Introduction

 I spent the last week at Mobile World Congress.

The 2013 Mobile World Congress ends with more than 72,000 visitors, an 8% increase on last year More than 1,700 participating companies in 94,000 square metres of exhibition space. In my view, the transition from the older venue to the new venue was well managed and GSMA and the city of Barcelona deserves kudos for it

I was speaking / chairing twice -  Speaking at Mobile World Congress – IBM / Worklight – Mobile enterprise event  and At Mobile World congress – chairing – Where the Money Meets the Talent – Mobile Monday – GrowVC – . I was also a part of the @webinosproject

Here is an analysis of what I found interesting – both at the event itself – but also announcements coming from the event.

I track mobility from three perspectives:

-           An analyst

-          An entrepreneur (for my start-up feynabs) and

-          Tech policy discussions.

To see the background for my thinking, please see  2013 trends and How to analyse the industry in a mobile first world? Hence, the view emphasises areas I am tracking (for instance Smart cities).

Comments welcome at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com

Why is mobility significant?

On a personal note, I felt out of place carrying a laptop when @GabbyStern1 and her Wall Street Journal crew record the event on mobile alone!

We are truly in a Mobile First world

•  No longer do we ask ‘Is this the year of mobile’ – instead global companies like IBM are adopting the Mobile first paradigm  
• @WSTechUK says – It took 22 years for first 2 billion people to connect to the web – it’ll only take 5 years for next 2
• GSMA Outlines State of Mobile Industry in New Report – with significant socio-economic contribution. The mobile industry is a major contributor to the global economy. The total mobile ecosystem revenues were US$1.6 trillion, or 2.2 per cent of global GDP. For the period through 2017, the mobile industry will invest US$1.1 trillion in capital expenditure and will contribute US$2.6 trillion to public funding. Importantly, in 2017, companies across the ecosystem will employ nearly 10 million people globally. “The mobile industry’s economic impact reaches far beyond its already-impressive $1.6 trillion in revenues, to boost individual well-being, corporate productivity and government funding,” said Mark Page, leader of A.T. Kearney’s Communications, Media and Technology practice and co-author of the report. “ To access the full report, “The Mobile Economy 2013”, visit www.gsma.com/mobileeconomy/.
• GSMA Global Mobile Money Adoption Survey Identifies 30 Million Active Mobile Money Customers Globally in 2012 - The research shows the number of active mobile money users grew impressively; more than 30 million people undertook 224.2 million transactions totalling $4.6 billion during the month of June 2012 alone. “The social impact of mobile money is already well documented, and our report last year offered the first global benchmarks on how many customers were using mobile money,” Rapid Growth, Particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa  Mobile Money Contributing to Financial Inclusion 
  A full copy of the report can be found at: http://www.gsma.com/mobilefordevelopment/state-of-the-industry-2012.
• Global operator data revenues to surpass voice by 2018 GSMA claims mobile operator data revenues will overtake voice revenues globally by 2018, driven by a surge in demand for connected devices and machine-to-machine (M2M) communications.
• Connecting with the next billion consumers was a key theme at MWC13

Mobile first – Three eras of app development – The merging of the web and mobile ecosystems – why have we reached the tipping point now?

I have been tracking the mobile and the Web industries holistically for more than ten years now .. and the key observation has been Mobility will become like the Web – but will complement the Internet and the Web in its unique way.

Apps are the mechanism that unite the two paradigms – the Web and Mobile.

Historically, apps were synonymous with íphone apps and indeed that’ s how the whole app industry started. But today, the conversation has evolved. On one hand, when we speak of apps, we still talk of the cool UI (esp with native apps). But that’ s only a part of the story now. Developers, consumers and CIOs take good UI for granted but they expect more.

