Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development: International Case Studies with a Focus on Poland 3031252764, 9783031252761

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Marion Hersh Józef B. Lewoc

Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development International Case Studies with a Focus on Poland

Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development

Marion Hersh · Józef B. Lewoc

Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development International Case Studies with a Focus on Poland

Marion Hersh Biomedical Engineering University of Glasgow Glasgow, Scotland

Józef B. Lewoc Leader Wrocław, Poland BPBIT Leader LLC USA

ISBN 978-3-031-25276-1 ISBN 978-3-031-25277-8 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland

I dedicate this Book 1 to my Wife Teresa who has changed my life. Józef B. Lewoc To my cousin Linda for being a wonderful, kind, caring person who does a lot for others and does it effectively ... and making me laugh.

Foreword

Many of us take mobile devices and computers for granted. Mobile and increasingly smart phones are everywhere, including in the poorer countries and refugee camps. Even we think much less about the ethical issues related to their development, manufacture and use. Many of us have probably forgotten what life was like before the Internet and social media, and we give even less attention to the history of the development of computers. These are the issues this book is concerned with—ethics and behaviour as it affects technology development and use. The book has its particular focus on the development of the early information and communication technology (ICT) and automation industries in Poland during the decades right before and after the political changes which took place during the 1990s all over the Eastern world. Poland is being considered here as one example of these transitions. I have had a particular interest in relations between Eastern and Western Europe since I was among those who were selected to be responsible for one of the first East Germany reconnoitering teams established by my university, the RWTH Aachen University in Germany. This was just after the Iron Curtain, the border between Western Europe and the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, disappeared. One of its strongest elements had been for several decades the lack of information flow. Our task was therefore to gain first-hand information about steel and textile factories, power station control and ICT laboratories in the former East Germany. We—as many other such teams—were sent there on behalf of the West German government in order to report about how the transition into the Western way of capitalism may be sensibly mastered. As the book discusses in the area of technology firms, this raised a number of ethical issues, including responsibility of the incoming Western firms to the local economy and its experts and the new host country, which these firms often ignored. When we crossed into East Germany, we were surprised by several contradictory experiences and observations. There were the huge factories and power plants which actually were running at an extremely low level of economic achievement. The lack of information flow and the deliberate prevention of the influx of hightech goods had certainly a role in it. We were also unpleasantly surprised by the oppressive control of life and work as we were continuously confronted with very serious breaches of ethical standards at the workplaces as well as in social life. The vii

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book discusses some of these ethical challenges posed by a corrupt and repressive system. However, we also observed an extremely high level of successful strategies to organise day-to-day problem-solving despite these extremely difficult conditions of system organisation and production patterns and despite the lack of the associated research backing Furthermore, we observed everywhere an extremely high level of individual and team-oriented commitment to keep things going forward against all these odds. Experiences similar to those gained in East Germany are reported in this book on Poland during her final period of USSR rule and beyond. This book, however, is much more comprehensive and also critical about these processes than anything so far reported. This is particularly the case for the development of early Polish computers in very difficult conditions. Thus, Poland comes up here as leading example for all the other States of the former Eastern bloc. In the 1990s, a small group of engineers and scientists from different universities and enterprises in Western Europe assembled as a kind of task force in order to support their colleagues in the Eastern countries of Europe in this transition to a new emerging world. Among them were Tomas Martin in Germany, Peter Kopacek in Austria, Marion Hersh in Scotland, and myself. At that time, Marion particularly introduced us to the different concepts of Ethics in relation to engineering within the wide spans of society and politics and how we can use ethical engineering to create a more just future society. One basis of our joint actions was the Technical Committee on Social Impact of Automation within the International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC). IFAC is the large assembly of engineering aiming at integration and representation of all countries around the world. While following this lead of IFAC, our Committee (which I was chairing at that time) created a series of international conferences and meetings under the heading: East meets West. It was within one of the first meetings of this kind that I met our colleague from Poland, Bohan Lewoc. Up to then, he and his colleagues had been fighting for many years, even decades, to keep up with worldwide ICT developments despite the Embargo on new ICT equipment (among other issues) which had been imposed on Poland by the Western countries. Within our Committee, these discussions were embedded into the overall aims of engineering ethics in society: what such ethics would have meant in the past, and what it may mean in the future of our countries. I am very glad that these two colleagues of mine from those days, Bohan Lewoc and Marion Hersh, are now the authors of this book. They have become my dear friends through the past 30 years—among many others who have been cooperating with us across the borders of countries and continents, and also across time. We have since continued our exchange of experiences and observations concerning the changes within our societies as they are related to the developments and implementations of ICT in our different countries and concerning the ethical issues corresponding. We all share the commitment of Bohan and Marion for human-oriented, ethically acceptable and societally useful ICT in Poland and in many other countries in Europe and around the world as described in this book in all its complexity. These aims of ICT are as important today as they were when we first met in the 1990s. In some respect, they have even become more important today because we

Foreword

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are surrounded by developments which seem to endanger our future as humans on this globe. Today, our cooperation is very much part of the IFAC Technical Committee on Technology, Culture and International Stability (TECIS) with Larry Stapleton, IRL, and Peter Kopacek, Austria, who are the corresponding chairs within IFAC. We all are congratulating Bohan and Marion to have created this book which is based on so many dramatic experiences of committed engineers in Poland. It is particularly important that several other countries have delivered further case studies for the book. These cases describe both the positive achievements of ICT development under difficult conditions and the flaws and pitfalls of our technological achievements if we as engineers do not heed the genuine needs of our societies nor the expectations of ethics within our societies. Aachen, Germany

Dietrich Brandt

Contents

Part I

Introduction

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.1 The Role of Engineering in Modern Society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.2 The Importance of Ethics to Engineers and the Relationship Between Behaviour and Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.3 Technology Transfer: Ethical Issues, Good and Bad Practice . . . . . 1.4 Aims and Relevance of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5 Overview of the Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.1 Part I: Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.2 Part II: Historical Background, Organisations and Individuals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.5.3 Part III: Computers, ICT and Applications Projects . . . . . . 1.5.4 Part IV: Case Studies of Ethics and Human Behaviour . . . . 1.5.5 Part V: Looking Forward . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Ethics and Human Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2 Ethics Theories and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.1 Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.2 Normative Ethical Principles and Ethics of Care . . . . . . . . . 2.2.3 Deontological and Consequentialist Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2.4 Virtue and Narrative Ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Methods and Approaches for Applying Ethical Theories in Practice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.1 The Ethical Grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.2 Perspectives, Principles and Paradigms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3.3 The Application of Different Ethical Theories . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4 Theories of Human Behaviour . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.1 Human Needs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.4.2 Values, Culture, Attitudes and Intentions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

3 4 5 6 7 8 9 9 10 11 11 12 13 13 14 14 16 18 19 20 20 22 22 23 23 24 xi

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2.4.3 Beliefs about Behaviour, Utility Theory and Goals . . . . . . . 2.4.4 Other Theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5 Ethics and Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5.1 Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.5.2 Human Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part II

26 29 31 31 32 33 34

Historical Background, Organisations and Individuals

3 ICT Development in Poland and Wrocław . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2 Brief History of Poland . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.1 The Period up to the Partitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.2 The Period from the Partitions to the Second World War . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.2.3 The Post-World War II Period . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3 Wrocław . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.1 Overview of the Geography of Wrocław . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.3.2 Brief History of Wrocław . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.4 Brief History of Industrial Development in Poland and the Western Embargoes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.5 Factors that Enabled Poland to Develop Its Own ICT Industry . . . 3.5.1 The Education System in Poland After World War II . . . . . 3.5.2 The Exact Science Tradition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.6 Factors that Suited Wrocław to ICT Development . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7 ICT Development in Warsaw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7.1 The Mathematical Apparatus Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.7.2 The Mathematical Machine Construction Faculty . . . . . . . . 3.8 Elwro (Wrocław Electronic Works) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.8.1 Elwro Computer Service Centre and Other Components of Elwro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9 Other ICT Firms and Institutes in Wrocław . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.1 Institute for Power Systems Automation (IASE) . . . . . . . . . 3.9.2 Firms and Institutes which Developed out of Elwro . . . . . . 3.9.3 Firms which Developed out of the Institute for Power System Automation (IASE) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.9.4 Other Firms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3.10 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 3.1: Technical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 3.2: Abbreviations of the Names of Polish Organisations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 3.3: Historical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

41 41 42 42 43 45 48 48 50 52 53 53 54 55 56 56 57 58 58 60 61 64 65 65 66 68 68 68 69

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4 The Pioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2 Brief Biographies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.1 Designers and Developers of Odra Computers . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.2 Odra Computer Designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.3 Odra Computer Programmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.4 Regional Power Monitoring System designers . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.5 Automation and Automatic Control Designers . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.6 RIAD Computer Designers and Programmers . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.7 Project Managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.8 Other Professionals at Elwro and Wrocław Technical University . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.2.9 Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.3 Discussion of what Attracted the Pioneers to ICT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.4 What Makes a Good Pioneer/Leading Designer? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.5 Discussion of the Prerequisite Education and Training . . . . . . . . . . 4.6 The Role of Pioneers in Educating and Training the Younger Generation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.7 Women as ICT Pioneers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.8 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 4.1: Technical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 4.2: Software, Hardware, Applications and Organisations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

71 71 72 73 74 75 79 81 83 85 86 88 89 90 92 93 94 95 97 98 99

Part III Computers, ICT and Applications Projects 5 A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry . . . . . . . . . . . 5.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2 Early Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.1 Mathematical Machine: Elwro Student Project . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.2 Analog Computers, ELWAT-1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.2.3 UMC-1 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3 Early Odra Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.1 Odra 1003 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.3.2 Odra 1013 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4 Computers to Work with Tabulating Machine . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.4.1 Odra 1103 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5 End of Elwro Pioneering Era . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.5.1 Odra 1204 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.1 Odra 1304 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.2 Odra 1305 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.3 Odra 1325 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6.4 SKOK . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

