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!
Category: Social Implications of Technology
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.
Tragedy of the Digital Commons: Amplified Zombies
By Renato Iannella on September 20th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
There is an unshakable faith in our industry that we can do anything and that everything we do must be good and beneficial to society. Our industry has had similar crises before, such as dot-com busts, that exposed our assumptions, but the ideas are still here. As an industry and society, can we continue to develop solutions that unduly amplify human behavior – so that we provide and support a way for harm to be normalized? As an industry and society, can we continue to promote solutions based on long-held and dominate theories – so that the wider community is misled by influential advocates? The answer is a clear “no” to both.
Should We Trust Robots?
By SFIS on September 19th, 2017 in Podcasts, Robotics
Philosopher-ethicist Jai Galliott and cybersecurity-engineer-computer scientist Benjamin Turnbull from the University of New South Wales join Andrew Maynard and Heather… Read More
Go “Get Chipped”
By Katina Michael on September 18th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles
In 1997 Eduardo Kac became the first human to implant himself with a non-medical device in the performance art work titled “Time Capsule”
WikiCyberLeaks
By terribookman on September 1st, 2017 in Social Implications of Technology
March 26, 2017 Our cybersecurity team of Adam Doupé and Jamie Winterton reunites with Andrew Maynard and Heather Ross to… Read More
We Are Not Spiritual Machines, We Are People
By Katina Michael on August 22nd, 2017 in Social Implications of Technology, Societal Impact, Video & Podcasts, Videos
Katina Michael on “What Makes Us Human?” Recorded on 14 June 2013 at the University of Wollongong, Australia. Video credit… Read More
Katina Michael Receives Brian M. O’Connell Distinguished Service Award
By terribookman on August 10th, 2017 in News and Notes, Societal Impact
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine Editor-in-Chief Katina Michael has been recognized with SSIT’s highest award for service with the Brian M. O’Connell… Read More
Intentionality: Value Apart from the Machine
By Christine Perakslis on August 4th, 2017 in Human Impacts, Last Word, Magazine Articles
The effect of technologies on our lives might be less about technology and more about the priorities and parameters we set.
The Dangers of Distributed Intelligence
By Guest Author on August 4th, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
There is an increasing interest in, and implementation of the Internet of Things. As the number and types of interconnections… Read More
Ikehara Collection: Norbert Wiener’s Japan Connections
By Heather Love on August 4th, 2017 in Commentary, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
A new archive of material added a new historical dimension to our discussions of cybernetics at the 2016 Norbert Wiener Conference in Australia.
Thinking Machines in the Physical World
By Arthur Winston on August 4th, 2017 in Commentary, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
Arthur Winston addressed to attendees of the 2016 IEEE Conference on Norbert Wiener in the 21st Century, Melbourne, Australia, held… Read More
Creating the Bionic Ear: The Central Role of Cybernetics
By Graeme Clarke on August 4th, 2017 in Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Magazine Articles
Graeme Clark is the inventor of the cochlear implant. He was the dinner Keynote Speaker at the 2016 Conference on… Read More
A Review of Technology Advances for Assisting Paralyzed People
By Sunil Jacob on August 1st, 2017 in Health & Medical, Human Impacts, Leading Edge, Magazine Articles, Robotics
Many stroke survivors retain some degree of paralysis and thus have limited use of their body. According to published surveys,… Read More
Black Mirror
By Doug Hill on August 1st, 2017 in Editorial & Opinion, Ethics, Magazine Articles, Societal Impact
The future as depicted in works of science fiction, especially of the multiplex variety, is almost uniformly dystopian. The bleakness… Read More