I see three stages of maturity (eras) of app development
1) Stage one – Building an app is only the first step 2007 – 2010 era
2) Stage two – Hybrid apps and managing across multiple platforms – 2010 to now ..
3) Stage three – Mobile first – Apps (web, mobile, hybrid) used to extend and transform the business process – 2012 onwards

Stage three is critical for competitiveness and it unites the Web and Mobile paradigms
For example – 5 years ago, the question was – how many devices do you support?
Now the question is
a) How many platforms (iphone blackberry android etc)
b) Then also the security, management, device integration and reach
c) Process change driven by mobility

d) Transformation of consumer behaviour, engagement and consumption(commerce) through mobile – i.e. Mobile first

Business Process change is not just for large enterprises. I use a taxi company which manages the entire user experience in great detail through an app. Stage three (how companies and SMEs manage the business process change through mobile devices) will indeed decide the winners and the losers over the next few years. So, we are in a stage of fundamental transformation which affects all businesses.

Hence, you should read the below from the above disruptive perspective

Devices

• MWC is always a device fest .. but this year, four new platforms were launched Four new mobile OS platforms at Mobile World Congress (firefox OS, Ubuntu touch, Tizen and Sailfish) – along with Jolla which was launched recently
• Samsung unveils latest Galaxy Note – the phone which created a new class of devices (Phablets) and phones have grown enormous - The Enormous Smartphones of Mobile World Congress [PICS]
• Huawei launches 4G phone – Ascend P2 claiming it to be the world’s fastest smartphone
• LG brings together entire four-tier smartphone lineup at MWC
• Practical, affordable phones take center stage at MWC 2013 with phones like the £13 Nokia Lumia for the emerging markets
• Not at MWC, but also interesting - Why Google built the pricey, powerful Chromebook Pixel - Apparently to inspire the next generation of Chromebooks for users who have fully embraced the Cloud
• Nokia focuses on mass market with device update - Nokia unveiled four new devices which Stephen Elop, its CEO, said are designed to “inspire more people, at more prices, and ultimately capture more volume as well as value in the marketplace”.
• Sony promises “breakthrough” year for mobile business – Struggling Sony Mobile promises that 2013 will be a “breakthrough” year for it.  
• HP offloads webOS to LG – In a surprising move, HP said that it will sell its webOS operating system (OS) to LG Electronics. LG plans to integrate the OS into its smart TVs, but not tablets or handsets.

 

What can Operators learn from Telefonica?

Telefonica was part of the two most disruptive announcements I have seen. Both are now posted as separate blogs and are a must read IMHO

Implications of the firefox OS announcement for the industry ..

O2 tu-go – truly disruptive because it allows you to take your number out of the phone – I am not a number I am a tag –

What can other Operators learn?

1)      The OTT/Telco debate is in the last decade. It’s time to move on with creative partnerships and acquisitions

2)      Learning from the music industry, newspaper industry and the likes of Kodak – companies which don’t move fast will lose out

3)      Developers are the key stepping stone to the customer because they enable the Long tail (and hence transform your network into a platform)

Apps

•   Distimo: new apps struggling to gain traction - Just two per cent of the top 250 publishers in the Apple App Store for iPhone in the US are new to the market, with three per cent for Google Play in the same country, according to the latest report …
• Nokia talks up apps efforts - Nokia said that it is “opening up its APIs in imaging, location and music to encourage developers to build unique and innovative experiences for Lumia”.
• Apps not putting the brakes on browser use – CNN - The mobile browser remains an “incredibly important” tool for content providers to target users, despite the growing importance of apps for smartphone and tablet users, according to Peter Bale, VP and general manager of CNN International Digital.
• BlackBerry to review rejected ‘Built for BlackBerry’ apps, introduce appeals process after complaints –    Demonstrating the value of developers, BlackBerry has initiated a review of apps that were mistakenly rejected from its ‘Built for BlackBerry’ certification program after its head of developer relations responded to complaints and looked into the issue personally.

