Concept-Oriented Research and Development in Information Technology

6

Fusion of Technologies

Yinong Chen

Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, USA

Abstract

In technology fusion, two or more separate core technologies are transformed into a combination or conglomerate of technologies to function in unison or synergistically. An example would be a combination of electronic, mechanical, and other engineering methodologies to form mechatronics (see Section 10.1), a term coined by Tetsuro Mori, senior engineer at the Japanese company Yaskawa in 1969. Technology fusion is an innovative process that creates new market and growth potential for all participants. Several examples of technology fusion are discussed in this chapter: hardware–software fusion (Section 6.2), computing–communication fusion (Section 6.3), fusion between virtual and physical reality (Section 6.4), service-oriented architecture (Section 6.5), data or functional mashup (Section 6.6), cloud (i.e., distributed) computing (Section 6.7), and concept-oriented system development (Section 6.8). Two flowcharts showing executable workflow and one flowchart outlining a robotic application are presented in Section 6.8 to illustrate concept-oriented system development.

6.1 Introduction

Engineering is the application of scientific, technologic, economic, and social knowledge to solve human problems, and it is a systematic, disciplined, and quantifiable approach to the development, operation, and maintenance of an object or a system. As a key component of the research and development (R&D) ...