Devil's Advocate: Solutions to old problems in the New Year

The IT and communications revolution has come so far but still has much to achieve. Martin Brampton, director at consultancy Black Sheep Research, gives us some specifics...

Computer people are notoriously introspective. Surrounded by the buzz of new technology, it is all too easy to ignore what is happening in the world beyond. Computers create fascinating intellectual problems but recent world events suggest we need to direct some of our creative resources to more general problems. Whether we do or not, it looks as though some of the problems will come to find us, even if we try to ignore them.

One of our problems is a tendency to focus on means and to ignore ends. Information technology has been used to achieve efficiency gains. The trouble is, we take it for granted that we know what we are trying to achieve and therefore suppose that efficiency is always a gain. In fact, not only are we not always clear about our objective, frequently we do not even properly understand what we mean by efficiency.

Computers have been used to develop processes to the point at which they are nearly broken. We impress ourselves with the efficiency of operation without large stock holdings, working on 'just in time' deliveries. We reduce the amount of material in the objects we create until they are barely able to function. We streamline customer support functions by introducing standardised processes in large call centres.

All of these moves make our systems far more fragile. A shortage of fuel brings our whole distribution system to a halt in a matter of days, endangering food supplies and emergency services. Consumer products break easily and cannot be repaired. Customers are frustrated because call centres are too inflexible to solve real problems.

Because we lose sight of ends, we suffer unintended consequences, or what the military prefers to call 'collateral damage'. Many of these involve environmental damage. At first sight, IT might seem a clean and harmless occupation but its separation from environmental issues is an illusion. Pure water is becoming increasingly scarce, even in wet countries such as the UK. Huge volumes are used in the production of printed circuit boards. Complex, computer-controlled logistics systems are moving products such as fresh food vast distances, making a sizeable contribution to emissions from fossil fuels. A substantial and hazardous portion of landfill disposal is obsolete computer equipment. And is it worth mentioning the paperless office...?

Our economic system seems to have difficulty responding to our real needs. Despite all the talk of customer relationship management, companies seem increasingly out of touch with their customers. Within IT, we see stultification of the PC market, with two of the leading vendors finding nothing more imaginative to do than to merge, eliminating the differences between their respective product lines. Only one vendor remains serious about the mainframe market. Data communications carriers seem locked in battles to slow progress and to avoid passing on the financial rewards from new technology to their customers.

If we are to make any progress in solving these problems, we will have to think much more carefully about our goals. 'Collateral damage' is a phrase that disguises a bogus argument. Everything that we know will be a consequence of our actions must be part of what we intend, and we must evaluate our choices in relation to the totality of their results. IT is not exempt from the responsibility to ensure that we take control over the damage that is being done to our world and take care to achieve goals of which we can be justifiably proud.

Regardless of the arithmetical curiosities that create centuries and millennia, the end of the year is a good time to think about where we stand. Have an enjoyable Christmas and a creative and rewarding New Year!

** Martin Brampton is a director and founder of Black Sheep Research (http://www.black-sheep-research.co.uk ), an independent consultancy providing research, writing and speaking services on a wide range of business and technology subjects. Martin was previously a director at Bloor Research, and has worked with IT as a user and analyst for over 20 years. He is a frequent contributor to silicon.com's weekly Behind the Headlines TV programme and can be contacted at silicon@black-sheep-research.co.uk.