 

NFC and mobile payments

It was the year of NFC and there were many announcements related to NFC and the usage of NFC in the show itself. I will post more on NFC in a separate blog

Automotive

Automotive also featured big time at MWC13

“50% of new cars purchased in 2015 will be connected”, says Francesca Forestiera, director of mAutomotive at @GSMA#MWC2013 #M2M

 

• Ford drives Ford SYNC into Europe with Spotify partnership - A global partnership with Spotify, announced today at Mobile World Congress, heralds a major push into Europe.
• General Motors plans LTE launch in 2014 - General Motors will introduce LTE connectivity to cars as soon as next year, according to Steve Grisky, GM’s vice chairman, speaking in a keynote session today.
• Huawei launches first vehicle telematics range - Chinese giant Huawei has launched its first range of telematics solutions targeting the so-called connected car market.
• Ford And GM Forge Different Wireless Paths - While GM announced it was partnering with AT&T to bring wireless connectivity to its cars next year, Ford partnered with an Internet player, music streaming service Spotify, using iPhones as the wireless hubs for its cars. See also Spotify strikes Ford deal to fuel its in-car music ambitions
• French carmaker Renault  demonstrated the R-Link app store where its customers can buy apps for the road (think maps, weather updates, and streaming music) for its new in-dash tablet display for select car models to launch later this year. Source Bloomberg

Regulation

 

• For me , policy was an important area and Privacy + web developers featured on the agenda with a five year old running up at 1700 pound bill on iPad in ten minutes.
•   Companies are trying to be privacy friendly
•  Apps are also on the FTCs radar
•  The GSMA wants more regulation for privacy but less for spectrum J GSMA chairman: Spectrum, privacy must be high on agenda
• And so do the mobile CEOs - CEOs repeat call for lighter regulation

• Meanwhile - Brussels threatens to take governments to court to create single mobile market
• The Unesco publishes a new report on Internet freedom – “@UNESCO: Our standard-setting report on Internet freedom: “Freedom of Connection, Freedom of Expression” - large pdf version HERE 
•  Neelie Kroes gives an inspiring keynote covering many issues including spectrum Smashing barriers and thinking big

WebRTC

A chat with @disruptivedean has got me interested in webrtc. Agree with dean that webrtc disruptive

Some links:

• WebRTC – Ringing A Mobile Phone Near You - http://bit.ly/ZrTxMP “WebRTC goes beyond VoIP and video conferencing, with no plugins” #mozilla
• Mozilla, AT&T And Ericsson Team Up To Demo Seamless Web-To-Mobile WebRTC Integration At MWC

 

Connected city

I spent a lot of time with the connected city demos.

Extending the idea of a ‘connected house’ a connected city is a GSMA initiative featuring a town hall, department store, and apartment to an electrical store, hotel, cafe and lounge, and a car showroom etc

• AT&T, IBM and Other Brands Move Into Connected City at Mobile World Congress
•  IBM plugs big data capabilities into Deutsche Telekom’s M2M infrastructure for smarter cities

 

On the radar

 

• Qualcomm: ‘Augmented reality as a technology is starting to mature’
• Vodafone urged to give free text app Viber full access to network
• Shazam: ‘TV advertising is going to become our primary revenue stream’ - With tens of millions of weekly active users, Shazam wants to make second-screen ads a big deal for broadcasters.
• Deutsche Telekom partners with IBM for Smarter Cities
• Qualcomm: We will solve 4G roaming problem this year phones bought in one country usually aren’t compatible with the 4G frequencies used in the country you’re travelling to.
• LG acquires webOS from HP, plans to use it in smart TV platform (updated)  HD  -  This was an unpredictable announcement. The acquisition is expected to bring Internet services directly to consumer electronics devices
• Intel talks new chips, partners at Mobile World Congress
• Mobile games sales overtook handheld titles in Q4
• ZTE and Nvidia set for “super phone” debut
• Telefónica talks up Wi-Fi in an LTE world - Telefónica is demonstrating technology that enables smartphone and tablet users to move between a Wi-Fi and cellular network without losing coverage,
• Dropbox bemoans cloud complexity
• Small Cell Forum cranks up rollout efforts - Most operators see small cells as important, but only a few are rolling them out. 
• EE boss: OTT partnerships more important in 4G world - “We’re having to become more like the IT industry …
• NTT Docomo preps business model revamp - NTT Docomo is planning to shift its business model away from being platform-focused, towards a company providing mobile services
• Docomo, Orange and Samsung promise 2013 Tizen launches
• Viber CEO: Innovation more important than interop
• The Exploring Big Data project at Mobile World Congress 2013
• MobileIron wins Best Enterprise Mobile Service at Mobile World Congress.