103 103 105 105 109 109 111 112 115 116 118 119 119 124 125 127 128 132

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5.7

Riad Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7.1 R-32 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.7.2 R-34 Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 5.1: Technical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 5.2: Polish Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 5.3: Elwro Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 5.4: Other Computers and Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

132 133 135 138 140 142 142 143 144

6 ICT Software and Applications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Software Used on Elwro Computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.1 UMC-1 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.2 Odra 1003 and 1013 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.3 Odra 1103 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.4 Odra 1204 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2.5 Odra 1300 Software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects . . . . . 6.3.1 Regional Power Control Centre Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.2 Operating System for the Automatic Information Processing Systems Used in the Regional Power Control Centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.3 Power Industry Visual Display Unit Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.4 Power Network Training Simulator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.5 Microprocessor-Based Power Automatic Data Processing Systems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.3.6 Power Plant Database Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Other Applications and Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4.1 Steel Mill Control Project and Metal Cutting Device . . . . . 6.4.2 Radio Astronomy Centre Control System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4.3 Inter-University Communication Network Project . . . . . . . 6.4.4 TV Solidarity Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 6.1: Technical Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 6.2: Software, Computers and Organisations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

145 145 146 146 147 148 149 151 154 154

156 158 160 161 162 166 166 167 169 172 174 176 180 181

Part IV Case Studies of Ethics and Human Behaviour 7 Case Studies of Ethical and Human Behaviour Issues in ICT and Application Development Projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2 Exclusion from Design Work . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

185 185 185 186 187

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Radio Astronomy Centre Cancellation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.3.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4 TV Solidarity, an Illegal Project to Release Political Prisoners . . . 7.4.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.4.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5 Project Implementation Bonuses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.5.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6 Technology Transfer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6.1 Analysis Using Ethical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.6.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7 Designer Responsibilities in a Safety Critical Context . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7.1 Analysis Using Ethical Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.7.2 Analysis Using Behavioural Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8 Privatisation and Liquidation of Elwro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.8.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.9 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 7.1: Ethics and Human Behaviour Analysis Framework . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

188 189 190 191 191 192 193 194 195 197 197 198 199 200 201 202 202 203 204 205 207

8 Case Studies of Ethical Issues and Human Behaviour in Technology Development and Use . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2 The Use of Cadavers in Car Safety Testing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.2.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3 Responsibility for Suppliers’ Treatment of Workers . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.3.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4 Privacy and Security . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.4.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5 Fire at Manchester Airport . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6 Boeing 737 Max Crashes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.6.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7 Bhopal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.7.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8 Withdrawal from Research Project Proposal . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.8.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

209 209 210 210 212 213 214 215 217 218 219 220 221 221 223 224 225 226 227 228 229 229

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Contents

8.8.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Genome-Edited Babies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.10 Conclusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Appendix 8.1: Ethics and Human Behaviour Analysis Framework . . . . References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.9

Part V

230 231 232 233 234 236 237

Looking Forward

9 Final Word: Which Side Are You On? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243 References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247 Resources: Addresses of Organisations of Engineers and Scientists Working for Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249 Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253

About the Authors

Dr. Marion Hersh is a senior lecturer (associate professor) in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Glasgow, Scotland. They are both a chartered engineer and a chartered mathematician with a first degree in mathematics and a PhD in control engineering. They carry out interdisciplinary research in assistive and other technologies for disabled and older people using end-user-driven and coproduction approaches, engineering ethics and accessible and sustainable design. Current projects include the spatial representations of blind people, communication technologies for deafblind people, barriers expierenced and technologies used by autistic people and technology solutions to support older autistics’ independence, participation and quality of life. Marion has (co-)developed a three-component model of the causes of conflict, a classication and evaluation framework for ICTbased learning technologies for disabled people and the Comprehensive Assistive Technology (CAT) model. Marion’s well over 200 publications include books on Ethical Engineering for International Development and Environmental Sustainability, Mathematical Modelling for Sustainable Development and two books on Assistive Technology, for blind and deaf people respectively. They have organised and chaired international conferences, on Assistive Technology for People with Hearing and Sight Impairments (series of six), Using New Technologies for Inclusive Learning, and Using Barriers and Enablers to Learning Maths. Marion is also active in their trade union and several campaigning organisations, including against racism, fascism, war and climate change and for nuclear disarmament and the rights of disabled and LGBT+ people, as well as a member of SGR and vice-chair of Tecis 9.5. They speak eight languages fluently and have basic to moderate knowledge of others, including British Sign Language. Email: [email protected] Web: https://www.gla.ac.uk/schools/engineering/staff/marionhersh/#supervisi on,publications,researchinterests

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About the Authors

Dr. Józef B. Lewoc Bogdan, as he was generally known, had a great heart. He was a very kind person and always willing to put himself out to help other people, but he sometimes got frustrated when others did not do the same for him. Bogdan’s two great loves were his work and his family. He was devoted to his wife Teresa and cared for her during illness and disability at the end of her life. She also supported him in his work and was particularly interested in this book. He also doted on his twin granddaughters, sent me loads of photos of them, which I did not always look at, and was always wanting to talk about them—when he had seen them and what they had done together. Bogdan loved Poland and was very proud of being Polish. He particularly admired the work of the early Polish computer designers and programmers and it was important to him to tell others about their history and their great ingenuity in overcoming the difficulties of the time. He also felt a great responsibility to the people of Poland. This love of Poland and its people and respect for the early Polish computer pioneers acted to motivate and inspire him and enable him to overcome difficulties. However, he found it difficult to accept any criticism of Poland and we once had a bad argument because I mentioned antisemitism in Poland. Bogdan believed very strongly in the potential of computers and other technology to improve society. Maintaining the best professional practice and attention to safety were always important to him. However, he was less aware until late on in his career of the wider impacts of technology use and the potential for environmental and social damage. He therefore, for instance, considered employment at a nuclear power plant, but withdrew when he realised that unqualified personnel would be employed, giving a threat to safety. Bogdan worked on technical projects from 1966 as a designer and 1969 as a leading designer. From the start of his professional career he recognised that it was more important to him to use his expertise to benefit the Polish people than obtain the money, promotion and recognition valued by the politically appointed and often corrupt managers of technical projects. He had an ingenious approach to resisting the pressures and incompetent decisions of the politically appointed managers by using a second career as a translator to ensure that his family was not financially dependent on the design work he loved. This was better paid than design work, so he was able to obtain equal incomes from both types of work, while spending three quarters of his time on design work. He also frequently changed project, laboratory, department and employer once it was clear that the system he was leading designer for would be implemented successfully. This avoided the battle for benefits, the risk of a campaign of bullying and harassment against him, and being promoted out of engineering and design. However, Bogdan was badly treated by a number of colleagues. Consequently, avoiding harm to others was the most important component of ethics for him. In practice, he generally went much further than this in his own life and frequently went out of his way to treat others well. However, his bad experiences left him bitter and sometimes suspicious of others. This could lead to him accusing some of his friends of treating him badly when this was not the case, as if he were blaming them for the bad treatment by his former colleagues.

About the Authors

xix

Bogdan worked for several different employers, including Elwro, IASE, Wrocław Technical University, the University of Wrocław and the household appliance manufacturer Polar. He also set up two design and translation agencies, Leader (Poland) and BPBIT Leader LLC (USA), to help him finance his design work through translation activities. He set up the US firm while remaining in Poland, as by this time much of his work was unpaid and the US tax system made better allowance for unpaid work than the Polish one. Several of the projects Bogdan was involved in or led, such as co-designing the first Polish computer control and coordination system for a steel-rod mill, are discussed in more detail in Chap. 6. The major projects he was leading designer for included a monitoring system for the regional power control boards and its operating system, as well as the versions for Central and Great Poland, a power generating unit, power network training simulator, and a microprocessor-based version and a hospital database. Other projects Bogdan led included an ingenious project for broadcasting information about political prisoners for the trade union Solidarity and a project to develop a semigraphical visual display unit for use in power systems applications, as the cost of imported displays was too high, other than for regional power distribution boards. Bogdan’s approach was applications oriented and he was well aware that different groups of technical personnel were likely to have different requirements. This included designing the operating system mentioned above for applications programmers, who were generally power industry specialists rather than professional programmers. The pre-1989 Western embargoes on high technology components and products meant that Bogdan often had to use home-made equipment which would have been obsolete for five to 10 years in the West. He therefore developed a computer system simulator, of the type later called an event-driven simulator, to determine whether the performance of systems designed using these components could meet the design specifications. He also used tools he had developed to investigate the performance and robustness of the systems he designed. Bogdan took his responsibility to contribute to the education and training of the next generation of designers very seriously. His aim was to teach designers to think creatively and find appropriate solutions, including to unexpected problems, and therefore avoided the use of design recipes which were popular at the time. He also wanted to ensure that his junior colleagues could take over from him as leading designer if forced out of the project or he felt he had to resign to avoid corruption. His teaching techniques included letting his younger colleagues analyse his flow charts of the required solutions and derive their own solutions. Bogdan then implemented these solutions if they were feasible rather than his original design. The process of writing this book with Bogdan was challenging at times, to put it mildly, but I am glad to have known him and really sorry that he and Teresa did not live to see the book published. Knowing him has restressed for me the importance of treating others well, however they treat you, not bearing grudges and moving beyond and learning from negative experiences rather than becoming bitter about them.

