloud computing a business processes its data more efficiently,
increasing productivity.
Maintenance is much cheaper, often free, so reliability is rarely a worry.
Cloud computing allows CEOs to focus on running their business.
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Quantum computing
• Quantum computers truly do represent the next generation of
computing.
• Unlike classic computers, they derive their computing power by
harnessing the power of quantum physics.
• Give clients access to a quantum computer over the internet, and you
have quantum cloud computing.
• With a quantum computer, the data is stored in qubits (quantum
bits).
• A qubit can exist in two states at the same time. This phenomenon is
called superposition. So, a qubit can have a value of 1, 0, or some
value between.

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 Cont’d…
Advantages of quantum computing:
Quantum computing could help in the discovery of new
drugs, by unlocking the complex structure of chemical
molecules.
Other uses include financial trading, risk management, and
supply chain optimization.
With its ability to handle more complex numbers, data could
be transferred over the internet with much safer encryption.
Scientists would be able to make complex calculations that
would only overwhelm classic computers.
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 Autonomic computing (AC)
• Autonomic computing (AC) is an approach to address the complexity and evolution
problems in software systems.

• It is a self-managing computing model named after, and patterned on, the human body's
autonomic nervous system.

• An autonomic computing system would control the functioning of computer applications

and systems without input from the user, in the same way, that the autonomic nervous
system regulates body systems without conscious input from the individual.

• The goal of autonomic computing is to create systems that run themselves, capable of
high-level functioning while keeping the system's complexity invisible to the user.
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Characteristics of Autonomic Systems
Autonomic systems/applications exhibit eight defining characteristics:
• Self-Awareness: An autonomic application/system “knows itself” and is aware
of its state and its behaviors.
• Self-Configuring: An autonomic application/system should be able to
configure and reconfigure itself under varying and unpredictable conditions.
• Self-Optimizing: An autonomic application/system should be able to detect
suboptimal behaviors and optimize itself to improve its execution.
• Self-Healing: An autonomic application/system should be able to detect and
recover from potential problems and continue to function smoothly.
• Self-Protecting: An autonomic application/system should be capable of
detecting and protecting its resources from both internal and external attacks
and maintaining overall system security and integrity.
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Cont’d…
• Context-Aware: An autonomic application/system should be
aware of its execution environment and be able to react to changes
in the environment.
• Open: An autonomic application/system must function in a
heterogeneous world and should be portable across multiple
hardware and software architectures. Consequently, it must be built
on standard and open protocols and interfaces.
• Anticipatory: An autonomic application/system should be able to
anticipate to the extent possible, its needs and behaviors and those
of its context, and be able to manage itself proactively.

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Computer vision
• It is an interdisciplinary scientific field that deals with how computers can be made
to gain a high-level understanding of digital images or videos. From the perspective
of engineering, it seeks to automate tasks that the human visual system can do.

• Computer vision tasks include methods for acquiring, processing, analyzing and
understanding digital images, and extraction of high-dimensional data from the real
world in order to produce numerical or symbolic information, e.g. in the forms of
decisions.

• Computer vision is building algorithms that can understand the content of images
and use it for other applications.

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How computer vision works
1. Acquiring an image: Images, even large sets, can be
acquired in real-time through video, photos or 3D
technology for analysis.
2. Processing the image: Deep learning models automate
much of this process, but the models are often trained by
first being fed thousands of labeled or pre-identified
images.
3. Understanding the image: The final step is the
interpretative step, where an object is identified or
classified
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Applications of computer vision
• Optical character recognition (OCR): reading handwritten postal codes on
letters and automatic number plate recognition (ANPR);

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Cont’d…
• Machine inspection: rapid parts inspection for quality assurance using stereo
vision with specialized illumination to measure tolerances on aircraft wings or
auto body parts or looking for defects in steel castings using X-ray vision;

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Cont’d…
• Retail: object recognition for automated checkout lanes.

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Cont’d…
• Medical imaging: registering pre-operative and intra-operative imagery or
performing long-term studies of people’s brain morphology as they age;

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Cont’d…
• Automotive safety: detecting unexpected obstacles such as pedestrians on the
street, under conditions where active vision techniques such as radar or lidar do
not work well.

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Cont’d…
• Surveillance: monitoring for intruders, analyzing highway traffic and
monitoring pools for drowning victims;

• Fingerprint recognition and biometrics: for automatic access

authentication as well as forensic applications.

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Embedded systems
• It is a controller with a dedicated function within a larger mechanical or
electrical system, often with real-time computing constraints.

• It is embedded as part of a complete device often including hardware and

mechanical parts.

• Embedded systems control many devices in common use today.