If you are in Berlin next week, Meet me at the 3rd FOKUS Media Web Symposium where I am also speaking

Comments welcome at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com @ajitjaokar

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Image source:  Mobile World Congress 

 

Every year, I have attended this event and I enjoy it. Post MWC, it’s now on my agenda

If you are in Berlin, you should attend it.

The 3rd FOKUS Media Web Symposium

As usual, the event has two parts. The first day is tutorials and workshops

Connected TV
Multiscreen App Development
TV – hybrid, smart, social, multiscreen – what is the next?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The firefox OS release was the hottest announcement at MWC. The basics of the firefox OS announcement are well publicized by now.

• Following the lead of Telefonica and geeksphone, Mozilla revealed big-name supporters in the Operator community including Deutsche Telekom, Etisalat, Smart, Sprint, Telecom Italia, Telenor.
• Device vendors TCL Communication Technology (Alcatel One Touch) , ZTE, Huawei have joined and devices will be powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon™ chipset.
• The first wave of Firefox OS devices will be available to consumers in Brazil, Colombia, Hungary, Mexico, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Spain and Venezuela. Additional markets will be announced soon.
• Mozilla wants to launch a fully open mobile ecosystem built on HTML5. The first Firefox OS powered devices are expected to launch commercially in Brazil in 2013 through Telefonica’s commercial brand Vivo.
•  Firefox OS will be built on Mozilla’s Boot to Gecko project which enables HTML5 applications to access the underlying device capabilities of a phone -  e.g  the camera API.
• While there will be an official Firefox Marketplace, others could deploy their own marketplaces. Similarly, multiple payment methods are supported.
•  The devices themselves support many smartphone like features including camera, messaging etc alongwith built in cost controls,  social media integration and a deep contextual search that allows you to search the web and app ecosystem at the same time. For example searching for your favourite artist allows you to get buy concert tickets
• Mozilla aims to bring the first phones powered by its Firefox OS to Europe by the summer
• Even AT&T Mobility CEO says he’s open to Firefox OS

You can see a video here (from Richard Taylor, editor of Click Tout video )

Implications for the industry

The mobile world congress 2013 was focused on the next billion and in that sense, the Mozilla firefox OS device is in the same ballpark (being targeted to emerging markets)

The choice of HTML5 and the open Mozilla stack is interesting

I have blogged before that there are many reasons why HTML5 fits in well with Mobile Operator’s strategies.

On first glance, it sounds counter intuitive – especially when Mark Zuckerberg says betting on HTML5 was facebook’s biggest mistake and Google bets heavily on Android. (UPDATE – PS read this great article in the register as counterpoint for Zuckerberg view HTML5 is’nt facebook’s biggest mistake) 

However, assuming some problems are overcome, there are many reasons for synergies between HTML5 and Operators – for instance Operator could leverage their brand across many devices, the Operator can conduct trials for games through features like zero rating of data for initial uptake etc.

So, if we look at the Firefox OS announcement in that context, it makes more strategic sense.  Operator led initiatives have had little success historically – but the Firefox OS initiative is not (primarily) a collaboration between Operators but rather it is initially a collaboration between an Operator(Telefonica) and a major Internet player (firefox) which brings a vibrant developer community to the platform.  With the current announcement (18 Operators + 4 device vendors) – we have the possibility for a true ‘third ecosystem’ powered by developer support(from Mozilla)

An interesting feature- not much covered –  is ‘carrier customization’ especially around granular billing. This strategy has already tried out by the likes of  Opera web pass with limited success – but embedding such features deep inside a device could be very interesting for an Operator in emerging markets.

Strategically, the biggest impact of this announcement would be on devices in emerging markets(for example from Nokia) – but I expect over time – the ecosystem could well migrate to advanced markets.

In any case, the effort to create a truly open device is commendable and deserves recognition and support – especially when the more traditional proponents of Open systems seem to have abandoned the efforts – leading to an irony that the Operators have picked up the Open mantle ..

