Failures in complex systems

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Failures in complex systems: case studies, causes, and possible remedies

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ACM SIGCSE Bulletin archive
Volume 39 , Issue 2 (June 2007) table of contents

FEATURE: Computer human error table of contents

Pages: 180 - 184

Year of Publication: 2007

ISSN:0097-8418

Authors

Danny Kopec	Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, New York
Suzanne Tamang	The City University of New York, New York

Publisher

ACM New York, NY, USA

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ABSTRACT

Computers are the pervasive technology of our time. As computers become critically tied to human life, it also becomes more important that interactions with them are under control. They are no longer a novelty, but are integrated into the fabric of our world, performing both high and low-level tasks. That is, computers may be used to eliminate heavy, redundant work and more sophisticated machines have been deployed to perform remote surgery or detect subterranean landmines in repopulated civilian areas. The increasing importance of computers in our lives means that it is essential that the design of computer systems incorporates techniques that can ensure reliability, safety, and security. This paper will examine technological mishaps involving the use of computers. This review will include notorious software bugs that have affected finance, communication, transit, defense, health and medicine and other systems or industries. The sequences and etiology of these "accidents" will be discussed as well as how catastrophes may be avoided in the future through lessons and practices based on artificial intelligence research.

REFERENCES

Note: OCR errors may be found in this Reference List extracted from the full text article. ACM has opted to expose the complete List rather than only correct and linked references.

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