CSI2911 Professional Practice in Computing

CSI2911Professional Practice in Computing

Pratique professionnelle de l'informatique

TOPIC E

Social Responsibility in Computing and

Miscellaneous Issues

CSI2911 - Lethbridge 2

Computers and the Environment 1

Hardware should be made in the ‘greenest’ way possible• Lowest possible energy input to manufacturing process• Avoidance or reduced use of dangerous or depleted

substances—Arsenic - used in displays to prevent defects—Mercury - used in flourescent backlights for displays—Lead - formerly used in CRT’s; still used in some

solder—Hexavelent Chromium, Cadmium and other heavy

metals- Banned by RoHS rules (Restrictions on Hazardous

Substances)



Standardized and replaceable components to avoid wastage• E.g. Universal power adapter / charger, standard batteries

- EU will be mandating USB connectors to charge all cell phones

• Recyclable materials and design for recyclability• Avoidance of design for obsolescence

Responsible waste disposal• Take-it-back policies and campaigns• Bounties

—Cash for clunkers—Refund of deposits when an item reaches the end of its life

• Avoiding shipping e-waste to developing countries for disposal



Hardware and software that economizes on energy use• Avoidance of DC-power adapters that are always using

‘phantom power’—It is possible to preserve state with a battery and

‘switch’ transformer on only when needed• Switching off and slowing down circuits, displays, etc.

that are not in use• Adaptive, efficient, power-aware algorithms• Power-aware distributed computing

—Run compute-intensive tasks where power is cheaper and/or where wind and solar power is currently being generated



Focusing on the web’s use of power• YouTube is expected to be losing $470m per year

largely due to the huge costs of storing and delivering massive amounts of video

—http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/03/internet-carbon-footprint• In 2006, data centres and the Internet were estimated to

be using 1.5% of all electricity in the US—Growing 10% per year

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2009/may/03/internet-carbon-footprint



Green /social accounting• Accounting for environmental costs, not just financial costs

Inventing computing technology to support other green initiatives• Smart grid• Monitoring and distributing power better, so solar, wind and other

local green power sources can be more effectively used• Software to improve energy efficiency of vehicles and other

energy-consuming devices• Software for environmental modelling to help improve scientific

understanding of climate change


Social responsibility

The theory that any entity has a responsibility to society at large

Many groups of professionals have formed social responsibility groups

For our field, one example is Computer Professionals for Social Responsibility

• http://cpsr.org

Another worthy organization is Engineers Without Borders

http://cpsr.org/

http://cpsr.org/

http://cpsr.org/


Social responsibility issues 1

Corporate social responsibility• Beyond just obeying the law• Examples

—Avoiding creating products or services whose main intent will lead to social harm, or selling potentially harmful products to questionable entities

- E.g. Tools for violating privacy

—Avoiding exploitation at manufacturing plants and software development sites in developing countries

—Involvement of corporations in community-based projects



Availability of technology• To developing countries and the poor (The Digital Divide)

—Helping train local people—Providing them with basic technology and internet access—This used to be a much greater problem before the recent rapid

uptake of cellular phones into developing countries- But many landlocked countries in Africa still lack good Internet

access- Access to computers is still low (as is access to books)

• To rural areas—E.g. ensuring there is broadband and cellular coverage

• To schools—E.g. One laptop per child program

- Education can help bring children out of poverty• To the disabled

—Ensuring software designs follow accessibility guidelines



Internet and computer addiction and isolation• The more people use the Internet or spend time gaming

—The more they lose contact with their ‘real’ social environment- Or is it a different form of contact?

» People who might be considered ‘socially awkward’ can often have personally fulfilling interaction through the Internet

» Second Life / Facebook—The less they use traditional media—The more time they spend working (at the office and home)—The more at risk they are of becoming addicted

- E.g. Internet Addiction Disorder- See http://www.netaddiction.com/

• Is working on a computer more isolating than reading a book—An activity that is usually applauded?

http://www.netaddiction.com/



Computers and children• How much should children be exposed to computers and the

Internet? At what ages?• Bad effects:

—Kids can learn many bad things from the open internet—They can become addicted to the web and/or games

• Good effects—Higher test scores, especially for under-priveleged children

• See http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2006/04/internet-use.aspx

http://www.apa.org/news/press/releases/2006/04/internet-use.aspx



Free and open-source software• Availability of this has stimulated for-profit enterprises

to lower prices and improve quality• Encourages availability for the disadvantaged• Reduces monopoly by companies and countries



Pro-bono donation of time of computer experts to the disadvantaged and to charities

• Developing for local charities• International development, e.g. Engineers without