May it succeed

UPDATE:

Sony and Telefonica are also evaluating the firefox OS

Based on live chat see live chat tefdigital Radio_20 with  carlosdomingo on  #FirefoxOS - there are plans for site compression (like Opera Mini)

Related posts:

1) If you are in Berlin next week, I am speaking at Media Web Symposium at Fraunhofer FOKUS

2) Mobile World Congress 2013 roundup

Image source: Mozila

PS – I was pleased to get a developer version of this phone – but I have not tested it yet – which I look forward to doing so!

This is the future! Rarely have I put an entire ad on the OpenGardens blog – but this could be truly disruptive
This is the kind of innovation Operators should be doing!
May even cause me to switch from Voda
PS I have no commercial relationship with O2.

See the ad above

This is the first of the two innovative services from Telefonica(other being the Firefox OS- Mozilla announcement) a separate blog on that soon

Tu-go adds value to the customer and solves the ‘network effect problem’ because  Tu Go deducts charges from the user’s existing call minutes. In contrast, Skype and others involve the purchase of credit. Also, both parties do not need to have it – only the calling party.

Interestingly, Tony fish and I predicted this in 2005/2006 in our book Mobile Web 2.0 when we put forward the idea that I am not a number – I am a tag.  and its now really true

I am pleased about this!

 

 

 

 

 

 

At Mobile World congress – I am chairing – Where the Money Meets the Talent

Organised by Mobile Monday and the Grow VC Group – Mobile Monday – GrowVC – at Mobile World Congress 2013 – Where money meets Talent, this is a unique event about mobile startup funding at the Mobile World Congress 2013. The event will be a part of the “Bringing The Community Together” event on Thursday 28^th, February 09:40 to 15:00 in Hall 8.0 Theatre District, Theatre D.

From the press release:

Since 2008 it has been particularly difficult to raise money from and to VC funds. VC’s have had issues to raise more capital; it has also caused issues to fund companies that are already in their portfolio. At the same time capital efficiency has increased, that is startups can start with smaller initial capital. Many governments and local stakeholders also want to invest in building better startup ecosystems locally and want to participate in funding or attracting investors to operate locally.

Crowd funding and ‘open market places’ are emerging. There are also more local business angel networks, and for example governments have created tax benefits to attract more people to invest in startups. But the issue persists, how to get these to work together. Many startups prominently target the US market, when it has offered the best funding opportunities and exit market. At the same time emerging markets could offer easier routes to generate revenue and lead to organic growth.

The funding market has many issues, opportunities and new models. The conference has a top-level group of industry experts to talk about funding from several different angels.

 

Speakers:

Ajit Jaokar , Chairman – Founder, Futuretext and Feynlabs, Author

Krishna Visvanathan – Partner, DFJ Esprit

Jouko Ahvenainen – Founder and Chairman, Grow VC Group

Kevin McManus – Head of Creative and Digital at Liverpool Vision and Director of ACME, Liverpool Region Development Agency

Gary Stewart – Executive director of Wayra Spain

Rahim Adatia – Director, Mobile and Presentation Platform at PayPal

Artturi Tarjanne – Partner, Nexit Ventures

Pekka Sivonen – Head of AppCampus

Lionel Slusney – Founder, Loft Finance and Board Member, European Crowdfunding Network

 

The discussion looks for answers, for example, to the following questions:

• How do we see the future of VC funds?
• Do we have hype in the trend of incubators and local startup funding?
• How can we find models that different kind of investors could better work together?
• What kind of companies will make big success stories in mobile business during the next 2 years?

 

The Soho Loft Capital Creation Events, Forum Oxford, mobile education program of University of Oxford, and Webinos, a European cross-platform service industry and research project, are promotional partners for the conference. More information at Mobile Monday – GrowVC – at Mobile World Congress 2013 – Where money meets Talent

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Via Techdirt

I LIKE a president who addresses this issue ..

President Obama addresses the patent trolls issue – Admits That Patent Trolls Just Try To Extort Money and Reform Needed..

Question: High tech startups are an important engine of the American economy. When I go around and talk to other enterpreneurs, what I hear is that they’re afraid that if they become successful, they’re going to be targeted by patent trolls… What are you planning to do to limit the abuse of software patents?…

Obama: A couple years ago we began a process of patent reform. We actually passed some legislation that made progress on some of these issues. But it hasn’t captured all the problems.

