Everyday superheroes
John Dovey
President UK corporates
BT Global Services
Among all the items about the
sub-prime crisis and the credit crunch, one news story really
caught my attention. It was about a
robotic
suit being developed for the US Army.
The suit is full of computer-controlled hydraulic devices, with
a light-weight exoskeleton that gives those who wear it superhuman
powers. Demonstrating its uses in a gym, one of the software
engineers working on the project pulled down twice his own weight,
repeating the task time after time without breaking a sweat. In the
future, it seems, even physically-demanding tasks will be a
breeze.
Given the complexities of the technology involved, getting the
suit to work was a real achievement. However, it was something else
that piqued my interest: it is not often you see such a vivid
demonstration of how technology is changing our lives and the
challenges technologists have to overcome.
On reflection, the networked IT systems our industry supplies
are invisible analogues of the suit - exoskeletons that surround
people, extending their natural abilities. Equipped with these
suits, average office "superheroes" routinely complete tasks once
well beyond a single person's reach - even the reach of whole
teams. Complex calculations and processes are completed in minutes
or hours instead of days or weeks.
Business has benefited, as have individuals and society.
With PCs and broadband connections, we are no longer limited by
what our home town or, even, our home continent has to offer.
Whenever we want to buy, sell, study or be entertained, we can do
so wherever in the world is best - and all without leaving our
homes.
Elsewhere, IT is transforming public services, improving
standards of healthcare, helping us to reduce our impact on the
environment, and more. The list of benefits gets longer every
day.
But, before you get too excited about all the good our industry
has done, take another look at that robotic suit. Two things about
it should make you stop and think.
First, new users will be clumsy - a bit like babies doing things
for the first time. They will need to adjust to the strength
afforded them by the suit. In the meantime, they are likely to make
mistakes.
It is not always as obvious as it was at
Terminal 5 recently, but much the same is true when people are
given IT systems and other new technologies. Traders thought they
understood how to use the complex financial products IT made
possible, for example, but the current crisis may yet prove them
wrong.
The final thing the suit highlights is that new technologies can
be used for both good and evil. Imagine trying to secure premises
against super villains in robotic suits. It is not going to be
easy, but neither is defending IT systems against bot attacks. What
is certain, though, is that just looking at the benefits is a
mistake. The risks are every bit as important, and require just as
much attention.
Most of us appreciate such things, of course - it is why so many
of our projects work out right. But high profile failures continue
to plague our industry, tarnishing our reputation. It is the
failures we need to do something about.