Computers to rival humans

Within three years, computers will be able to function at the speed of human thought, Alfred Zollar, worldwide president and general manager, IBM Tivoli Software predicted in his keynote address at GITEX Technology Week held last week in Dubai.

"By 2010, supercomputers will execute one quadrillion calculations per second," Zollar said in his speech ‘Innovation that matters', the inaugural speech of the exhibition. "We will have computing capacity that operates at the same speed as the human brain."

Zollar defined innovation as "the ability to bring insights that can bring long-term societal or economic value".

Approximately 49% of economic growth in the US comes from IT, Zollar told the audience at the well-attended event.