International Journal of Applied Research on Information Technology and Computing

Predictive computation is rapidly becoming the new focus of computer science and technological development. In some cases, under marketing pressure, it is characterised as ‘anticipatory computing.’ In other cases, computation is expected to deliver predictive phenotyping, or new materials that will behave according to predefined expectations. Since dealing with the future is significant from the perspective of acknowledging and preparing for change, concepts pertinent to describing the future take on importance. There is a pragmatic necessity for establishing a common understanding of various aspects of prediction: forecasting, premonition, guessing, inference, foretelling, prolepsis, expectation, etc. Technology affords new possibilities, such as wearables and mobile computation. However, technology does not substitute for a sense of direction.