The folks that you’re talking about are a classic example. They don’t actually produce anything themselves. They’re just trying to essentially leverage and hijack somebody else’s idea and see if they can extort some money out of them. Sometimes these things are challenging. Because we also want to make sure that patents are long enough, and that people’s intellectual property is protected. We’ve got to balance that with making sure that they’re not so long that innovation is reduced.

But I do think that our efforts at patent reform only went about halfway to where we need to go. What we need to do is pull together additional stakeholders and see if we can build some additional consensus on smarter patent laws.

This is true, by the way, across the board, when it comes to high tech issues. The technology is changing so fast, we want to protect privacy, we want to protect people’s civil liberties. We want to make sure the internet stays open. I’m an ardent believer that what’s powerful about the internet is its openness and the capacity for people to get out there and introduce a new idea with low barriers to entry. We also want to make sure that people’s intellectual property is protected. Whether it’s how we’re dealing with copyright, how we’re dealing with patents, how we’re dealing with piracy issues. What we’ve tried to do is be an honest broker between the various stakeholders and to continue to refine it — hopefully keeping up with the technology — which doesn’t mean that there won’t be some problems that we still haven’t identified and that we have to keep working on.

See the  Techdirt for the Google hangout

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This will be a long three part blog about how we are using the Raspberry Pi in the Feynlabs program as a way to introduce Computer science to kids

The Raspberry Pi is a platform – and as it’s creators have always indicated – it is the community which will drive it’s direction and evolution. Feynlabs is using the Raspberry Pi to teach the concepts of programming languages to kids and in doing so, creating a new way in which deep principles of Computer Science can be introduced to kids.

Feynlabs is the first initiative to teach the concepts of programming languages to kids  (as opposed to a specific programming language). By abstracting the common elements of programming languages, our aim is to rapidly learn any programming language

To get a background of my thinking, you should have a look at these three articles on which I will build upon

1) Five Principles to Radically Transform How We Teach Computer Programming – part One

2) Five Principles to Radically Transform How We Teach Computer Programming – part Two

3) How will next generation computing labs in schools look like?

As you can imagine, to achieve our goals of teaching the Concepts of Programming Languages to kids – we have to explore deep into Computer Science.

So, in this set of three articles, I will cover

a)      An outline of Computer Science for kids

b)      Our approach to teach computer science by abstracting the concepts of programming languages

c)       How we are using the Raspberry Pi in our work to teach the Concepts of Programming Languages

Some more introductory notes:

a)      feynlabs is addressing a unique (not yet addressed) problem – which I can encapsulate as ‘How do we take learners from 0 to 60 fast?’ i.e. accelerate the computer science learning stage so that they don’t get bogged down and can quickly see the ‘vista’ so to speak i.e. the big picture vision’. From a learning standpoint this would be a success because once the participant can see the big picture, they can add their own unique contribution/imagination to learning

b)      From our early trials, we can say that teaching ‘concepts of programming languages’ to kids is a unique experience because you have to start with the abstract (which can be more complex in some ways) – and then move to the concrete and finally move back to the abstract again i.e. move back to concepts. Specifically, our current approach is to start with the concepts (including the question of what is a ‘concept’) – then address the concrete implementation using Raspberry Pi and Python. This allows us to explore many aspects of Computer Science through Pi-face, Pygames etc.

c)       Finally, we move back to the abstract domain by looking at a classification of programming languages and specific implementations in other languages such as Processing, C, Java Script and others.

d)      This approach allows us to do some unique things such as co-relate programming to concrete examples, take a systems led approach etc.

Thus, Feynlabs is creating a set of unique techniques to teach computer science to kids based on

a)      Teaching the concepts of Programming Languages to kids and

b)      Using the Raspberry Pi and other devices to introduce the ideas we are developing so that the participants understand Computer Science

c)       We will evolve these techniques through the trails we are working with in the community

In this sense, our work through Feynlabs is far more complex than merely teaching programming.

So, in this context, what is computer science?

