RI Columns Chapter 6

Google has been working hard on their self-driving vehicle (SDV) technology in the past six years. They are planning on creating a commercially self-driving vehicle available in 2020. It is amazing to see how this technology has developed itself. Googles goals are to make mobility easier, safer and more enjoyable. I’ll discuss my view these goals. SDV’s will make mobility easier for certain…

Every technological implementation comes with its own set of values and risks. 1 Risk can consist of financial consequences, but safety may also be at stake. Safety engineering is one of the pillars and key values of Responsible Innovation. 2 Today I will discuss a very controversial technological innovation. An innovation which is developed in the United States and already used by the U.S. Air…

About 8 years ago, in the autumn of 2007, me and my family moved away from a small village in the northeast of the province of Groningen. We moved to the city, about 20 kilometers towards the west, where already 3 out of 4 children went to school and my parents had a job. We found a nice house in the center of the city, and luckily our house in Wirdum, as the village is called, was sold in about…

Our daily lives are full of dangers, from driving our cars to cholesterol in our food. But how good are we really at assessing these risks? And when do we feel safe making these decisions? It appears our emotions are back in the picture when we make these judgments, surprise!  Take for example, parents : a social group that takes danger very seriously but often worries about the wrong things. A…

The Macondo blowout caused the explosion that killed 11 people and injured many others who were working on the BP platform Deepwater Horizon in 2010. Also a huge oil spill was caused by this disaster. Was this disaster unpreventable or have their been risk management failures? A blowout is the phenomenon that the fluid pressure within the reservoir exceeds the fluid pressure of the drilling mud.

Most of you will probably have Facebook. Facebook can be used in multiple ways: you could tell people you went on vacation, tell all your friends about your diploma or show your new haircut. You can even invite a group of friends to join a festival or invite people to your birthday. There is however another side to all of this. Let’s call it the dark side of Facebook. The dark side of Facebook…

Gattaca, the consensus on where to improve The movie Gattaca has the topic that it is able for people to genetically influence their children. This way it is possible to prevent sickness and negative effects that the parents poses but do not want their children to poses them as well. The movie points out how natural born children and modified children differ and interact in society. A student…

As every Thursday morning I am sitting in the bus heading towards the railway station. The rain is dripping down the windows. Typical Dutch weather in autumn. Next to me sitting in a wheel share a disabled boy is looking out the window. The position and the way his legs and arms look suggest that he barely can use both.  When he turns around mumbling something I could not understand I realize…

Each country has its own laws and regulates itself how about the law for the internet? The internet is a borderless interface which connects to the world. What if there is an international crime in several countries? How can they judge this crime? Let me ask you this question. Do you actually know the role of cyber security? Maybe you would answer in order to protect from cyber terrorism. What is…

Oversight of cost-benefit analysis Where did my money go? This is the question that a lot of people who gave money for a certain kind of aid initiative asked and ask themselves.  International aid initiatives had built up a reputation of being corrupt in a lot of ways. People were wondering if their money ever made it to the goal that was originally set. To clear things up the International Aid…

Last week the news came out that a hospital in Afghanistan manned by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) was bombed-out by the United States military force acting in the middle east. By bombing this hospital 19 people were killed, of which 12 staff members of MSF, and over 50 people are seriously injured. MSF is speaking of the biggest disaster in the history of the organization. At first the Afghan…