List of Figures

Fig. 2.1 Fig. 3.1 Fig. 3.2 Fig. 3.3 Fig. 3.4 Fig. 3.5 Fig. 3.6 Fig. 3.7 Fig. 3.8 Fig. 3.9 Fig. 3.10 Fig. 4.1 Fig. 4.2 Fig. 4.3 Fig. 4.4 Fig. 5.1 Fig. 5.2 Fig. 5.3 Fig. 5.4 Fig. 5.5 Fig. 5.6 Fig. 5.7 Fig. 5.8 Fig. 5.9 Fig. 5.10 Fig. 5.11 Fig. 5.12

Model of ten motivational values . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Post World War 2 Poland, 1982 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mosty mieszcza´nskei (Bourgeois bridges) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Devastation in Wrocław after World War II, View south from the tower of the City Chambers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wyspa Słodowa (Malt Island) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elwro Square and Obelisk . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Computer test procedures carried out by Elwro Computer Service Centre . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IASE in the 1970s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IASE lab, 1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The IASE building from the left side . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Control room . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Working with an early computer, probably Odra 1003, 1965 . . . At work at Elwro, 1970 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elwro’s holiday centre in Jaroslawiec . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Women’s match between Elwro (striped t-shirts) and Weltex, 1975 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic diagram of ‘mathematical machine’ developed in student project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic diagram of UMC-1 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic diagram of the Odra 1003 computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1003 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1003 program loading and execution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic diagram of the Odra 1013 computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic diagram of the Odra 1103 computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1103 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1204 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1204 and some of its peripherals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1304 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Part of the memory of the Odra 1305 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

25 46 49 51 52 59 60 61 62 63 63 73 77 79 96 109 110 112 113 114 116 117 118 122 123 126 128 xxi

xxii

Fig. 5.13 Fig. 5.14 Fig. 5.15 Fig. 5.16 Fig. 5.17 Fig. 5.18 Fig. 6.1 Fig. 6.2 Fig. 6.3 Fig. 6.4 Fig. 6.5 Fig. 6.6 Fig. 6.7 Fig. 6.8 Fig. 6.9 Fig. 6.10 Fig. 6.11 Fig. 6.12 Fig. 6.13 Fig. 6.14 Fig. 6.15

List of Figures

Schematic diagram of Odra 1305 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Two Odra 1305 computers in the Wrocław Brochow station . . . . Block diagram of Automation Module System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1325 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R-32 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . R-34 hardware . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . SOW operating system procedures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Typical software flow diagram under EX2P Executive . . . . . . . . Hardware architecture of automatic data processing system for power industry control centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Operating system for automatic data processing system for power industry control centres . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Visual display unit hardware schematic and software flow diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Training simulator hardware schematic and software flow diagram . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Switched measurement display . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Hardware schematic of the power plant database . . . . . . . . . . . . . Power generating unit . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Steel mill control system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Schematic diagram of radio astronomy computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . Inter-university computer network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Communication node operating system for the inter-university computer network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Wroclaw node of inter-university communication network . . . . . Schematic diagram of Solidarity TV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

129 130 131 134 136 137 150 152 155 157 159 161 163 164 165 167 168 170 171 173 174

List of Tables

Table 2.1 Table 2.2 Table 2.3 Table 4.1 Table 4.2 Table 4.3 Table 4.4 Table 4.5 Table 4.6 Table 4.7 Table 4.8 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 5.5 Table 5.6 Table 5.7 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 6.3 Table 6.4 Table 6.5 Table 6.6 Table 6.7

Summary of theories and approaches to understanding ethics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Law and morality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The ethical grid . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra computer designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra computer programmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Power industry and related projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Automatic control system designers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riad computer designers and programmers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Project managers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Other professionals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Educators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Important features of computer development at each Elwro development stage . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Early computers launched successfully . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . The early Odra computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1103 computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1204 computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1300 series computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Riad computers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Elwro computer software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details of UMC-1 software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Odra 1003 and 1013 software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details of Odra 1103 software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details of Odra 1204 software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Details of Odra 1300 software . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Overview of regional power control centre applications and projects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

15 19 21 74 76 80 82 83 85 87 88 106 107 108 118 120 121 133 147 147 148 149 151 153 154

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Part I

Introduction

Chapter 1

Introduction

The book takes an innovative approach to ethical engineering based on the two dimensions of ethics and human behaviour. They are applied to examine challenging workplace and social contexts. A new framework for analysing ethics and human behaviour and the relationships between them is presented and then applied to investigate a number of case studies arising from the experiences of the early Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and automation industry in Poland. To show the generality of the approach and give a wider perspective, some more recent case studies from outside Poland are also analysed using this framework. Other interesting features of the book include a brief history of the early development of the ICT and automation industry in Poland against a background of embargoes of high-tech products. This is very much an example of successful development against the odds and leads to a discussion of the various factors which made this possible. The focus on Poland, though there are also examples from other countries, enables consideration of a particularly interesting and little-known history of technology development and numerous examples of ethically problematical behaviour, from which wider lessons can be drawn. It includes analysis of the factors that made Wrocław the ICT and automation ‘capital’ of Poland and that led to the growth and eventual closure of the first Polish computer manufacturer Elwro. Other interesting features are biographies of successful Polish ICT and automation leading designers and programmers and discussion of the factors that attracted them to the profession and contributed to their success in a challenging context. There is also discussion of the ethical challenges posed by working in a corrupt system under politically appointed managers. Although the specifics are typical of the particular Polish context, this issue is unfortunately of much wider relevance.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_1

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4

1 Introduction

1.1 The Role of Engineering in Modern Society Technology has become a key component of modern society from low-tech devices such as knives and forks (with easy grips handles) to high-tech devices such as modern ICT. Their role as professionals working on the research, development and implementation of new technologies and the modification of existing technologies puts engineers in a potentially very powerful position to shape and transform society and affect the natural environment. Unfortunately, development to date has frequently been unsustainable in both environmental and human terms. Technology has transformed society, but has done so in ways which have increased divisions and inequalities rather than reduced them. This development has been accompanied by overconsumption and excessive emissions, which have damaged the natural environment. Technological developments have contributed to creating a comfortable lifestyle for many people. Modern ICT gives access to instant information and communication, and modern transport technology has opened up the world, but at a high environmental cost. Living without modern plumbing and sanitation would be unthinkable for those lucky enough to have access to them. At the same time, there are still 836 thousand people living on less than $1.25 a day and nearly half the global population, 3.4 billion people, are struggling to meet basic needs (Howton, 2018). Only 68% of the world’s population has access to improved sanitation, with 2.4 billion people lacking improved sanitation and 663 million lacking access to improved water sources (UNICEF, 2015). 6.3 children under five died in 2013, 17% of children in the majority world (developing) countries were still underweight in 2015 and 2016 women died in childbirth or from pregnancy complications in 2015. Overconsumption by the more affluent globally and even some of the less affluent in the minority world (developed) countries has resulted in a number of serious environment problems. Global climate change is the most serious and poses a real threat to the continued existence of humanity and the planet. There is broad scientific consensus that human activity is responsible for increases in global average surface temperatures of 0.87 °C compared to the 1850–1900 period (Masson-Delmonte et al., 2018). This report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) presents a body of evidence of the critical need to prevent average global surface temperature increases (global warming) beyond 1.5 °C and the significantly greater risks and potential disasters resulting from global warming of 2 °C. This will require an almost immediate halt to further emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases. Global warming of 1.5 °C is predicted to result in sea level rises of 0.26–0.77 m by 2100, whereas 2 °C will lead to a further 0.1 metres and affect another 10 million people. In both cases, sea levels will continue rising beyond 2100. Sea levels could rise several metres further over hundreds to thousands of years as a result of instability of the Antarctic marine ice sheet or irreversible loss of the Greenland ice sheet, both possible outcomes of 1.5–2 °C warming. Sea level rises increase the risk of flooding, saltwater intrusion and infrastructure damage for people and ecosystems in small

1.2 The Importance of Ethics to Engineers and the Relationship Between …

5

islands, low-lying coastal areas and deltas. Global climate change also increases the risks to health, livelihoods water supply and food security, including a reduction in the yields of a variety of cereal crops. The risks are much greater for arctic ecosystems, dryland regions, small island ‘developing’ states and ‘least developed’ regions. These risks all increase with the amount of global warming (Masson-Delmonte et al., 2018). Other risks include decreased water availability in water scare regions, particularly in the subtropics and an increase in exposure to water cholera and malaria and deaths from heat stroke (Ahmad et al., 2001). Thus engineering has contributed to unsustainable development resulting in excessive consumption by part of the population overstraining planetary systems leading to global warming and other environmental problems and basic needs not being met for much of the rest of the population. However, engineering of all types has an important role to play in moves towards sustainable development. Developing sustainable water resource management and use is one of many areas. Here there is an urgent need to develop systems which fulfil the requirements of people throughout the world without the water leakage and inefficient water usage that currently occurs in some parts of the world, whereas billions of people still lack access to clean water and adequate sanitation. The 2020 COVID-19 crisis has further shown the potential role of engineers, for instance in developing and producing (personal) protective equipment and ventilators. Carrying projects out competently is also important. There have been a number of well-known disasters resulting from systemic factors, but where improved design and consideration of human factors could have made a real difference. These include Chernobyl, Three Mile Island and Bhopal. In the case of Bhopal, the plant was poorly designed in ways that reduced safety. A team of US engineers had warned of many of the hazards that led to the disaster at the last safety inspection in 1982, but were ignored (Martin & Schinzinger, 2004). In all three cases, planning for multiple failure and including more failsafes and ensuring that all safety indicators could not be turned off or malfunction at the same time would probably have made a very significant difference.

1.2 The Importance of Ethics to Engineers and the Relationship Between Behaviour and Ethics As discussed in the previous section, modern society is largely based on technology of different kinds. Thus, the decisions made by engineers and other technology professionals can have a very great impact. This makes being an engineer both a great privilege and a great responsibility. Engineers therefore require appropriate tools to help them fulfil this responsibility, including an understanding of ethics and tools to support ethical decision-making. Ethics is discussed in more detail in Chap. 2. However, engineering ethics can be divided into two main categories: (1) process or professional ethics related to

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1 Introduction

day-to-day ethical professional contact and (2) ethical issues related to the outcomes or applications of ethics to, for instance, a particular engineering project or new technology. Ethical issues in the second category can occur in the short, medium or long terms. Although stated in a consequentialist form, the associated ethical issues cover principles, as well as consequences. Both types of ethics are important, but discussion in the literature has tended to focus on professional ethics and paid little attention to ethics associated with outcomes. Regulating professional practice in accordance with professional ethics is essential for engineers to be professional and competent. However, taking account of the ethical consequences of projects you are involved in is essential to being a truly ethical engineer. Behaviour involves action and speech. Where behaviour is influenced by ethics, it can be seen as a practical implementation of it. However, this is unfortunately not always the case and behaviour is not necessarily always influenced by ethics, but there is little value in ethical views which are not implemented in practice. The case studies in Chaps. 7 and 8 illustrate some of the factors that influence behaviour and which may affect whether or not it is ethical in terms of either professional practice and/or its wider consequences.

