Bill Gates in TsinghuaUniversity
On his 10th tour of China, Microsoft Corporation Chairman Bill Gates made a stir in Beijing. The speech he delivered along with the new programs he offered to TsinghuaUniversity gained him more than the admiration of the nation's younger generation. Also, he has turned from the richest man to a philanthropist, making charities as his first concern, caring for human public interest. He's becoming more and more Chinese people's role model today than ever before.
Bill Gates, Former Chairman of Microsoft Corporation was awarded Tsinghua University Honorary Doctorate. The awarding ceremony was held in the main campus where Tsinghua President Gu Binglin awarded the diploma to Mr. Gates. As he thanked president Gu and Tsinghua he said: “In the past decade, Microsoft and Tsinghua have good cooperation in academic exchange and student training. There is great potential for us to work together in the fields of software engineering and next generation Internet technology, especially the fostering of future leaders for software development,”
After that, Mr. Gates delivered a speech titled “The Way Ahead: Innovating Together in China.” Where he emphasized the importance of innovation and cooperation as he believe that we are in the “Second Information Age” where the first is the invention of computer and now we are in a more exciting time. He said: “We will make more progress in the next 10 years than previous 30 years. Today the world has over a billion personal computers, 250 million people has broadband connection to their home, and 45% of world population has mobile phones. Clear that we've made enormous advances but there will be more because in the near future, every electronic device will be connected to the Internet and to powerful services such as mapping, storage, location-awareness, etc. To do that, computer must have natural user interface where people will interact with computers and technology as we do with people such as vision, touch, speech, ink, etc. and software as a services platform will enable this to happen soon. The combination of software on client or server and software over the Internet or “in the cloud” will do immediate processing—for things like voice recognition you will want very quick response time as software “in the cloud” will access information, contacts, help do most processing, etc.”
Mr. Gates emphasized that “In an increasingly digital world, software is going to be more and more important, even though you may not see it working; software is what makes many of the most exciting things possible in different aspects of your life such as find information about nearly any topic instantly. Create maps customized with driving directions on your mobile phone. Take and share photos instantly with friends and family no matter where they live. Trade stocks online. Learn about a specific disease. Chat for free in real-time with somebody halfway around the world. Find the best possible price for airline tickets. Watch a concert online instead of TV. Share your favorite songs with friends etc. None of these would be possible without software. Amazing thing about software is that when it works well, it's like magic and you can't tell how it does what it does, but it just makes your life easier in many practical ways”.
However, Gates also warned: “It is important for every country to improve the education of its citizen, especially technical education because one of the consequences of this digital age is that everyone has been transformed into an information worker. This is true for everyone from the retail store worker who uses a handheld scanner to track inventory to the CEO who uses business intelligence software to analyze critical market trends. To thrive in today's global knowledge economy, developed and developing countries need to focus on building the productive capacities of their workforce. The best way to boost productivity is through investments in information technology educations. Without proper education, there will be significant consequences”.
Gates said: “With a broadband connection, it no longer matter where a software developer lives— whether in Seattle, Beijing, or Bangalore so every country can participate in the global economy. But competitive advantage can only come from strengthening workforce skills through investments in education. In an increasingly globalized economy, knowledge and skills are the key differentiators of nations as well as individuals. In the U.S., we've been fortunate to benefit from access to a deep pool of scientists and engineers trained in U.S. universities and our economic leadership has always been driven by the ability of American companies to turn innovations — the Internet, fiber optics, genomics, and much more — into thriving businesses that create high-paying jobs for millions of people. The success of high-tech regions such as Silicon Valley has been driven by their great IT infrastructure and their connection and proximity to great universities such as Stanford, Berkeley and Carnegie Mellon. Now we see this being replicated in places like China with TsinghuaUniversity and I commend your great leaders who have had the foresight to invest in software education of their citizens. We at Microsoft believe in the power of technology to transform education, foster local innovation and enable job and economic growth for everyone. That is why we at Microsoft want to encourage young people around the world to apply their passion, imagination, and creativity to software development. We want to help students realize their full potential and experience the opportunities in careers in computer science and software engineering. We want to drive innovation to solve the world's toughest problems, including healthcare, education, and this year's theme, the environment. We want to help students who represent the next generation of technology and business leaders to start new businesses that drive growth and economic development in their countries.
In closing, Mr. Gates said: “I am optimistic that we will see more innovation in the next 10 years than we've seen in the past 30 years, We believe that by improving education, especially in technology education together we will encourage students to use their passion and creativity to make life better for everybody as we all are citizens of the world."
Sources
- Blogs of Prof. John Vu, Carnegie Mellon University
