perry@nsc.nsc.com (Perry Taidi) (01/18/88)
Can anyone give me any information regarding this group or other similar groups? Their activities, goals, history, phone number ? Your experience with them ? What you think of them ? etc. etc. Perry
taylor@hplabs.HP.COM (Dave Taylor) (01/18/88)
Perry Taidi asks: > Can anyone give me any information regarding this group or other similar > groups? Their activities, goals, history, phone number ? Your > experience with them ? What you think of them ? etc. etc. You might find the following citations interesting - I've included my personal comments in square brackets below each entry... --- The Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group on Computers and Society (SIGCAS) Abbe Mowshowitz, Chairman c/o The Association for Computing Machinery 11 W. 42nd Street, 3rd Floor New York, NY 10036 - USA - Members: 1289 A special interest group of the ACM. Computer and physical scientists, professionals, and other individuals interested in issues on, and appli- cations of computers in society. Informs the public of issues concerning computers and society. Conducts computer literacy symposia. Publications: Computers and Society (newsletter) Quarterly Convention/Meeting: semiannual business meeting; also sponsors periodic National educational computer conference. [ Abbe Mowshowitz and I have had a number of quite interesting conversations about computers, technology and society. I am a member of this organization and receive their newsletter. I find it to be excellent reading and informative, but I must admit that it is published disturbingly infrequently. I asked Abbe about it last time we talked and he said that it was because they don't get sufficient articles to publish more than about once a year. Quite distressing. ] --- High Technology Professionals for Peace Alexander Brown, President 2001 Beacon Street Brookline, MA 02146 Founded: 1981 Members: 200 Staff: 1 Engineers, scientists, and other technical workers concerned with "the current drift towards nuclear war." Purpose is to provide information about the nuclear arms race with emphasis on the technological, economic, societal, environmental, and security impacts of nuclear weapons, and about the capabilities of current and proposed nuclear weapons. Conducts educational, scientific, and service projects and promotes discussion of issues involving work in the defense industry. Publications: bulletin, bimonthly Technology and Responsibility, quarterly Convention/Meeting: annual; also holds monthly meetings. [ I'm not yet a member of this organization, but I find their publications to be of a uniformly high quality and full of interesting articles too. ] --- Computer Professional for Social Responsibility Gary Chapman, Executive Director Post Office Box 717 Palo Alto, CA 94301 USA Founded: 1981 Members: 1000 Staff:2 Individuals employed or interested in the computer science field and industry. Works to educate policymakers, the public, and those in the computer science field about the social implications of computer use, particularly in regard to nuclear weapons. Feels that inordinate use of computer technology in the development of nuclear weapons creates potential dangers rather than civil security. Publications: Newsletter, Quarterly. Also publishes articles, transcripts, books and educational material. Convention/Meeting: Annual [ Again, I'm not yet a member of this organization, but I'm familiar with a lot of their work. Gary Chapman, it seems to me, has created an organization where a significant percentage of what goes on is to benefit the individual promoting the action (article, etc) rather than the society/public as a whole. I find the newsletter to be particularly tough going as it seems more of an advert for what Gary has done lately, rather than a newsletter of a society of over 1000 members. However, I encourage you to find out for yourself if you're interested; I'm going to go ahead and join despite my sentiments expressed here. ] --- The National Center for Appropriate Technology Joseph F. Sedlak, Executive Director Post Office Box 3838 Butte MT 59702 - USA - Founded: 1976 Staff: 40 Budget: $2 million Seeks to develop, apply, research, and transfer technologies appropriate to the energy-related needs of individuals, organizations, communities, and particularly low-income individuals. Conducts research in the areas of renewable energy sources, resource conservation, reuse and recovery, housing and community facilities, integrated community development, and policy development and analysis. [ I've corresponded with Joseph Sedlak and found him to be a most interesting person. The group seems quite interesting and I would expect they would welcome further inquiries by C&S Digest readers ] --- The Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers Social Implications of Technology Society c/o The IEEE 345 E. 47th Street New York, NY 10017 - USA - Members: 2930 A society of the IEEE. Concerns itself with : the history of societal aspects of electro-technology; the impact of electrical and electronics technology on society and the engineering profession; professional, social, and economic responsiblity in the practice of engineering and related technology. Publications: Technology and Society Magazine, quarterly Convention/Meeting: annual [ Not being a member of the IEEE I am also not a member of this particular society, however, I have had chance to browse their quarterly publication. It is, as it says in the blurb, oriented about history and electrical and electronic engineers/engineering, so I didn't find it of much interest. An occasional article strikes as being worth reading however. ] --- These citations are quoted from the respective organizational entries in the (fascinating) reference work "The Encyclopadeia of Associations", 22nd Edition, 1988. Needless to say, also, I encourage all of you to contact the groups in question directly if you're more interested in them, and perhaps report back to the Digest your experiences and reactions. I have also done a search on non-American societies and found them to be more specialized (e.g. Hunger, Weather, Ecology, etc) rather than these more general societies listed herein; if anyone has any references to other similar organizations, please send them to the Digest too. Dave Taylor
sla@ihlpm.ATT.COM (Schwartzman) (01/20/88)
I attended the annual CPSR meeting in October, 1987, and was quite
impressed by the presentations there.
Three individual speakers' topics:
1. Electronic information and civil liberties / privacy issues,
2. A suit against [then] secretary of defense weinberger challenging
the U.S. launch-on-warning capability.
3. Software safety - catching what can easily fall through the cracks
when control of complex processing or machinery is computerized.
There was a panel discussion on the ethical questions computer
professionals may face.
There were also organization status reports and some discussions about
the direction of the organization, with participation by members of
diverse political backgrounds and persuasions. While this diversity
doesn't simplify the organizational workings, I think it enriches it.