What do flight delays, network crashes, and power blackouts have in common?

Each of these can be the product of large-scale technological systems where capabilities and expectations of one part are mismatched to the infrastructure and environment of another. The consequence – when a power grid places too much demand on under-maintained distribution stations, when network traffic overwhelms a server, or when flight delays at distant airports cascade to major metropolitan centers – is a breakdown of the large-scale system. Whether the Blackout of 2003, the Blizzard of 1999, or everyday experience in the modern office, everyone has experienced the difficulty in keeping large-scale transportation, communication, and energy networks up and running.

An international group of researchers, organized by Wayne State, and sponsored by the National Science Foundation of the United States and el Consejo Nacional Ciencia y Tecnología of Mexico, met last year in Mexico City to examine the challenges of large-scale systems, focusing on air transport networks. This workshop found that the rapid development of technology in the United States and Europe was outstripping the diffusion of that technology to developing countries, resulting in mismatches in language, infrastructure, regulation, and management practices.

Numerous aviation disasters have resulted from these mismatches in recent years: A midair collision over Lake Constanz in 2002, the crash of an American airliner on final approach to Cali, Colombia, in 1995, the crash of a Colombian airliner on final approach to New York’s JFK airport in 1990, and the runway collision of two 747s in Tenerife in 1977, the worst aviation disaster in history. These disasters will continue until the world air transport system finds better ways to manage the rapid development of technology.

At the workshop, scientists and engineers and industry officials from eight countries (Cameroon, France, Mexico, Morocco, Nigeria, Taiwan, Ukraine, United States) spent three days examining these challenges. Their findings and conclusions are now available in a report available from the Institute for Information Technology and Culture at Wayne State University. These findings have been presented at numerous international scientific and industry conferences in Europe, Latin America, and Asia. To obtain the report for this event, please contact Allen Batteau, Director, Institute for Information Technology and Culture, at (313) 874-7010.

IITC is a multidisciplinary group of medical and organizational anthropologists, psychologists, engineers, nurses, social workers, computer scientists and doctors, collaborating to understand the cultural aspects of technology use. http://www.iitc.wayne.edu.

Wayne State University is a premier research institution offering more than 350 academic programs through 11 schools and colleges to more than 33,000 students.