Ivona Brandic: From Sustainable IT to the IT for the Sustainable World

Public Lecture Series "Sustainability in Computer Science"
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Speaker: Ivona Brandic
Abstract:
In the first part of this talk, we will discuss the concepts of sustainable IT. We will present novel approaches for sustainable fault tolerance and trustworthy geographically distributed AI applications utilized on systems ranging from the size of a smartphone to a warehouse-scale data center. Furthermore, we will discuss the novel concept of hybrid classic/quantum systems as a response to the increasing demand for computational resources. Scientific applications are nowadays utilizing different types of hardware accelerators, including GPUs, TPUs, and NPUs. With the arrival of the post Moore Era and the rise of quantum computing, we are experiencing new opportunities but also challenges when trying to integrate quantum computers into the well-known computational continuum. This integration into so-called hybrid systems promises resource efficiency at a new order of magnitude. We will discuss challenges regarding data encoding, noise, transpilation, and the high heterogeneity of quantum architectures, which necessitate the development and integration of additional hardware/software layers. In the second part of the talk, we will present several use cases where IT can be utilized to combat climate change and help us develop a more sustainable world, including sustainable watershed management through IoT-driven artificial intelligence and satellite-based monitoring of livestock in the Alpine region.