1.3 Technology Transfer: Ethical Issues, Good and Bad Practice It is an oft-cited truism that knowledge is power. Thus, knowledge exchange, including through technology transfer, has the potential to increase or reduce equality and social justice by reducing or increasing knowledge and power imbalances, respectively. This depends on its aims and how it is carried out in practice. Technology transfer which aims to reduce power and knowledge imbalances should be two (or multi) rather than purely one way. It should recognise, value and incorporate local expertise and take account of local abilities to maintain and repair transferred technologies. There are many examples of abandoned and rusting technologies, due to the lack of the ability to maintain and repair them locally. Where this expertise is not available locally, it should be transferred at the same time as the technology. In practice, this may require training and development of local capacity over a period. The overall aim of technology transfer should be encouraging independence rather than dependence. Thus, technology transfer agents should work with local people and organisations to develop capacity and stimulate the development of local technology industries. When this has occurred, the technology transfer agents should withdraw or, at least, take a much less dominant role. Unfortunately, there is not infrequently a gap between best and actual practice. The history of Poland presents two problematical examples of the lack of technology transfer. In the first case, embargoes on the transfer of advanced technologies prevented it. In the second case, several of the western firms expanding into

1.4 Aims and Relevance of the Book

7

Polish markets did not recognise the value of involving local experts and working co-operatively with the local ICT industry. The embargoes had the unexpected effect of stimulating the development of a local ICT industry, which proved to be very successful. Some of the reasons for this are discussed in Chap. 3. However, the circumstances are not easily reproducible elsewhere and there are much better ways of stimulating local ICT industries. The influx of western firms which did not work together with existing firms and experts had a negative impact. In particular, Elwro, the first and main developer and manufacturer of computers in Poland, was sold off and eventually liquidated. This resulted in the loss of an independent Polish computer industry. Few of the incoming western firms that did not work together with local experts were successful. While Poland still has an ICT industry, the prospect of the resurgence of a Polish computer industry currently seems remote. A resurgent Polish computer industry would also need to include mobile devices. Although the original Polish computer industry developed without outside support, its resurgence would probably require a respectful technology transfer process.

1.4 Aims and Relevance of the Book The overall aim of this book is to discuss ethics and human behaviour and the relationships between them in professional practice for engineers and computer scientists in order to increase understanding of the underlying issues and encourage good practice. These issues are illustrated through discussion of a number of real-life examples, with a particular focus on the pioneering ICT and automation industry in Poland. There are also a number of examples from outside Poland to highlight the universality of many of the ethical dilemmas and problems faced by engineers and computer scientists. A subsidiary aim of the book is to present the little-known and often inspiring history of the development of the computer and automation industry in Poland. This was largely a response to embargoes which prevented the import of the then current state-of-the-art components and access to technical know-how. In many ways, this is an example of the triumph of the human spirit in very adverse circumstances, resulting from a combination of the lack of resources due to the embargoes and a corrupt political system. This system frequently imposed politically appointed managers, who were chosen for reasons totally unrelated to their competence. Consequently, these managers often lacked both management skills and an understanding of the industry they were supposed to manage and seemed to be mainly distinguished by an ability to promote their own self-interest. While not all managers were of this type, they were not uncommon and some of the case studies are based on the bad practices of these politically appointed managers. The book also provides a description of many of the technologies, both hardware and software, developed in this period and some of the ingenuous approaches used to get round the lack of resources and know-how. For anyone with even a

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1 Introduction

relatively minor interest in technology, the descriptions of the early computers and the innovative solutions found to circumvent the non-availability of components and information should be fascinating. The ability to develop low resource low-cost solutions is essential to make them widely accessible in the majority world countries and avoid the current resource heavy development occurring in the minority world countries. The book also provides some insight into the ‘human face’ of early technology development in the form of biographies of some of the early hardware and software designers and developers. Investigation of ethical and human behaviour issues associated with technology transfer is another important aim of the book. These issues are illustrated by examples from the history of the pioneering ICT and automation industry in Poland and the subsequent influx of western firms. Ethical technology transfer is becoming increasingly important and could make a contribution to more equitable and sustainable development and overcoming the digital divide. The book also provides a number of case studies from outside Poland and generally from a slightly later period. This illustrates both the continuing importance of ethical issues and the appropriateness of the ethics and behaviour framework to different types of examples and contexts. Engineering and ICT are increasingly important in the context of sustainable development, where they have the potential to be either important solutions or part of the problem. Ethical technology transfer and the ability of majority world (developing) countries to develop their own ICT industries are also becoming increasingly important. Such local industries can contribute to avoiding dependence and colonialism and be tailored to local situations, including intermittent power supply and the ability to maintain and repair devices locally. They can also draw on the experiences of ICT development elsewhere to speed up the process and carry it out in a way that avoids or at least reduces negative social and environmental impacts. This book is important in showing that many different countries are able to develop their own ICT industries and providing some tips from the Polish context which may be suitable for adoption elsewhere. This is still very relevant despite very significant advances in technology since the period of early Polish computer development. Another feature which adds to the book’s relevance is its consideration of both ethics and human behaviour rather than just one or the other. While ethics is not purely theoretical, explicit discussion of ethics in the context of behaviour highlights some of the ways in which ethics can be implemented in practice. An important feature of this contribution is the presentation and application of a multifactor ethics and behaviour analysis framework. To the authors’ knowledge, this is the first example of a multifactor combined ethics and human behaviour analysis framework.

1.5 Overview of the Book The book takes an innovative approach based on the two dimensions of ethics and human behaviour in challenging workplace and social contexts, and the development of the ICT and automation industry in Poland. They are linked through critical analyses of ethical and behaviour issues in case studies taken from the experiences of the

1.5 Overview of the Book

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development of ICT and automation in Poland and several other countries. The focus on Poland, though there are also examples from other countries, enables consideration of a particularly interesting and little known history of technology development and the presentation of examples of ethically problematical behaviour, from which wider lessons can be drawn. Other novel features include a framework for analysing ethics and human behaviour, the variety of case studies from different countries, the history and analyses of the factors that made Wrocław the ICT and automation ‘capital’ of Poland and that led to the growth and eventual closure of the computing firm Elwro. Further points of interest are biographies of successful Polish ICT and automation (leading) designers and programmers and discussion of the factors that attracted them to the profession and contributed to their success in a challenging context.

1.5.1 Part I: Introduction This part consists of this chapter and Chapter 2: Ethics and Human Behaviour provides the background and supporting framework for carrying out the ethics and human behaviour analysis in Chaps. 7 and 8. It does this by presenting most of the main definitions, theories and approaches to ethics and human behaviour. Ethics definitions, theories and approaches are provided in Sect. 2.2 and those for behaviour in Sect. 2.4. Section 2.3 presents three different approaches to applying ethical theories in practice. These are based on a combination of different theories presented in Sect. 2.2, often in combination with other factors. Section 2.2 is divided into four different subsections which cover most of the main theories of ethics. It also has a detailed table of most of the ethics theories, their properties and some references discussing or applying them. Section 2.4 is divided into four different subsections which cover most of the main theories of human behaviour. The framework for ethics and behaviour analysis that will be used to analyse the case studies in Chaps. 7 and 8 is presented in Sect. 2.5. Its development is discussed briefly in the conclusions in Sect. 2.6.

1.5.2 Part II: Historical Background, Organisations and Individuals This part contains two chapters: Chapter 3: ICT Development in Poland and Wrocław and Chapter 4: The Pioneers. Chapter 3 presents the historical and organisational context for the technologies presented in Chaps. 5 and 6 and the case studies in Chap. 7. Sections 3.2 and 3.3 provide a brief overview of the history of Poland and the history and geography of Wrocław, the ‘ICT capital’ of Poland. Sections 3.4–3.6

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1 Introduction

discuss the industrial context. This includes a brief history of industrial development in Poland and the reasons for the successful development of an information and communication technologies (ICT) industry in Poland, focused on Wroclaw. Sections 3.7–3.9 give a brief overview of the main organisations involved in early ICT development in Warsaw and Wrocław. The main focus of Chap. 4 on the pioneers is brief biographies of the designers, programmers and other personnel involved in the early development of ICT and automation in Poland, particularly those who worked in Wrocław. To structure the biographies they are organised by the main type of projects they were involved in. Tables are used in each section to summarise the work of the different pioneers and highlight similarities and differences. In addition to the main projects the pioneers worked on and the organisations they worked in, the biographies cover their education and interests. Sport and outdoor activities were particularly popular. The subsequent section discusses various factors related to being a successful pioneering leading designer. This includes the factors that attracted the pioneers to ICT (Sect. 4.3), what is required for a good leading designer (Sect. 4.4), the necessary education and training (Sect. 4.5) and the role of leading pioneers in educating the next generation of designers (Sect. 4.6). The focus is on leading designers, as leading designers supported by a team was the model used at the time. However, as discussed in the introductory section to the chapter, it is the whole team not just the leading designer which was responsible for successful ICT and automation projects. In addition, there are other models, including more collective ones. The final section (4.7) before the conclusions discusses some of the reasons for the very low representation of women amongst the pioneers. Unfortunately, little has changed in this respect.

