Ed, et al,
An op-ed by Yves Frégnac and Giles Laurent ran in the current issue
of Nature, on the European Human Brain Project. Funds in the amount
of $1B was allocated for the project. The authors make several
points:
· "...the project is turning into
an expensive database-management project with a hunt for new
computing architectures."
· "Many scientists also feared
that the HBP would siphon funds from fundamental research.
[however]...neuroscientists (ourselves included) joined up, even if
they did not agree with all aspects of the HBP proposal..."
· "The board also announced plans
to dissolve the cognitive-neuroscience sub-programme, leading to the
resignation of that project's 18 principal investigators, including
its director. Neuroscientists who initially supported the HBP feel
that they have been taken advantage of.
· "The
changes to the HBP are not only disingenuous, they are
self-defeating. About €430 million (US$570 million) of the
European Commission funding goes to the HBP's 'core team'.
·"Given
the sizeable fraction of the HBP's core budget devoted to
administration, we cannot feel assured that the HBP is managed
cost-effectively or adapted for research operations across
Europe."
The authors then list three possible remedies to address these
problems.
Also of note is that "connectome"
appears to be replacing "ontology" as the schema for thought."
If this is the European opportunity for a next generation
information processing platform then we must wonder what the
standing position of the U.S. will be. (IBM is a partner in this
project.)
A link to the article:
http://www.nature.com/news/neuroscience-where-is-the-brain-in-the-human-brain-project-1.15803
-John Bottoms
FirstStar Systems
Concord, MA USA
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