The Role of Software Engineering in Systems for Design and Process Control

Nearly four years ago I spoke at the Second World Conference on Integrated Design and Process Technology in Austin; and now I am speaking to the Fifth World Conference, at which SDPS is joined by a sister society, the Software Engineering Society. On both occasions, I have relied upon technology — appearing not in material form but as mind, that is to say, not by physical transport but represented by disembodied words. As I am going to take up my remarks where I left off on the final theme of my talk of four years ago, and as the computer on which I am drafting these remarks has probably never been turned off in the intervening years, this may represent one of the longest speeches in history. I don’t know whether that is a record to be proud of or not, but it might make me eligible for the Guiness Book of Records.