Here, I am building upon some excellent work in a paper called Computer Science: A curriculum for schools by the Computing at School Working Group endorsed by BCS, Microsoft, Google and Intellect – March 2012. You can read the full paper – Computer Science: A curriculum for schools

I will summarise the key ideas in this paper which we will build upon in the next two parts of this set of articles (emphasis mine)

• Computer Science is the study of principles and practices that underpin an understanding and modelling of computation, and of their application in the development of computer systems. At its heart lies the notion of computational thinking: a mode of thought that goes well beyond software and hardware, and that provides a framework within which to reason about systems and problems. This mode of thinking is supported and complemented by a substantial body of theoretical and practical knowledge, and by a set of powerful techniques for analysing, modelling and solving problems.
• Computer Science is deeply concerned with how computers and computer systems work, and how they are designed and programmed.
• Pupils studying computing gain insight into computational systems of all kinds, whether or not they include computers.
• Computational thinking influences fields such as biology, chemistry, linguistics, psychology, economics and statistics.
• It allows us to solve problems, design systems and understand the power and limits of human and machine intelligence.
• Computer Science is a practical subject, where invention and resourcefulness are encouraged.
• Computer Science is a discipline. To do this, education aspires primarily to teach disciplines with long-term value, rather than skills with short-term usefulness, although the latter are certainly useful. A “discipline” is characterised by: A body of knowledge, A set of techniques and methods, A way of thinking and working, Longevity:, Independence from specific technologies especially those that have a short shelf-life.
• Computer Science is a quintessential STEM discipline, sharing attributes with Engineering, Mathematics, Science, and Technology:  It has its own theoretical foundations and mathematical underpinnings, and involves the application of logic and reasoning. It embraces a scientific approach to measurement and experiment. It involves the design, construction, and testing of purposeful artefacts. It requires understanding, appreciation, and application of a wide range of technologies.
• Computer Science provides pupils with insights into other STEM disciplines, and with skills and knowledge that can be applied to the solution of problems in those disciplines. Although they are invisible and intangible, software systems are among the largest and most complex artefacts ever created by human beings. The marriage between software and hardware that is necessary to realize computer-based systems increases the level of complexity, and the complex web of inter-relationships between different systems increases it yet further. Understanding this complexity and bringing it under control is the central challenge of our discipline.
• In a world where computer-based systems have become all pervasive, those individuals and societies that are best equipped to meet this challenge will have a competitive edge.
• Computer Science and Information Technology are complementary, but they are not the same. Computer Science and Information Technology are complementary subjects. Computer Science teaches a pupil how to be an effective author of computational tools (i.e. software), while IT teaches how to be a thoughtful user of those tools. This neat juxtaposition is only part of the truth, because it focuses too narrowly on computers as a technology, and computing is much broader than that. As Dijkstra famously remarked, “Computer Science is no more about computers than astronomy is about telescopes
• We want our children to understand and play an active role in the digital world that surrounds them, not to be passive consumers of an opaque and mysterious technology. A sound understanding of computing concepts will help them see how to get the best from the systems they use, and how to solve problems when things go wrong. Moreover, citizens able to think in computational terms would be able to understand and rationally argue about issues involving computation, such as software patents, identity theft, genetic engineering, electronic voting systems for elections, and so on. In a world suffused by computation, every school-leaver should have an understanding of computing.
• A number of key concepts arise repeatedly in computing. They are grouped here under Languages, machines, and computation, Data and representation, Communication and coordination, Abstraction and design. It would not be sensible to teach these concepts as discrete topics in their own right. Rather, they constitute unifying themes that can be used as a way to understand and organise computing knowledge, and are more easily recognised by pupils after they have encountered several concrete examples of the concept in action.
• Much of the power of computers comes from their ability to store and manipulate very large quantities of data. The way in which this data is stored and manipulated can make enormous differences to the speed, robustness, and security of a computer system. This area of computing includes: How data is represented using bit patterns: including numbers, text, music, pictures. How data is stored and transmitted, including: redundancy, error checking, error correction; data compression and information theory; and encryption. How data is organised, for example, in data structures or in databases. How digital data is used to represent analogue measures, such as temperature, light intensity and sound. How analogue measures are converted to digital values and vice versa and how digital computers may be used to control other devices.
• Computers are communication devices. They enable human-to-human communication by way of machine-to-machine communication: a mobile phone computes in order to help us communicate. The design and implementation of these communications systems is a recurrent theme in computing:
• Abstraction is the main mechanism used to deal with complexity and enabling computerisation. Abstraction is both presenting a simplified version through information hiding and making an analysis to identify the essence or essential features.  The process of categorisation or classification that breaks down a complex system into a systematic analysis or representation.
• Computer systems have a profound impact on the society we live in, and computational thinking offers a new “lens” through which to look at ourselves and our world. The themes here are very open-ended, taking the form of questions that a thoughtful person might debate, rather than answers that a clever person might know. Intelligence and consciousness. The natural world. DNA encodes the sequence of amino acids that make up proteins. Creativity and intellectual property. Games, music, movies, gallery installations and performing arts are all transformed by computing and online experiences would not be possible without it. Should artistic ways of working be integrated with computational thinking?
• A key challenge in computational thinking is the scale and complexity of the systems we study or build. The main technique used to manage this complexity is abstraction5. The process of abstraction takes many specific forms, such as modelling, decomposing, and generalising. In each case, complexity is dealt with by hiding complicated details behind a simple abstraction, or model, of the situation. Modelling, Decomposing Generalising and classifying
• Computer Science is more than programming, but programming is an absolutely central process for Computer Science. In an educational context, programming encourages creativity, logical thought, precision and problem-solving, and helps foster the personal, learning and thinking skills required in the modern school curriculum. Every pupil should have repeated opportunities to design, write, run, and debug, executable programs. The ability to understand and explain a program is much more important than the ability to produce working but incomprehensible code.
• Depending on level, pupils should be able to: Design and write programs that include Sequencing: doing one step after another, o Selection (if-then-else): doing either one thing or another, Repetition (Iterative loops or recursion), Language constructs that support abstraction: wrapping up a computation in a named abstraction, so that it can be re-used. (The most common form of abstraction is the notion of a “procedure” or “function” with parameters.), Some form of interaction with the program’s environment, such as input/output, or event-based programming.

