New trends in computer science By Suhail

New trends in computer science

Computer technology has been rapidly advancing over the past two decades, mostly due to the high demand for personal and institutional computers. While this trend is expected to continue for a few years, Personal Computers (PCs) will slowly lose their position as the main driving factor behind the computer technology. This article starts by introducing the new devices that are likely to join or even replace PCs, maintaining the popularity of computers in the near future. These emerging devices, which include Internet appliances and smart vehicles, will pressure the computer industry to continue their current trend and deliver faster, denser and cheaper computers.

The new areas that have been catching the attention of researchers in the field of computer science recently but rather lately are as mentioned below

1.    Bioinformatic

Simply put, it is the science that combines computers and anatomy of living beings. It deals with the processing and gathering the biological data with the use of computer programs. This area of converting complex biological data into readable format is attaining popularity in many developed countries like the US. The future seems bright for the people developing skill in this area of research. The medical research today is incompatible with large part of applications in bioinformatics. So, this area is a promising field for development in the near future whose seeds have been sown much earlier.

2.    Cyber Security

The increasing number of cyber attacks stresses the need of promising, practical and economical cyber security systems everywhere. Be it home, businesses, public and private sector organizations, government offices, aviation, transportation, medicine, and entertainment to name a few. This point towards an ever increasing market for cyber security networks and systems. These systems at its very core must be able to control all the malware activities  and viruses (virus and malware are two different terms) efficiently and effectively. It goes beyond this most important activity and must provide reliable and efficient systems that warn about threats, provide prevention and secure any kind of credentials from malicious attacks.

3.    Data Science (Big Data)

This is the most emerging technology of today in the list of Emerging Trends in Computer Science. There is a very large scope of research and development considering the amount of data being produced by organizations and individually across the globe. It is also the most challenging, lucrative and well-paying profession. An overwhelming number of research papers/journals were published in the last few years. It deals with the storage, processing and analyzing the massive data stored in across the world in various organizations and data centres. One research aspect of data science or big data is the study, assessment, and evaluation of human interactions and behaviours. As seen in a recent poll by IBM, nearly 2/3^rd of all demands for data scientists are unfulfilled. So the sky is the limit in this most trending field in Computer Science.

4.    Virtual Reality applications

The newest trend is to get the (VR) virtual reality environment products. As for the present, VRs are used for several applications that include gaming, engineering, design etc. But this trend is going to affect almost everything we do or think. Medical science, physical sciences, environment, businesses, space industry and entertainment industry are the biggest stakeholders for VR applications.

5.    Cloud Computing

The ‘Cloud’ in Cloud Computing refers to the servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics provided by the ‘Cloud’ provider. The cloud provider is basically the internet or data provider. This area plays an important role in various fields of business, computing, security, every topic in this article etc. Cloud computing has already given a lot of attention by the scientists and researchers. But this is still a good research field to plunge into considering the scope of research available.

6.    Computer-assisted education

The use of computers and software to assist education and/or training, computer-assisted education brings many benets and has many uses. For students with learning disabilities, for instance, it can provide personalized instruction and enable students to learn at their own pace, freeing the teacher to devote more time to each individual. The eld is still growing but promising, with many educators praising its ability to allow students to engage in active, independent and play-based learning.  

7.    Artificial Intelligence

The new frontier in human history has been created, all by the name of artificial intelligence. Often defined as the science behind intelligent systems and robotics. Another aspect is to create Expert Systems to exhibit intelligent behaviour in machines that learn, demonstrate, explain, and advice the users.

8.    Cyber physical systems :

 Also used as the Internet of Things (IoT), CPS are smart systems that have cyber technologies, both hardware and software, deeply embedded in and interacting with physical components, and sensing and changing the state of the real world. These systems have to operate with high levels of reliability, safety, security and usability since they must meet the rapidly growing demand for applications such as the smart grid, the next generation air transportation system, intelligent transportation systems, smart medical technologies, smart buildings and smart manufacturing. 2016 will be another milestone year in the development of these critical systems, which while currently being employed on a modest scale, don’t come close to meeting the demand.