• 98% of all microprocessors manufactured are used in embedded systems.

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Advantages and disadvantages of embedded system
• Advantages of Embedded:

• Easily Customizable

• Low power consumption

• Low cost

• Enhanced performance

• Disadvantages of Embedded systems:

• High development effort

• Larger time to market

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Basic Structure of an Embedded System

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Cont’d…
• Sensor − It measures the physical quantity and converts it to an electrical signal
which can be read by an observer or by any electronic instrument like an A2D
converter.
• A-D Converter − An analog-to-digital converter converts the analog signal sent by
the sensor into a digital signal.
• Processor & ASICs − Processors process the data to measure the output and store it
to the memory.
• D-A Converter − A digital-to-analog converter converts the digital data fed by the
processor to analog data.
• Actuator − An actuator compares the output given by the D-A Converter to the
actual (expected) output stored in it and stores the approved output.

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 Cybersecurity
• It is the protection of computer systems from the theft of or
damage to their hardware, software, or electronic data, as well as
from the disruption or misdirection of the services they provide.
• Cybersecurity is often confused with information security but it
focuses on protecting computer systems from unauthorized access or
being otherwise damaged or made inaccessible. Information security
is a broader category that looks to protect all information assets,
whether in hard copy or in digital form.
• The term cybercrime is used to describe an unlawful activity in
which computer or computing devices such as smartphones, tablets,
Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), etc. which are standalone or a
part of a network are used as a tool or/and target of criminal activity.
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Cybersecurity measures
The following are some security measures to be taken to prevent cybercrimes:

• Staff awareness training

• Application security

• Network security

• Leadership commitment.

• Password management

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Types of cybersecurity threats
• Ransomware: It is a type of malicious software. It is designed to extort
money by blocking access to files or the computer system until the
ransom is paid. Paying the ransom does not guarantee that the files will
be recovered or the system restored.

• Malware: it is a type of software designed to gain unauthorized access

or to cause damage to a computer.

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 Cont’d…
• Social engineering: it is a tactic that adversaries use to trick you into revealing
sensitive information. They can solicit a monetary payment or gain access to your
confidential data. Social engineering can be combined with any of the threats
listed above to make you more likely to click on links, download malware, or trust
a malicious source.

• Phishing: it is the practice of sending fraudulent emails that resemble emails from
reputable sources. The aim is to steal sensitive data like credit card numbers and
login information. It’s the most common type of cyber-attack. You can help protect
yourself through education or a technology solution that filters malicious emails.

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Benefits of cybersecurity
• Business protection against malware, ransomware, phishing, and social
engineering.

• Protection for data and networks.

• Prevention of unauthorized users.

• Improves recovery time after a breach.

• Protection for end-users.

• Improved confidence in the product for both developers and customers.

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Cybersecurity vendors
• Vendors in cybersecurity fields will typically use endpoint, network and advanced
threat protection security as well as data loss prevention.

• Three commonly known cybersecurity vendors include

• Cisco

• McAfee

• and Trend Micro

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Additive manufacturing (3D Printing)
what do the experts say about additive manufacturing (3D printing)?

• The American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) equates the two terms
in their definition: “Additive manufacturing, also known as 3D printing, uses
computer-aided design to build objects layer by layer.”

• Wikipedia says, “Today, the precision, repeatability, and material range has
increased to the point that 3D printing is considered as industrial production
technology, with the name of additive manufacturing.”

• Author Deve Turbide puts it simply, suggesting that additive manufacturing is

“the industrial version of 3D printing”
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 3D Printing: its all about the printer
• When MIT invented binder jet printing in the 1980s, they wrote:
“three-dimensional printing is a process under development at MIT for
the rapid and flexible production of prototype parts, end-use parts, and
tools directly from a CAD model.”

• Today our concept of “3D printing” is much broader, but the term is
often associated with filament-based plastic printers, which are the
pride and joy of many a hobbyist and self-described maker.

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 Additive Manufacturing
• “Additive manufacturing” (AM) is a big-picture term more at home in the
boardroom than the factory floor or garage.
• AM is flexible in the time it takes to load a file, from anywhere in the world. It
enables customized parts, in volume, and involves stocking raw materials like
filament and printing spare parts on demand.
• Additive manufacturing (AM) describes types of advanced manufacturing that are
used to create three-dimensional structures out of plastics, metals, polymers and
other materials that can be sprayed through a nozzle or aggregated in a vat. These
constructs are added layer by layer in realtime based on digital design.
• The simplicity and low cost of AM machines, combined with the scope of their
potential creations, could profoundly alter global and local economies and affect
international security.

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