• Our approach to teach computer science by abstracting the concepts of programming languages
•  How we are using the Raspberry Pi in our work to teach the Concepts of Programming Languages

comments and feedback welcome at ajit.jaokar at futuretext.com 

Image source: Raspberry Pi foundation

 

 

 

 

 

Eager to get your hands on IBM Worklight and develop a cool hybrid app while at Mobile World Congress?

I am hosting the IBM worklight and hybrid apps mobile hackathon at Mobile World Congress. If you are there, very happy to meet up. Details from their site below

Join IBM Mobile (@IBMMobile) and host Ajit Jaokar (@AjitJaokar) for a mobile app hackathon on Monday, February 25th from 3-5pm in Hall 8, Theatre D. Ajit brings his wealth of expertise and enthusiasm to this hackathon combining his background from research, academia and technology.

This hackathon presents a unique opportunity to interact with IBM Worklight experts, and experiment with advanced capabilities of the IBM Worklight mobile application development platform. Use push notifications, geo location, hybrid capabilities and other mobile services to build compelling apps with rich user experience.

Afterward, we encourage you to stay from 5-7pm for IBM’s technical conference to learn about our latest announcements and capabilities in the mobile space including testing, dev ops, analytics, management and security. The session will end with Ajit showing off your apps to the hundreds of attendees in attendance.

We’ll Supply: Food to keep you motivated and caffeine to keep you awake! We’ll also give you a brief tutorial of Worklight beforehand and Worklight SMEs will be on-site to help you navigate the interface and perhaps even fix some of your code errors so that you have something presentable to show at the end of the day!

You’ll Supply: Your laptop preloaded with Worklight and your knowledge to build a show-worthy app in 2 hours.

Get started now with IBM Worklight:

Download a step-by-step guide to get started | View a series of how-to videos

Register today to take part in this exciting opportunity.  Then, we’ll be in touch with further instructions & training before you arrive on-site in Barcelona.

Don’t Wait! We will only be accepting the first 10 people to register, so sign up now via ibmmobile.eventbrite.com. Good luck and we’ll see you at MWC!