1.5.3 Part III: Computers, ICT and Applications Projects Part III is divided into two chapters: Chapter 5: A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry and Chapter 6: ICT Software and Applications. Chapter 5 discusses the development of the computer industry in Poland and presents brief overviews of the main Polish computers, particularly those developed by Elwro. The introduction includes a table of the different stages of computer development by Elwro and this is used to provide a structure for the chapter. This includes pre-Elwro computers (Sect. 5.2), the initial Odra computers (Sect. 5.3), computers designed to be compatible with the then popular tabulating machines (Sect. 5.4), computers designed at the end of the pioneering era (Sect. 5.5), Odra series 1300 computers (Sect. 5.6) and Riad computers (Sect. 5.7) which were analogues of the IBM series /360 and /370 computers. The initial development of computers in Poland was largely in response to the embargoes which prevented the import of computers and state-of-the-art components. Over time the embargoes were relaxed, making some high-tech components available. This allowed subsequent generations of computers to make use of more

1.5 Overview of the Book

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advanced technologies, while ingenuity was still required to deal with the continuing lack of availability of some important components. For instance, at one point ferrite powder was obtained by dissolving magnetic tapes in acetone and drying the result. Computer software is just as important as its hardware. Chapter 6 discusses computer software and some applications projects. The software used in the preElwro and Odra computers is presented in Sect. 6.2. The Odra series 1300 computers were developed to be compatible with the International Computers Limited (ICL) series 1900 ones to enable them to use the ICL rich software. Although this approach led to a series of computers with very rich software, it also had disadvantages, including the loss of personnel to Elwro who wanted to design and develop rather than adapt computers and probably also reduction in the skills and experience of doing this. Sections 6.3 and 6.4 discuss applications and projects, in power systems and other areas respectively.

1.5.4 Part IV: Case Studies of Ethics and Human Behaviour The two chapters in Part IV apply the ethics and behaviour analysis framework presented in Chap. 2 to analyse a number of case studies based on real situations. Chapter 7 presents seven case studies and Chap. 8 eight examples. The specific situations in Chap. 7 all occurred in Poland, largely in the pioneering period of ICT development. All the case studies relate to ICT and automation projects. The situations covered include exclusion from design work, project cancellation, technology transfer and responsibilities in a safety critical context. Thus, though the situations covered arose in a particular context they are more widely relevant. The case studies in Chap. 8 are from a later period, 1984–2019, and from outside Poland, including China, Germany, India, the UK and USA. Six of the case studies are related to ICT and two cover other issues, related to car testing and the Bhopal chemical plant disaster. The case studies are both useful in themselves and illustrate the value of the framework in ethics and behaviour analysis.

1.5.5 Part V: Looking Forward This short part concludes and rounds off the book. It contains one chapter, Chapter 9: Final Word: Which Side Are You On? and some resource materials. It brings together the various themes in the book and poses a challenge to engineers, computer scientists and other technical professionals to use their expertise, ingenuity and creativity in the service of humanity and the planet.

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References Ahmad, Q. K., et al. (2001). Summary for policymakers. In J. J. McCarthy, O. F. Canziani, A. N. Leary, D. J. Dokken, & K. S. White (Eds.), Climate Change 2001, impacts, adaptation and vulnerability, contribution of working group II to the third assessment report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) (pp. 1–73). Cambridge University Press. Howton, E. (2018). Nearly half the world lives on less than $5.50 a day. https://www.worldb ank.org/en/news/press-release/2018/10/17/nearly-half-the-world-lives-on-less-than-550-a-day. Accessed May 21, 2019. Martin, M. W., & Schinzinger, R. (2004). Ethics in engineering (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. Masson-Delmonte, V. et al. (2018). Summary for policy makers in Global Warming of 1.5 °C. IPPC. UNICEF. (2015). Progress on drinking water and sanitation: 2015 update and MDG assessment. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/177752/9789241509145_eng.pdf;jsessi onid=CE8E29897D891192321D41EC5FC2B1FF?sequence=1. Accessed May 14, 2019.

Chapter 2

Ethics and Human Behaviour

2.1 Introduction People are a very important component of both engineering systems and organisations. Designing engineering systems without taking into account human factors is likely to lead to systems which do not meet user needs and which may be totally unusable. Similarly, to understand an organisation and make its policies and practices both more ethical and more effective, some understanding of the behaviour of the people who are part of it is required. It is also useful to understand the relationships between ethics and behaviour. Unfortunately, currently neither ethics nor behaviour are fully understood. There are a number of separate ethical theories, which are useful, but which do not give the full perspective. Several multifactor multitheory approaches to ethics have been obtained, but none of them are universally accepted. Similarly, there are a number of different theories of human behaviour, but they again focus on particular aspects rather than giving a full picture. There is varying evidence for the different theories and to the authors’ knowledge the need for of a multitheory approach has not yet been considered. None of the theories is universally accepted. Ethics is about right and wrong conduct and the techniques and approaches that can be used to decide what is right and wrong (Hersh, 2015a). It can be seen as a framework in which to study and solve moral problems (Bennet, 1996; Vesilund, 1988), but is frequently used to describe right and wrong motives and conduct in a professional context (Hersh, 2015a). This is how the term will be used here. Professional ethics involves numerous questions, which can generally be phrased in terms of ‘should’, ‘ought’, ‘right’, ‘wrong’. The following are just a few examples. • What should I do if I realise that the firm I am working for is carrying out activities that are damaging to the environment or proposing to distribute a product before carrying out sufficient tests of its safety? • Should I accept money from a tobacco company/the military to develop a new assistive device to support disabled people? Does this depend on the type © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_2

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of device? Other available sources of funding? The benefits to the tobacco company/military? Whether there will be any restrictions on publishing freely? What should I do if I suspect my line manager is bullying and harassing colleagues? How much evidence do I need before taking action? What should I do if I refer this issue to the head of the company, but they do not take any action? I am working on an engineering project in a majority world (developing) country with a collective approach to ethics. My home organisation requires me to obtain signed informed consent forms from individuals, but the people I am working with consider this insulting. What should I do? Devices have been developed which can be used to lock the front door and prevent elderly people with dementia going out at night. Is this ethical? Who should make this sort of decision? What about conflicts between the wishes of the person with dementia and their friends and relatives. What if it is not possible to determine the views of the person with dementia? I am working on a project with a very limited budget. Is it more ethical to travel to project meetings and conferences by train or plane? Travelling by plane is more damaging to the environment, but train travel is generally more expensive and uses up too much of my small budget.

The ethical answers to many of the above questions are probably not immediately obvious. The chosen solutions will often depend on the individual, the information available to them, their own ideological, political, religious and ethical values and points of view and the ethos and cultural context of the society they live in and any minority groups they are part of. There are also a number a number of different theories and approaches which can be applied to analysing ethical dilemmas.

2.2 Ethics Theories and Methods 2.2.1 Overview The diverse theories and other approaches to ethics can be classified in the following ways (see Table 2.1) (Hersh, 2015a): 1. Process- or outcomes-based (or both): Process-based approaches consider how an action is carried out, whereas outcomes-based approaches consider its outcomes or consequences. In general, ethical actions require both the process and outcomes to be ethical. 2. Monist or pluralist: Monist approaches generally apply one theory and pluralist approaches apply several. Pluralist approaches have been criticised for not indicating how the different theories should be weighed against each other. However,

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Table 2.1 Summary of theories and approaches to understanding ethics (Hersh, 2015a) Theory

Properties

Concepts

References

Care, ethics of

Monist, situational, outcomes-oriented

A context-based approach to preserving relationships

Gilligan (1982), Held (2006), Morris (2001), Sevenhuijsen (1998)

Case approach

Pluralist, absolutist, process-oriented

Rule-based analysis of particular cases to obtain general rules to analyse complicated cases

Chadwick (2016), Cooper (2012), Harris et al. (1996), Newberry (2004)

Deontological

Monist, absolutist, process-oriented

Intention and innate virtue of a course of action

Collins and Miller (1992), Ersdal and Aven (2008), Kant (1792, 1818)

Eco-centred

Pluralist, situational, process and outcome-oriented

Connections and interactions, a holistic perspective including long-term and indirect consequences for the environment

Callicott (1992), Hersh (2000, ), Mosquin and Rowe (2004), Nash (1989), Taylor (2011)

Existential ethics

Monist, absolutist, outcomes-oriented

Morality from individual’s concern for continuing and enhanced existence

Kaufmann (1956), Macquarrie (1955), Sartre (1985, 1992), Warnock (1970)

Experimentation, ethics of

Monist, absolutist, process-oriented

This stresses informed consent

Hersh (2012a, 2012b), Hersh and Tucker (2005), Martin and Schinzinger (1996, 2004, 2010)

Hippocratic or engineering oath

Monist, absolutist, process and outcomes-oriented

Public personal ethical Bitay et al. (2005), Laplante (2004), commitment. Avoid harm, share knowledge, Singleton (1991) admit ignorance

Human-centred

Monist, absolutist, process-oriented

Focus on people and Hersh (2013a, 2013b), relationships rather than Stapleton and Hersh (2004) technology, power structures or organisations

Narrative

Pluralist, situational, both process and outcomes-oriented

Use of stories, literary criticism and narrative theory to understand underlying issues

Frey and O’Neill-Carrilo (2008), Hersh et al. (2005), McCarthy (2003), Walker (1993)

Mainly concerned with offsetting or mitigating present or future harms

Hersh (2003, 2012b), Inglehart et al. (1987), Rothbart and Edwards (2003)

Negative utilitarian Monist, situational, outcomes-oriented

(continued)

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Table 2.1 (continued) Theory

Properties

Concepts

Normative

Pluralist, absolutist, process-oriented

The defence of Cooper (1987), Hersh principles, such as (2012b), Kagan (1998) beneficence, justice and autonomy

References

Positive utilitarian

Monist, situational, outcomes-oriented

Assesses benefits against risks and costs

Hersh (2003), Hersh (2012b), Mill (1871)

Rights

Pluralist, absolutist, process-oriented

Considers actions to be wrong if they violate fundamental moral rights

Basart and Serra (2013), Gardiner et al. (2010), Hersh (2012b), Nino (1991)

Rule-based

Monist, absolutist, process-oriented

Application of rules, e.g. institutional codes of ethics or professional conduct

Engineering Council (2010), Oldenquist and Slowter (1979), Parker (1968), VDI (2002)

Virtue

Monist, absolutist, process-oriented

Supports actions which build good character

Beauchamp (2001), Doris (1998), Havard (2007), Hursthouse (1999), Swanton (2003)

this is not a problem if the aim is considered to be structuring situations, highlighting problems and issues and supporting ethical thinking and decision-making rather than determining ethical conduct in a particular situation. 3. Absolutist or situational: Absolutist approaches consider a particular set of ethical principles to always hold, whereas situational approaches modify or prioritise ethical principles differently to take account of the situation. While situational approaches are frequently more realistic, it is important that the situational aspect is not used as an excuse for avoiding hard ethical issues. A wide range of different theories and approaches with their properties, main concepts and some references are presented in Table 2.1. These theories and approaches will be discussed briefly in the following subsections.

