To Siliconomy and Beyond: Key Takeaways from Intel Vision 2023

Intel recently hosted its Intel® Vision 2023 conference May 8-10 in Orlando, Florida, showcasing the developments that will fuel business transformation and accelerate growth. Keynote presentations and technology demonstrations covered topics ranging from the cloud and the edge to security, sustainability and more – all focused on driving the future of innovation.

As a Silver sponsor of this year's event, World Wide Technology (WWT) was excited to be a part of what's next for the future of technology as Intel leaders shared their collective vision, identified important trends, and introduced fresh innovations. And, the event provided us with a platform for showcasing WWT's own solution advancements incorporating Intel® technology.

In a departure from previous events, Intel Vision 2023 attendance was by invitation-only to allow for more intimate interaction with select voices representing major industry segments. We'd like to share a few of WWT's key takeaways from the event – along with our own technology contributions.

Creating a 'siliconomy' designed for sustainability

A key recurring theme of Intel Vision 2023 was introduced by Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger, who coined the term 'siliconomy' to describe the interconnecting world of humanity and technology as we continue to insinuate new applications into everyday life: transforming the watches we wear, the smart phones we carry, and the soon-to-be-autonomous cars we drive. Every industry, from healthcare and government to manufacturing and education, is being touched by the siliconomy.

For developers, the conversation is no longer solely about cloud-native applications with easy portability – it's being overtaken by discussions focused on the edge, where technology gets used and data is consumed.

An important feature of the siliconomy is its commitment to sustainability at every step, deriving more benefits while reducing costs, power usage and environmental impact. It encompasses Intel's meticulously vetted supply chain, operational sustainability, and steady progress toward more zero-waste product packaging. Intel has self-imposed a goal of continuous improvement, always reaching for greater performance per unit of energy. To underscore its forward vision, Intel even shared its sustainability goals for the coming decades and how it plans to achieve its 2030 and 2040 milestones. This level of commitment, Intel believes, makes it the world's most sustainability-conscious semiconductor company.

The edge grows in importance and complexity

Mr. Gelsinger challenged attendees to think bigger, embrace limitless possibilities, and push the boundaries of how new technologies can be deployed.

The edge, along with cloud and on-prem, represent the multiple legs of a strong, stable solution stool – carefully planned and prescriptive in nature, its components providing seamless support together, taking into account the three laws of edge computing:

• Physics – The speed and scale of how assets are deployed, how they're connected, and where they're used, whether in a cell tower, parking lot, server rack, or other such environment. Especially important is how quickly edge data is retrieved and processed for actionable, real-time insights – and how that might be difficult if data must travel to the cloud and back. For example, to foil theft and abuse in automated retail checkout stations, it's essential to identify improperly scanned items before they leave the store. Consider the speed required to ingest and respond to data, all while enabling scalability.
• Economics –  The inefficiency and prohibitive cost of trying to bring all edge-created data back to the cloud. Again, a speedy response can make a critical difference. The trick is in identifying which solutions are appropriate for the cloud, and which ones are most suitable for edge deployments.
• Land –  Security and privacy play a critical role in data collection.  Rules governing data sovereignty and locality will call for solutions that keep data where it is collected and not simply transferred to a public cloud repository.

In short, today's emerging edge solutions offer a host of benefits in terms of speed and scalability. But they are complex and constantly changing, which requires careful planning and direction from an experienced advisor to move forward effectively with confidence and clear purpose.

Intel sharpens the focus on software and security

Intel employs some 19,000 software developers – a larger head count than what Mr. Gelsinger had when he managed an entire software company. And, it's a testimonial to Intel's major focus on the role of software and its integration into balanced technology solutions. 

A critical component of virtually every software application is security, and Intel Vision 2023 dedicated considerable attention to Intel's efforts on that front. Key elements discussed include:

• Confidential computing, offering hardware-based security solutions to help protect data in use through special application-isolation technology, safeguarding sensitive assets wherever they reside. In this way, developers can run sensitive operations inside enclaves to strengthen security and promote confidentiality.
• Responsible artificial intelligence (AI) is becoming a race between a transformative technology – one that's growing exponentially, nearly 4X faster than any other – and our ability to prevent its misuse for malign purposes. Intel is collaborating with Boston Consulting Group on generative AI using specialized end-to-end Intel® architecture to bring customized, proprietary solutions to enterprise clients.
• Software-defined silicon is exemplified by the 4th Generation Intel® Xeon® Scalable processor featuring built-in Intel® Accelerator Engines to deliver performance and power efficiency across demanding workloads.
• Intel® Developer Cloud environment offers early access to the latest hardware and software assets, helping developers to analyze and optimize workflows. Like WWT's own Advanced Technology Center, this environment provides access to the software experience without incurring the cost of a heavy lift – resources that speed development on Intel architecture.

A sampling of the Intel-affiliated software and security solutions showcased at Intel Vision 2023 included Convrg.io, a full-stack machine learning operating system designed to streamline the machine learning process; GeTI, a computer vision platform designed to simplify data labeling, model training and deployment within the AI sphere; and Project Amber, a confidential computing solution for providing workload attestation in a cloud-agnostic environment.

WWT demos a vision for SDI on Intel® technology

As a close technology ally of Intel's, WWT used the conference to showcase its own possibilities for software-defined infrastructure (SDI) incorporating such Intel® technologies as 4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel® Data Center GPU Flex 140. In addition, WWT is working with Pure Storage and VMware on leveraging these latest technologies in joint offerings, expanding the features and functionality of their respective products.

These potential proofs of concept, which could benefit a host of industries and applications, can be explored in the ATC, our own multi-campus R&D ecosystem. Here, customers are free to observe emerging technologies at work in a real-world environment ahead of making a serious investment. Intel's own developer environment is complementary to the ATC, helping customers to speed projects to market faster on Intel architecture.

A tribute to the first Intel visionary: Gordon Moore

These were just a few of the key takeaways WWT gleaned from this year's Intel Vision 2023 event. Once again participants gathered to showcase the accelerating advance of technology, predict its ultimate impact on humanity, underscore the need for sustainability, restate the importance of security, and explore new possibilities for continued innovation.

Intel Vision 2023 also noted the recent passing of Intel co-founder and creator of Moore's Law, Gordon Moore.  It was Mr. Moore who accurately predicted the steady rate of miniaturization of transistors across decades, and who provided us with a guiding principle: "What can be done, can be outdone."

WWT invites you to discover our own approach to Gordon Moore's legacy: contact us for an opportunity to explore these emerging aspects of the siliconomy in our ATC.