The continual improvement in productivity in silicon integrated circuits over the past four decades, and the related lower cost of computing and communications bandwidth, has led the world to the “Connectivity Era”. Lamentably, this grand technological leap has been achieved with minimal and ineffectual regard for privacy and the security of data stored or in motion through these digital systems. Today, despite the claims of ironclad security made by the makers of cyber protection solutions, their efforts have produced little more than transitory impediments to cyber attacks, as the headlines inform us daily.

Similarly, these advances were all achieved with absolutely no regards to the financial and environmental consequences arising from gargantuan energy consumption of these digital systems. Today this digital economy consumes roughly 10% of the world's electricity. Moreover, as we move deeper into the Connectivity Era, computing will evolve into a very different phenomenon than seen before. Processing elements will effectively be invisible as long as the ability to access any amount of computing power and resources, where and when needed, is assured. This requires a degree of computing elasticity, which is inconceivable through today’s virtualization techniques.

Since the 21^st century economy hinges on continued computational progress, addressing these challenges have become a dominant force affecting every corner of cyberspace.