2.2.2 Normative Ethical Principles and Ethics of Care The four normative ethical principles of respect for autonomy, beneficence, nonmaleficence and justice are frequently used in discussions of professional ethics. (Beauchamp & Childress, 2001; Hersh, 2015a). Beneficence requires active promotion of acts that benefit others, helping people to further their legitimate interests and removing or preventing possible harm. Non-maleficence involves the avoidance of harm. In some ways, it could therefore be considered a weaker principle than beneficence. However, unlike beneficence it does not consider the balances between benefits and harms, just avoiding harms, and so could exclude actions which involve

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minor harms, but delivers great benefits. Autonomy was originally defined in terms of the defence of individual rights against the state, but wider definitions include social groups as well as individuals. It also relates to control over one’s life, which has been expressed as the ability to ‘make meaningful decisions about [one’s] life and have also them happen’ (Knight, 2007). Justice requires behaving fairly and in accordance with what is owed or due. However, justice may be based on the status quo and not consider existing injustices, such as poverty, inequalities and discrimination and the need to do something about them. In addition, different social groups frequently have different needs and consequently may require different treatment to meet these needs. Therefore, identical treatment does not necessarily result in justice. This is partially resolved by the concept of distributive justice which requires the just distribution of social benefits and burdens and everyone to be treated equally. Equal treatment is not necessarily the same as identical treatment. Different treatment may be required to take account of different needs or to alleviate structural or other inequalities and remove the barriers otherwise experienced by, for instance disabled people and other minority groups. This type of different treatment should be considered just (Barbour, 1995). Autonomy should allow people to define and determine their needs, particularly in ways that correct structural and other inequalities, though this rarely happens in practice (Hersh, 2015a). These four principles are sometimes presented as being in opposition to the ethics of care (Gilligan, 1982), but can more usefully be considered as complementary to it. The ethics of care is a context-based approach to preserving relationships which originated in Gilligan’s applications of Kohlberg’s (1981) theory on reasoning and moral development to women and girls of all ages. This led Gilligan to consider that an ethics of care was more appropriate for women and girls than Kohlberg’s theory. There are five central ideas: (1) moral attention to the situation in all its complexity; (2) sympathising with other people in the situation and showing sensitivity to their wishes and interests; (3) recognising their relationships to you and the network of relationships that connect people and caring about preserving and nurturing these relationships; (4) taking account of everyone’s needs, including your own, particularly when appropriate action is not clear; (5) response to need and showing caring. A related approach involves two different types of self-understanding (Lyons, 1983). (1) The separate/objective self considers moral dilemmas a conflict between their principles and someone else’s needs, desires or demands. Although interactions may be valued, they are frequently considered in terms of ground rules and procedures. (2) The connected self considers relationships to be central to self-identity and focuses on protecting ties of connection and affection. Moral dilemmas are about the breakdown of relationships and preserving ties of care when they are threatened.

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2.2.3 Deontological and Consequentialist Ethics Deontological approaches are based on independent and ‘objectively’ defined moral rules and duties. They consider motivation, obligation and principles, rather than the outcomes. However, motivation, obligation and principles, and consequences should be considered complimentary. Acting purely out of a good motivation or obligation and principles without considering the consequences is unlikely to lead to good or truly ethical outcomes. Deontological theories have been divided into agent (subject)-based and patient/victim (object)-based approaches (Alexander & Moore, 2007). Agent-centred approaches are duty-based and focus on agency and the responsibility for personal morality. Patient-centred approaches are rights rather than duty-based and highlight the right not to be used without consent by someone else for the other person’s or a third party’s benefit. Deontological approaches can be easy to apply in the form of a checklist. While checklists have their role, checklist morality does not lead to serious consideration of issues and a checklist approach can even prevent this and lead to complex underlying ethical issues not being given their due consideration. Consequentialist approaches are concerned with the consequences of actions and the balance between benefits and harms. Utilitarianism is a particular type of consequentialism, based on the maximisation of utility. Positive utilitarianism assesses actions or systems in terms of their benefits against the risks and costs. Negative utilitarianism is mainly concerned with offsetting or mitigating present or future harms. The difference between deontological and consequentialist approaches is related to the means and ends argument. For instance, is it justified to do (slightly) wrong in order to achieve (a greater) good. Do only outcomes matter? Or is how you achieve them and your motivation equally important? Is it better to have good intentions or achieve the right outcomes? Both motivation and outcomes are important and thus considering both deontological and consequentialist ethics leads to a fuller picture and is likely to result in better and more ethical decision-making. Rule-based ethics is based on the application of rules. This includes rule-based deontological and consequentialist ethics. Many professions and professional societies have codes of ethics or professional practice to guide the actions of their members. These codes are an important source of rules. They can provide general guidelines about appropriate and ethical behaviour, but are not a substitute for individual and collective responsibility. In particular, no single code can cover the full range of potential ethical issues without becoming excessively complicated and few codes provide guidance on how to act ethically when there is a conflict between different provisions of the code. There is also a difference between professional codes (of conduct) and codes of ethics and many of the codes are professional codes rather than codes of ethics. However, codes can be particularly useful in providing support for engineers and other professionals with concerns about how a project is carried out or its long-term consequences. They can also provide engineers and other professionals support when

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Table 2.2 Law and morality Legality

Morality Moral

Neither moral nor immoral

Immoral

Legal

Legal and moral

Legal and neither moral nor immoral

Legal and immoral

Neither legal nor illegal

Neither legal nor illegal and moral

Neither legal nor Illegal and neither moral nor immoral

Neither legal nor illegal and immoral

Illegal

Illegal and moral

Illegal and neither moral nor immoral

Illegal and immoral

taking a stand on ethical issues. This can be particularly valuable when the code is backed up by organisational support, though unfortunately this is not always the case. Legislation can be considered another type of rule to follow. Unfortunately not all legislation can be considered to be ethical and ethical behaviour is much wider than what is covered by legislation. The relationship between legality and morality is discussed, for instance, in Seedhouse (1988) and illustrated in Table 2.2. This shows that there is both overlap, with activities which are both legal and moral and differences, with some activities legal but not moral and others moral, but not legal. The intermediate categories of neither legal nor illegal and neither moral nor immoral are also included.

2.2.4 Virtue and Narrative Ethics Virtue ethics, which dates back to Aristotle (Koehn, 1995), supports actions which build good character. It is based on the premise that a person with moral virtues is more likely to behave ethically than someone who purely follows rules. Individuals can be influenced by their actions, particularly if these actions are frequent or even habitual. For instance, always telling the truth can make truth-telling the norm for a particular individual and make it difficult for them to tell lies. Similarly, frequently telling untruths or lies can accustom the person to this and make it more likely they will not tell the truth. However, in some circumstances it can be prudent to avoid the truth, for instance when you are being asked the whereabouts of another person and you believe that this is for the purposes of causing them harm. Lying to them is clearly ethical under consequentialist ethics. Whether or not it is ethical under deontological ethics depends on the relative values given to the different principles and obligations of truth-telling and avoiding harm to others. Thus, both regularly telling and not telling the truth can have an impact on a person’s character. This can be extended to the impact of other types of repeated or frequent behaviour on character. Therefore, virtue ethics can also be seen as the type of behaviour which will promote the development of particular virtues. While suggestions for lists of appropriate virtues have been made, these are likely to be culturally dependent. Although distinct from both deontological and consequentialist

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ethics in that the focus is the effects of the action on the person carrying it out (and the relationship between action and character), it is not in conflict with them. Narrative ethics takes a holistic approach which considers the perspectives of all the different stakeholders. It uses narratives or stories told by individuals to explore ethical issues. This can give a voice to individuals whose experiences might otherwise be marginalised or ignored. The approach also provides a way to consider the needs of different end-users/stakeholders in the design of (technological) devices, products and systems. This is in-line with increasing recognition of the importance of humancentred design and the need to give equal weight and, if necessary, prioritise enduser over technological specifications in order to obtain devices and systems which perform well and really meet user needs (and preferences). There has been limited research on the use of narrative ethics in engineering. However, there is a body of work on narrative ethics in nursing, for instance (Lindsay & Graham, 2000; Sørlie et al., 2004). This is particularly relevant due to the pre-eminence of the human relationships of nurses, both with their patients and with each other. It is therefore interesting to apply some of the lessons from the use of narrative ethics in nursing to engineering. A seven-stage methodology for applying narrative ethics has been developed (Hersh, 2015b). The seven stages are: (1) construction of a narrative; (2) identification of important elements of the narrative: (3) using the narrative to identify or specify more precisely the main ethical issues and dilemmas; (4) retelling the narrative from different perspectives, including the perspectives of ‘other(s)’; (5) writing different possible continuations of the narrative, for instance from different perspectives or making different assumptions to give different potential solutions; (6) analysis of the narrative continuations (solutions); and (7) using the previous analysis to choose and implement a solution. It should be noted that this approach can involve considerably more detail and be more time-consuming to apply than other ethical approaches. On the other hand, it gives the views of different stakeholders and facilitates obtaining a solution.

2.3 Methods and Approaches for Applying Ethical Theories in Practice The following subsections present three multidimensional approaches to applying ethical theories in real situations.

