In most cases, this is a byproduct of maturity. Things like roads and medicine have been
around much longer than things like software.
Thus, the state of the industry and the regulation surrounding them is
also much more mature. We can look back
into history to see epic failures in all of these mature disciplines. Each failure has added to the body of
knowledge about what not to do. This
results in our current regulatory and industry best practice structures. None of those things exist in our business.
Yes, we have our share of epic failures, but in most cases
these failures do not lead to loss of life.
Thus, we are largely free to make mistakes and we are the only ones hurt
from those mistakes. Or so it appears.
What started out as domain for academics and then later for
hobbyists has become very foundational to our modern world. It is the internet which thrusts the
architect into the center of almost everything we do. Today, the impacts of Internet failure are
largely commercial. A major company gets
taken down by hackers and this is annoying or even worrying but it is not
catastrophic. President Obama described
the Sony attack “an act of cyber vandalism.” Thus, it is lower in the pantheon of crimes
one can commit. However, there are other
systems, other platforms that would be far more dangerous. Things like building control software or air
traffic control systems. Water and power
management systems.
Ironically, these systems are very slow to advance and seem
almost comical in their primitive design to the child of the internet. However, it is this lack of connectivity that
makes them safe and secure today. A
prime example of this is the way US nuclear weapons silos work. “Ancient” technologies like eight inch floppydisks with zero connectivity are the norm. It turns out this is a very good thing. Imagine someone like North Korea getting the
root admin password for the computer that launches a US ICBM. This is something that doesn’t bear thinking
about and is not possible today. Looking
forward, we know that this cannot continue.
At some point, the architectures and platforms we are designing today to
sell books and play games will underlie the power grid, the air traffic control
system and everything else we do. As
these systems evolve and mature, our industry practice and regulatory
structures must also mature and evolve.
Thinking about the future of our industry, we must think of
ourselves as critical to the functioning of our society. We should be holding ourselves to the same
standards that doctors, lawyers and civil engineers hold themselves to. While I’m sure there are plenty of examples
of where these systems have failed, we also know that in the vast majority of
cases, the system works. Think of your
own life experience. If your child is
very ill in the middle of the night, would you hesitate to bring her to the
emergency room? Would you wait until you
knew that the “good” doctor you trust was available? Certainly not. You would immediately rush her to the nearest
emergency room with the full expectation that they would know what to do. And in 99.99% of cases, that is exactly
correct. The vast majority of doctors in
this country are very skilled and know what they’re doing. The system of board certifications,
internships and residency produces a very high level of professionalism that
results in a very high standard of care in this country and in most western
societies. There are variations and you
could make arguments about what could be improved (certainly, that’s true in
the USA) but overall, the system works.
Take this same example to software. Let’s say that your daughter had a digital
virus. Let’s say that for some inexplicable
reason, you needed a computer technician to save her life. What would you do? Would you go down to Best Buy and have the
dude from “Geek Squad” have a go? I
definitely would not. I know that those
people have no idea what they’re doing (no offence to Geek Squad or Best Buy,
but I bet they would not want my daughter’s life in their hands either). I have some people I know and I trust but
there is no way in hell I would allow some dude to work on her in a life threatening
situation. Granted, I am a computer
professional so I know things that non-techie folks don’t, but I don’t think
that our industry would work the same way if children’s lives depended on the
outcome. It just would not happen.
Naturally, this does not actually occur and this is why our
standards are so loose. What I’m asking
you do to is to think forward when actual lives ARE on the line. When this DOES actually matter. Then what?
How will we respond as an industry?
This is the critical question that we must answer.
As architects, our job is not to simply examine the world as
it is today. Our job is to project into
the future. To seek this future truth
that does not yet exist and cause it to exist.
This is the only way we can know if things are true.
I am currently working on a new book which will explore this issue and other issues around the professional development. Feel free to join in on the comments below to share your thoughts about this issue.
