Can the world’s problems be solved with good abstractions? How about without?

Abstractions precisely specify how a system component (a concurrent data

structure, for example) is allowed to behave, without dictating how this

is to be enforced.  Users need not know or understand details of the

implementation, and implementors are free to innovate, provided they

continue to guarantee behaviour consistent with the defined abstraction.

 The art of defining good abstractions that provide what users need

while minimally constraining implementors is critical to successful

development and evolution of computer systems.

This talk explores whether good abstractions may also be useful—or

even necessary—in addressing social, legal and political issues that

require careful balance of technical issues.  We will touch on examples

around issues such as privacy, security, anonymity, accountability, and

freedom of expression.  Rather than proposing specific solutions, this

talk aims to stimulate discussion about ways in which technical people

could potentially contribute to addressing some of these important issues.

Dr. Mark Moir

Bio:

Dr. Moir is an expert in Concurrency Abstractions with more than 20 years in Computer Science research. He received the B.Sc.(Hons.) degree in Computer Science from Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand in 1988, and the Ph.D. degree in Computer Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA in 1996.  From August 1996 until June 2000, he was an assistant professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of Pittsburgh.  In June 2000, he joined Sun Labs.  Moir later become the Principal Investigator of the Scalable Synchronization Research Group in Oracle Labs, due to Oracle acquiring Sun in 2010.

Dr. Moir was named as a Sun Microsystems Distinguished Engineer in 2009.  His main research interests concern practical and theoretical aspects of concurrent, distributed, and real-time computing.  His current research focuses on hardware and software mechanisms for making it easier to develop scalable, efficient, and correct concurrent programs for shared-memory multiprocessors.

Dr. Moir is the only speaker that have presented at every Multicore World since its creation in 2012.

Mark Moir

Page at Multicore World 2014 -with links to 2013 and 2012.