2.3.1 The Ethical Grid The Ethical Grid (Seedhouse, 1988) was developed as a tool to support ethical reasoning and decision-making by health workers. However, it has much wider

2.3 Methods and Approaches for Applying Ethical Theories in Practice

21

applications, including in engineering projects. It combines basic principles and deontological and consequentialist ethics. There are four different layers, as shown in Table 2.3. 1. Layer 1—basic ethical statements covering the core issues of creating and respecting autonomy, respecting individuals equally and serving needs before wants. These issues are considered to present a rich and fruitful theory of health. However, this raises questions of definitions of needs and wants and in some cases wants relate to preferred ways of having needs met. 2. Layer 2—deontological theories covering duties and motives, including promisekeeping, truth-telling, minimising harm and beneficence. It is intended to encourage the consideration of principles in moral deliberations. However, there may be occasions when it is justifiable to weaken or omit one or more of these principles, but the ethical justification for doing this should be clear. 3. Layer 3—consequentialist theories covering the immediate, direct, long-term and indirect consequences of proposed actions. This is expressed as increasing individual, social and personal goods, as well as those belonging to a particular group. This is equivalent to reducing the associated negative impacts. Additional consequences could be added, for instance increasing environmental goods or distributive equality, though that may be implied by increasing the goods of a particular group and the social good. 4. Layer 4—external considerations, including the wishes and legal rights of others, the need to use external evidence to justify actions, risks and action effectiveness and efficiency, codes of practice and the degree of certainty of the evidence on which action is taken. Cultural and other specific environmental factors could usefully be included in this layer. The four layers are also divided into four triangular quadrants and which it can be useful to follow from layers 1–4. The grid can be used to structure ethical reasoning. Table 2.3 The ethical grid Layer

Quadrant Upper

Left

Lower

Right

Layer 1

Respect persons equally

Create autonomy

Serve needs before wants

Respect autonomy

Layer 2

Promise keeping

Intent to enable (beneficence)

Minimise harm

Truth-telling

Layer 3

Increase of individual good

Increase of social good

Increase of the good Increase of self of a particular group

Layer 4

The responsibility to Wishes of others; justify all actions in Legal rights of terms of external others (the law) evidence; Effectiveness and efficiency of action

Disputed facts; The degree of certainty of the evidence on which action is taken

The risk; Codes of practice

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However, its successful use requires users to be honest with themselves and to put in the necessary effort.

2.3.2 Perspectives, Principles and Paradigms This approach aims to consider stakeholder perspectives and/or other wider issues. It has three components, perspectives, principles and paradigms (Marshall, 2000). Perspectives consider the views of all the people involved in the proposed action and the consequences of not taking the actions. The four principles (see Sect. 2.2.2) are (1) respect for autonomy; (2) beneficence (doing one’s best for the person); (3) non-maleficence (not harming the person); and (4) justice. Paradigms are reference situations in which the ethical issues are clear. They can therefore be used to act as models and provide points of comparison for evaluating the ethics of a particular solution. There are elements of similarity to the case approach. However, it may not always be possible to find suitable reference situations.

2.3.3 The Application of Different Ethical Theories This approach (Hersh, 2003) combines a number of different ethical theories to structure the problem and highlight and investigate the relevant issues. The theories have been organised into groups to facilitate application and make clearer how the different components relate to each other. 1. Process and consequences • Deontological ethics: considers duties and obligations. • Positive utilitarianism: assesses benefits against risks and costs. • Negative utilitarianism: is mainly concerned with offsetting or mitigating present or future harms. 2. Character, rights and principles • Virtue ethics: supports actions which build good character. • Rights ethics: considers actions to be wrong if they violate fundamental moral rights. • Normative ethics: the defence of principles, such as beneficence, justice and autonomy. 3. Consent, relationships and consequences • The ethics of social experimentation: this stresses informed consent. • The ethics of care: a context-based approach to preserving relationships.

2.4 Theories of Human Behaviour

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• Eco-centred ethics: connections and interactions, including long-term and indirect consequences to the environment. Only the theories relevant to the particular problem should be applied, as some of them may not be. Applying different ethical theories frequently raises different ethical concerns and may lead to different conclusions. Decision-making then requires consideration of values and the reliability of the available information.

2.4 Theories of Human Behaviour This section discusses some of the main theories and other approaches to understanding human behaviour. This is clearly a complex topic, with behaviour affected by a number of different factors. It is therefore not particularly surprising that these factors are not yet fully understood. It is also unsurprising that algorithms or other approaches able to predict human behaviour with a high degree of certainty have not yet been developed, even for the simpler, but relatively infrequent case of complete information being available. The following subsections provide brief information on many of the main theories of human behaviour. However, the wide literature and range of different theories means that it has not been possible to include all of them.

2.4.1 Human Needs The most frequently used model of human needs is Maslow’s (1943, 1970) (adapted) hierarchy of needs. This states that individuals have a hierarchy of needs, with needs at subsequent levels emerging from the satisfaction of lower-level needs. The hierarchy is as follows: (1) biological and physiological needs; (2) safety needs; (3) belongingness and love needs; (4) esteem needs; (5) cognitive needs; (6) aesthetic needs; and (7) self-actualisation needs. The first three needs have been considered ‘deficit’ needs and the last three ‘growth’ needs. Despite little empirical evidence in support and some contrary evidence (Hall & Nougaim, 1968; Wahba & Bridwell, 1976), Maslow’s needs hierarchy is widely accepted and one of the most popular theories of motivation in the organisational behaviour and management literature. However, its disadvantages include difficulties in distinguishing the different categories of needs from each other. Many of the studies have methodological problems resulting from the nature of the theory (Wahba & Bridwell, 1976). In addition, different individuals will frequently prioritise different types of needs differently, as seen in the two theories discussed in the next two paragraphs. Other theories of needs include the ERG theory and the three motivating needs. The ERG theory divides human needs into three categories: (1) existence (material and physiological needs); (2) relatedness (with other people); and (3) growth

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(personal development, using existing abilities and developing new ones) (Alderfer, 1969). There are seven propositions which relate desire for a particular need to the extent of its satisfaction and the satisfaction of the needs above and below it in the hierarchy. Thus, contrary to Maslow’s theory, the hierarchy is not totally strict and higher-level needs can emerge before the complete satisfaction of lower-level needs. There is some empirical evidence in support of the ERG theory (Alderfer, 1969; Wahba & Bridwell, 1976). The three types of needs (McClelland, 1961): are (1) achievement (attainment of realistic, but challenging goals); (2) authority/power (the need to lead, be influential and have an impact); and (3) affiliation motivation (the need for friendly relationships and interactions and to be liked). Most people have all three types of needs in different combinations, though some people are particularly influenced by one of them. The relative importance of the different motivational needs affects behaviour and work and management styles. McClelland (1961) was particularly interested in achievement motivation and suggested that achievement motivated people set themselves personally achievable goals rather than taking big risks. He also suggested that their main motivation is accomplishing the aim or task and that this provides greater satisfaction to them than praise, recognition, material or financial reward or status. However, constructive feedback can be an important measure of success. He also suggested that achievement motivated people were generally the ones who got things done and obtained results, but that they could put excessive pressure on people who had other priorities.

2.4.2 Values, Culture, Attitudes and Intentions This section discusses the various theories of the impact of values, culture, attitudes and intentions on behaviour. There are several different definitions of values. However, they have the following common elements: (1) beliefs about what is desirable and (2) motivating forces, which give meaning to situations and act as norms or principles that guide behaviour in different situations (Agle & Caldwell, 1999; Schwartz & Bilsky, 1990; Verplanken & Holland, 2002). There are also different sources of values, including personal, societal, religious, philosophical and political. Values are different from attitudes, as they form an integrated system, are not related to particular objects or situations and are frequently hierarchically ordered by importance. However, individuals can have competing values, so that in some situations decisions about behaviour may require trade-offs between these competing values (Verplanken & Holland, 2002). Values are relatively stable. However, it is been established that generally only a few central values actually influence behaviour and only after ‘activation’ (Hemingway & Maclagen, 2004; Verplanken & Holland, 2002). Central values are the values which contribute to an individual’s self-definition and sense of identity and are used by them to define and interpret situations. However, a given individual may have several different, possibly contradictory, (central) values which are relevant to a given situation. Their behaviour will generally be affected

2.4 Theories of Human Behaviour

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by trade-offs between these values (Schwartz, 1996). Whether a value is always accessible or needs to be activated so that the person is aware of and can take account of it will generally depend on how strong and central to the person the value is (Verplanken & Holland, 2002). Several different classifications of values have been developed. They include ten different types of values and central values. Each of the ten value types is defined by the broad goal it expresses, and they are divided into four groups (Schwartz, 2012) as follows (see Fig. 2.1): • Openness to change: stimulation (excitement, novelty and challenge); selfdirection (independent thought and action). • Self-enhancement: achievement (personal success through demonstrating competence); power (social status and prestige, control over people and resources). • Conservation: security (safety, harmony and stability of self and society); conformity (restraining actions and inclinations likely to upset or harm others or which are against social norms); tradition (respect and acceptance of cultural or religious customs and ideas). • Self-transcendence: benevolence (preserving and increasing the value of one’s close contacts) and universalism (understanding, appreciating and protecting the welfare of all people and nature). Hedonism (pleasure or sensuous gratification) is divided between openness to change and self-enhancement. A given culture generally has a number of common values. However, this does not mean that all individuals or organisations necessarily accept all these values or prioritise them in the same way. In many cases, there is both a majority or dominant culture and one or more minority cultures. At the national level, the majority culture and values are associated with the majority population group and/or official/governing group(s). Minority cultures and values are associated with minority

