Page 38: of Marine Technology Magazine (July 2016)

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When it comes to inspiring innovation

Marks the Spot ‘X’

The XPrize is seeking to in- centivize innovation to spur a new era of ocean discov- ery, as Jyotika I. Virmani,

Ph.D. explains.

We are living in an age of rapid inno- vation. Over the past 150,000 years we have evolved primarily in a local and linear world where most of our activities happened within a day’s walk. Life was relatively constant, millennium to mil- lennium. The Industrial Revolution and the advent of the Steam Engine saw a shift from this predominantly arable and local lifestyle, to an era of global explo- ration.

But approximately 70% of the world still remained out of reach. The ocean, with its harsh, opaque saltwater, eluded the rapid pace of exploration and dis- covery we saw on land. But today, this is changing, and it is changing at an in- creasingly rapid pace.

Our world is not linear and local any- more, it is exponential and global. The power and capabilities we have with the technology that we use is doubling ev- ery year. For example, in the 1950s, our data storage capability was 5 MB at a cost of $120,000. In 2005, 128 MB cost $99. Today, we can purchase 128 GB for $40, with Terabyte storage capacity becoming the new norm. Today’s aver- age low end computer calculates at a rate of 1011 calculations per second – about

Image: XPrize

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