In 1994, I helped organize a forum for the Programme on Information and Communication Technologies (PICT) on what we called ‘ICT disasters’. We described and compared three cases, including the shooting down of Iran Air Flight 655 by the USS Vincennes, a US warship patrolling the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people on the plane. … Continue reading Downing of Ukrainian Flight #PS752 on 8 January 2020: An Information Disaster?
disasters
Learning from Disasters: 30 Years After the USS Vincennes
Thirty years ago, on 3 July 1988, the USS Vincennes shot down an ascending domestic airliner, Iran Air Flight 655, mistaking it for a military aircraft descending toward the aircraft carrier group. My colleagues and I group this information disaster with a number of others with the hope of learning lessons from such incidents. Time … Continue reading Learning from Disasters: 30 Years After the USS Vincennes
Killings Can Be Information (or Procedural) Disasters
In the aftermath of a rash of murders captured on mobile smartphones, and mass shootings of civilians and police officers, debate has focused on assigning blame. Videos from mobile smartphones provide some evidence for fueling such debate over who should be held responsible for any killing of a civilian or police officer. And these discussions … Continue reading Killings Can Be Information (or Procedural) Disasters
Escalators to Disasters: Lessons from the Flint Water Crisis?
Over twenty years ago, my colleagues and I organized a forum on disasters related to information and communication technologies (ICT), where lives may have depended on the safe and effective operation of computer systems (Dutton et al 1994; Peltu et al 1996). As I, along with many many others, try to sort through the facts … Continue reading Escalators to Disasters: Lessons from the Flint Water Crisis?
Malaysian Airlines MH17: Studies of Information Disasters
Evidence is only beginning to develop about what led to the disaster that beset Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 over the Eastern Ukraine. However, it is likely to be compared with other military and large technical system disasters, such as when the USS Vincennes accidentally shot down a domestic Iranian Airline, Iran Flight 655 on 3 … Continue reading Malaysian Airlines MH17: Studies of Information Disasters