When Jungpil Hahn was appointed head of the Department of Information Systems and Analytics at NUS Computing in 2015, it changed his perspective on many things.

“I began to see the broader picture of the discipline as a whole, and began to think holistically about what we are teaching and what we are missing in the overall curriculum,” recalls Associate Professor Hahn. “That’s when I saw the urgency and extent of the problem.”

Technology has been a boon to our lives in so many ways. At dinner with friends and can’t agree who Jennifer Aniston is currently married to? A couple of taps on your smartphone and Wikipedia will settle the debate for you. Have a craving for cream puffs? Send out an order on Deliveroo and you’ll get your Beard Papa’s in under 30 minutes. Want to find out what happens next on the Korean hospital drama you’re watching? Just click ‘Next episode.’

Consider a programmer sitting at her desk, trying to fix an error in a software system. First, she had to determine what was causing the problem and trace its source to a specific location within the programme’s code. Then she has to speculate on strategies that would fix the error, and test various patches to the code to see which one worked best. The entire process — called debugging — is an incredibly laborious and time-consuming process. It’s one that has vexed computer programmers for years, and continues to do so today.

When you’re ill, seeing the doctor is one thing. Getting your prescription filled is another. If you live in an industrialised country, you probably wouldn’t think twice about the latter — you walk into a pharmacy and there’s the medication you need.