When we depend on computers for everything from spreadsheets to space launchers, shouldn’t they at least be reliable? (Image: Image Source / Rex Features)
4 June 1996, Kourou, French Guiana. The maiden flight of the European Space Agency’s Ariane 5. Just 40 seconds after take-off, a software fault causes it to veer off-course, and the rocket blows up. The $450 million worth of satellites on board are destroyed.
10 November 2000, London, England. A student is tearing her hair out in frustration. She wants to finish her essay quickly and meet her friends at the bar. Her computer, however, freezes up every time she presses “Print”.
COMPUTERS crash. We all know it, we’ve all experienced it, and somewhere around the globe a computer is probably crashing right now. Sometimes the result is huge financial loss, sometimes it’s just a missed appointment. Occasionally, when problems occur in systems monitoring nuclear power stations or air traffic control centres, lives are at risk.
But computer-centred disasters could soon be a thing of the past. Governments are beginning to realise that since computers are behind almost every aspect of life in a modern economy, it might just be time to make them all work properly. Measures adopted by big-budget, high-profile projects such as NASA’s space shuttle programme could soon find their way to the humble PC sitting on your desk.
More than a quarter of the $90 million Information Technology Initiative announced by the US National Science Foundation in September is aimed at making computers and their software not faster, not more powerful, but simply reliable. In July, the British government gave £7 million to a collaboration which, in addition to…