Borders



Women in computing• Computing is one of the industries with the lowest

fraction of women

Using of computing for peaceful means only

Voting technology and promotion of democracy and civil society

Internet governance• ICANN - still under US government control



Promotion of freedom of speech and related rights• Opposition to censorship in certain countries• Net neutrality• Cryptome and Wikileaks

—Revealing questionable information Electronic rights• Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF)

—http://www.eff.org/—Main issues

- Bloggers and coders rights- Opposition to digital rights management, software patents- Promotion of privacy and transparency

http://www.eff.org/


Risks of catastrophic failures: Computer professionals must beware! (1)

Major industries may be brought down for short or long periods by IT failures

• Food distribution, energy, transportation, communications, finance and markets

—In other words, everything society depends on

IT failures causing this may result from:• Natural or man-made disasters taking out computing

infrastructure we have come to depend on• Design flaws• Hacking and cyber warfare• A combination of the above


Risks of catastrophic failures: Computer professionals must beware! (2)

The risks of large-scale catastrophe are small on a day-to-day basis, but large in the long run

• Dependency on IT and computing is growing• Complexity is growing• Some types of threats (e.g. hacking) are growing

There is a risk of cascading effects:• Some failures (e.g. energy) lead to others (e.g. telecom and food

distribution) leading to isolated or more widespread social breakdown

Low short-term risk, but tremendously high costs means vigilance and action is imperative


Single point of failure: GPS

The GPS System may become unavailable or dramatically less reliable

• In one area or around the worldCauses

• Jamming, solar flares• Failure of satellites from various causes• US government withdrawal of service in a crisis

What can fail• Military and civilian navigation, emergency response, delivery of

products and servicesRemediation

• Backups such as inertial navigation with dead reckoning and visual identification

• Use of Russian or EU (Galileo) system• Ongoing use of LORAN (which US no longer supports)


Single point of failure: Electricity systems controlled by computers

Increased software control could lead to cascading failureCauses:

• Design errors, and hacking• Magnetic storms, ice storms, heat waves etc. leading to cascading

overloads• Breakdown in markets, perhaps caused by fuel shortages or price

increasesWhat can fail

• All of industrial and domestic power supply—Hence computers, telecom, etc. once backup sources run out

• This has happenedRemediation

• Fail-safe islanding of grid• Secondary independent control system• Backup power sources for critical infrastructure


Single point of failure: Grounding of all vehicles of a given type due to software glitch

As vehicles become more software-driven, life threatening vulnerabilities may be discovered

• E.g. the Toyota acceleration problem• E.g. fly-by-wire in airplanes• E.g. millions of vehicles becomoing prone to hacking

Consequences• Millions of people or businesses being forced off the road• Chaos in airlines

Causes• Design errors, hacking

—Time to fix may be lengthy

Remediation• Fail-safe backup systems


Single point of failure: Electronic banking, finance and market system failures

Banks, credit card networks, stock trading, and similar systems go down or suffer data breaches

Consequences• Temporary interruption of many types of business• Market crashes• Loss of private information• Loss of records of transactions

Remediation• Alternative markets• Diversification

—Accounts in different institutions


Single point of failure: Air traffic control failures

Many small-scale examples of this have occurred

Causes• Bugs, power outages, hacking, upgrade failures, network failures,

radar jamming, etc.

Remediation• Protocols for scaling back flights• A backup system that works and is regularly tested and used

In the long run we may have control systems for road vehicles subject to similar modes of failure


Single point of failure: Zero-day vulnerabilities in major OS’s, websites etc.

For example, a new vulnerability is found and exploited by a virulent ‘worm’

Causes:• Latent design flaws coupled with hacking or cyber-warfare

Consequences• Systems of many kinds go down

Remediation• Avoid consumer operating systems in critical infrastructure• Use heterogeneous tools• Have backup tools, and use them regularly• Back up data, and test backups


Single point of failure: Cellular and general telecom system failures

Communications we rely on for many aspects of business fail• We have seen many small-scale examples

Causes• Hacking, design flaws, cable cuts

Consequences• Emergency response fails, businesses shut down, Internet shuts

down or becomes degraded

Remediation• Maintain landline and mobile as alternatives• Interconnects between providers• Diversity of underlying technologies


Single point of failure: Robots or AI systems run amok

A favourite scenario in sci-fi

A realistic possibility in the more-distant future• With advances in technology it seems certain that within

50 or 100 or at least 200 years, computers and robots will be more intelligent than us

—What will this mean for society?—Can we and should we do anything in preparation?

Engineers are working hard to enable robots to interact appropriately with humans

• E.g. not too much force when in physical contact


Azimov’s laws of Robotics: Fiction, yet a good basis for discussion of risks

1. A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm

• But how is a robot to know what will necessarily harm a human

2. A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.

• How is a robot to know whether there would be any conflict

3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law.

CSI2911 Professional Practice in Computing

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