Could Energy Hamper Future Developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Knowledge Engineering?

Abstract

Any electronic equipment contains silicon chips. Modern society, the Knowledge Society, has been possible through the development of low-cost silicon chips. Some researchers, however, have been claiming that "Moore's law" for silicon chip design and production of integrated circuits will remain valid only for the next 1 or 2 decades due to energy limitations. Thus, we cannot produce these chips as efficiently as before. The objective of this paper is to present and discuss this claim in terms of energy, information and communications technologies (ICT), computer engineering, knowledge and knowledge engineering, and electronics views. It also appears that the use of some advanced production techniques could extend the use of silicon chips. The author has been unable to find any study yet that has addressed the effect of this issue on the future of intelligence, knowledge and knowledge engineering and management. Hence, this may cited as an original feature of the present paper.