By web evolution I’m not talking Internet 4.0, I’m talking Darwinian survival. In the Darwinian model, evolution requires three things:… Read More
The Next Generation of Standards
By ieeessit on November 15th, 2017 in Societal Impact, Video & Podcasts, Videos
Video: The Next Generation of Standards (a recorded E4C Webinar) Standards remain especially important for products that address the world’s… Read More
The Privacy Slippery Slope
By Jim Isaak on November 10th, 2017 in Articles, Ethics, Privacy & Security
Where did the privacy slippery slope begin? Or perhaps asking the question with more focus, when did we start trading… Read More
Katina Michaels discusses implantables at RadComms 2017
By Guest Author on November 8th, 2017 in Health & Medical, Societal Impact, Video & Podcasts, Videos
November 2, 2017 Sydney, Australia
Guerrilla Marketing and Individualization
By Jim Isaak on November 3rd, 2017 in Articles, Privacy & Security
We may be passing a tipping point in the area of individualized marketing/advertising. This has surfaced as the U.S. Federal… Read More
IEEE-SSIT Tackles Standards Development
By Jim Isaak on October 31st, 2017 in Articles, Ethics, Standards
A Guest Blog Post from: Victoria A. Hailey, CMC & Katherine Bennett, (standards development leaders in IEEE). On 28 September 2017,… Read More
Pollution Kills
By Jim Isaak on October 28th, 2017 in Articles, Environment
Recent research indicates that pollution (air, water, …) is a major killer on a global basis. That pollution kills is… Read More
We Need to Talk about the Web
By Martin Stewart-Weeks on October 24th, 2017 in Commentary, Health & Medical, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
The conversation about “Web Science” is becoming more urgent and more central to the future of the planet and the way we live a life worth living.
Privacy and Gun Control
By Jim Isaak on October 20th, 2017 in Articles, Human Impacts, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Periodically, often after a unconscionable massacre such as Las Vegas or Orlando, the United States reviews the balance between the… Read More
BOOK REVIEW: Facist Pigs
By Nicholas G. Evans on October 20th, 2017 in Book Reviews, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
In today’s world of climate denial and vaccine skepticism, one would be forgiven for assuming that an anti-intellectual, anti-expertise, anti-truth wave is sweeping the globe, and that the rise of the far right necessarily spells an end for science-informed policy.
Richard Harris – How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions.
By SFIS on October 17th, 2017 in Podcasts, Societal Impact, Video & Podcasts
NPR’s Richard Harris joins Andrew Maynard and Heather Ross to talk about his new book Rigor Mortis: How Sloppy Science Creates Worthless Cures, Crushes Hope, and Wastes Billions.
Tech Evolution for Village Communities
By Jim Isaak on October 16th, 2017 in Articles, Human Impacts, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Consider the fairly typical residence in this picture from Mfuwe, Zambia. This site has external sanitation facilities, a wood cook… Read More
Were We “Brave” @Braveconvos #Braveconversations?
By Anni Rowland-Campbell on October 12th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
At Brave Conversations we tried to do something different — not to have a conventional conference where everyone hid behind their professional personae, delivered papers and were generally spoken at.
LETTER: Licensing Engineering Professionals
By Guest Author on October 12th, 2017 in Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
Licensing of Engineering Professionals: Is there any validity to this practice? The Education Department of the State of New York says — there is. IEEE Policy also says there is. The reality, I have come to continuously over four decades in practice as an electrical power engineer in the service of more than a dozen U.S. firms — is that there is none!
Retreat to Move Forward : Alleviating Allostatic Load for the Brave
By Christine Perakslis on October 9th, 2017 in Human Impacts, Last Word, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
We need our brains to adapt advantageously for ingenious design and development, especially as the time between stimulus and response becomes precariously pressurized.
Biometric Surveillance and the Right to Privacy
By Angus Willoughby on October 5th, 2017 in Commentary, Ethics, Magazine Articles, Privacy & Security
Using biometric technology to identify and monitor people raises human rights concerns. In particular, biometrics are often associated with intrusions into privacy.
Which Came First: Technology or Society?
By Jim Isaak on October 2nd, 2017 in Articles, Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact
Which came first: technology or society? Did the formation of social collaboration among early humanoids precede the first “technological” advances (fire, stone tools, etc.), or did these technologies form the catalyst for building more complex social structures?
The Next Generation of Socio-Technical Systems
By Steghofer on September 29th, 2017 in Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
The next generation of socio-technical system can be seen as a kind of “focal point” for the convergence of a number of current trends in computing, information systems, and information technology. These trends include the technology-driven instrumentation of infrastructure by ubiquitous computing and/or “intelligent” devices, with the prefix “smart” now taking precedence over the prefix “e-,” i.e. SmartGrids, SmartCities, SmartMotorways, etc., rather than the e-commerce. e-health, e-learning initiatives commonplace at the turn of millennium.
Operationalizing SSIT’s 5 Pillars: Pillar 2: Ethics, Human Values and Technology
By Paul Cunningham on September 29th, 2017 in Ethics, Magazine Articles, President's Message
Pillar 2 is focused on professional and research ethics, ethics in the development of technologies, ethics in the context of Sustainable Development and Humanitarian Technology, as well as engineering ethics education.
On Country
By Alexander Hayes on September 26th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Robotics, Societal Impact
Mining has had an impact on many Aboriginal communities in Australia. As we move to a mining sector where dump trucks, underground excavators, loaders, and conveyor systems are transformed into partial or fully autonomous systems, there is little or no human labor required other than to maintain equipment or provide oversight using a range of distant surveillance technologies.