Fig. 2.1 Model of ten motivational values

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population groups, such as groups of ethnic minority people and minority political or other ideologies. Organisations can also have minority cultures associated with particular groups within the organisation. Such minority cultures at both the national and organisational levels frequently have their own values, which differ to a greater or lesser extent from those of the majority culture. Individuals from minority cultures will be influenced by the minority and majority cultures to differing extents. Organisational culture has been defined as ‘prevailing perceptions of typical organisational practices and procedures that have ethical content’ (Victor & Cullen, 1988). It has been suggested that it determines the moral criteria for analysing, interpreting and resolving ethical issues (Cullen et al., 1989). Consequently, it can have a significant impact on decision-making and behaviour in response to ethical problems and issues. A two-dimensional, nine-component framework has been developed to classify different types of organisational cultures (Cullen et al., 1989; Victor & Cullen, 1988). The two dimensions are the ethical criteria used in decision-making and the level of analysis. The three ethical approaches in this categorisation are egoism, utilitarianism, and deontological ethics. The three perspectives are individual, local and cosmopolitan. On the one hand, nine categories are already a sufficient or more than sufficient number. On the other, there are various other ethical approaches and deontology and utilitarianism are most appropriately treated as complementary to each other. Several studies have shown that the type of ethical climate has an impact on (ethical) behaviour (Bulutlar & Öz, 2009; Vardaman et al., 2014). Despite considerable evidence to the contrary (Armitage & Christian, 2003), it is frequently assumed that attitudes can be used to predict behaviour. The theory of reasoned action has been found to be a relatively good determinant of behaviour in simple situations in which external factors do not present barriers to people carrying out their intentions (Armitage & Christian, 2003; Fishbein, 1979). It states that behaviour can be predicted from a person’s intentions and that intentions towards a behaviour are determined by a combination of attitudes and the subjective norm. The latter is the product of perceptions of pressure from others and motivation to comply with these pressures (Terry & O’Leary, 1995). Descriptive norms are what significant others themselves do and lead to perceptions of their actual attitudes and behaviours. They have been found to have significant predictive value on intentions (Rivis & Sheeran, 2003). However, subjective and descriptive norms could also be considered external factors which present barriers to individuals carrying out their intentions as determined by their attitudes.

2.4.3 Beliefs about Behaviour, Utility Theory and Goals This section discusses the theories of control of behaviour, including planned behaviour, self-efficacy and self-theories, as well as goal framing theory and utility theory. The theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 1991, 2005) was developed for more complex and common situations in which there are barriers to implementing

2.4 Theories of Human Behaviour

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intentions. It has three main components: (1) behavioural beliefs about the likely consequences of the behaviour; (2) normative beliefs about the expectations of other people; and (3) control beliefs about factors that may facilitate or hinder behaviour. Behavioural beliefs lead to a favourable or unfavourable attitude towards a behaviour, depending on its likely consequences. Normative beliefs result in perceived social pressures which can act as barriers or enablers to carrying out a behaviour. Control beliefs lead to perceptions of the ease or difficulty of carrying out the behaviour. This results in a behavioural intention, which is implemented if the person has sufficient control of the situation. However, this theory does not take account of the fact that social pressures or the expectations of other people do not have a universal impact and that different individuals are sensitive to them to differing extents. Perceived behavioural control is a measure of an individual’s perceived ease or difficulty in carrying out a particular behaviour. It is determined by their beliefs about the presence of factors that could affect them carrying out the behaviour and the extent to which the behaviour is under their control (Terry & O’Leary, 1995). It is particularly important in situations where factors outside the individual’s control affect their ability to carry out the behaviour. Many of the concepts in the theory of planned behaviour are related to human agency. There are three main types of agency: autonomous, mechanical and emergent interactive agency (Bandura, 1989). Autonomous and mechanical agency are the two ‘extremes’ of individuals determining their own actions totally independently without external influences and external influences being the determining factor, without any individual influence. Emergent interactive agency is the intermediate (and more common) situation of a combination of individual and external influences. Mechanisms for exercising personal agency include self-efficacy, goal representations and anticipated outcomes (Bandura, 1989). Self-efficacy is an individual’s belief in their ability to successfully carry out the behaviour(s) necessary to achieve particular types of outcome. Several studies of the individualistic cultures of the UK and USA have shown a positive relationship between self-efficacy and both performance and behavioural choice in work-related behaviours. However, the links may be stronger for simulated than real tasks (Sadri & Robertson, 1993). Similarly to perceived behavioural control, self-efficacy beliefs are an individual’s beliefs about their ability to exercise control over events that affect their life. Thus self-efficacy is related to self-confidence. It can have a significant impact on motivation and action. Individuals with high self-efficacy generally make greater and more persistent efforts to overcome difficulties, experience less stress and depression in threatening or difficult situations and are more likely to achieve their goals. Resilient self-efficacy which is not undermined by difficulties and failure generally requires some experience of overcoming difficulties. However, the concepts of self-efficacy and emergent interactive agency do not take account of the ways in which the experiences of discrimination and stereotyping of individuals from minority groups can act as barriers to them carrying out behavioural intentions. Individual theories (self-theories) about personal traits and competences can also affect behaviour through determining goals, emotions and the meanings associated

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with particular situations (Teunissen & Bok, 2013). They are frequently implicit. It has been suggested that there are two main types. An entity theory orientation considers traits to be fixed internal entities, making abilities fixed rather than something that can be learnt, and setbacks to be indicators of incompetence. An incremental theory orientation considers traits to be malleable, so they can be developed through effort, and setbacks to indicate ineffective strategies. An entity approach leads to a focus on performance goals, whereas an incremental approach leads to a focus on learning goals and finding out what strategies work. About 20% of the population fit partially into both groups, but otherwise people are equally split between the two approaches (Dweck & Grant, 2008). Self-theories influence how the outcomes of a situation are perceived, the associated emotions and what people take into new situations. However, self-theories do not consider the impact of treatment by other people, particularly at a young age. For instance, strong abilities may be the result of early training and encouragement and difficulties in particular areas the result of being discouraged or undermined. Considering setbacks as indicators of incompetence is likely to undermine people and should be avoided. However, there can be value in identifying abilities and strengths and aligning activities with them, but this does not mean that other areas cannot be developed and improved. Goal framing theory (Lindenberg, 2006; Lindenberg & Steg, 2007) draws on the premise that goals govern behaviour and influence a person’s current thoughts, awareness of information and alternatives and actions. There are three main types of goals: (1) hedonic goals (feeling better now); (2) gain goals (maintaining and improving resources); and (3) normative goals (acting appropriately). Interestingly, relationship and achievement goals are not included in the three main types, though they are particularly important types of goal for many people. People frequently have multiple motives and consequently activate several goals at the same time. Economic theory assumes that behaviour is ‘rational’ and based on maximising utility. Utility theory is based on the following assumptions: (1i) every individual has a utility function which gives a complete preference ordering across all relevant options; (2) preferences are complete and transitive; (3) individuals behave consistently; and (4) all income is spent in the optimal state (Van den Bergh et al., 2000). The value of maximising utility and why this is more ‘rational’ or preferable to other approaches to decision-making have not been explained. The approach is purely selfish, with only benefits to the individual considered. However, there is evidence that many individuals value benefits to others, whether particular individuals or the wider community. In some circumstances, individuals may choose high-cost approaches to achieve particular benefits. For instance, people may sacrifice themselves for what they consider a higher good. There also seems to be little evidence that individuals have complete transitive and consistent preference ratings and make decisions on the basis of them. While many individuals consider both benefits and costs in decision-making, this is unlikely to be in the form of a well-defined utility function. In addition, the benefits and costs that real individuals consider are likely to be much wider than those allowed by traditional utility theory and could include impacts on others, emotional factors and self-development.

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2.4.4 Other Theories This section discusses Herzberg’s theory of job satisfaction and motivation, conformity, emotions and habitual behaviours. Herzberg’s two-factor theory of job satisfaction and motivation (Herzberg, 1966) is based on his research which identified different rather than opposite factors as leading to job satisfaction and dissatisfaction. Job satisfaction factors related to doing the job, whereas dissatisfaction related to the job context. This led him to define so-called basic or hygiene needs and motivational factors. His research concluded that unhappiness results when ‘hygiene’ needs are not met. These needs include policy, relationships with supervisors and subordinates, working conditions, security, relationships and personal life. Herzberg considered that the satisfaction resulting from these needs being met is only short-term. He considered that real meaning and fulfilment result from motivational factors, such as achievement, recognition, advancement, the work itself, control over the work and responsibility. However, his methodology based on critical incidents has been criticised and may have been biased to people with ‘professional’ jobs. This raises issues of the extent to which workers in different types of jobs, including non-professional jobs, have access to his motivational factors. In addition, research has indicated that some of Herzberg’s satisfaction factors, such as achievement, are actually dissatisfaction factors (House & Wigdor, 1967). Conformity involves changing beliefs or behaviour to the majority position in order to fit in with a group (McLeod, 2016) or ‘yielding to group pressures’ (Crutchfield, 1955). There are various forms of pressure, including persuasion, criticism, bullying and desire for approval. The earliest experiment to show changes in behaviour to conform to a group was by Jenness (1932) who found that almost all participants changed their estimates of the number of beans in a bottle to be closer to the group estimate. An example witnessed by one of the authors occurred in a Russian language class. They happened to know the correct answer and stuck to it, but most of the rest of the class produced the same incorrect response. Reasons for conformity include desire for group acceptance, fear of rejection and individuals looking to the group for guidance when they lack knowledge (Deutsch & Gerrard, 1955). Three categories have been defined (Kelman, 1958). Compliance involves adopting behaviours or publicly conforming to the majority while disagreeing privately, so that behaviour change may be temporary. Internalisation involves adopting behaviours and accepting or internalising the group views, so behaviour change is likely to be long term. Identification is similar to compliance and involves conforming to maintain a relationship with the group, for instance conforming to expectations of a social role such as police officer. A further type, ingratiation (Mann, 1969), involves conforming to impress or gain favour. Pressures for conformity can have a significant impact on behaviour. Some of the theories already discussed take this into account. For instance, the theory of planned behaviour (Ajzen, 2005) includes the impact of normative beliefs about the expectations of other people. Consequently, many people act in accordance with the expectations of their social group or the wider society. However, some individuals

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and groups have strong beliefs which run counter to majority views. When they also have a strong self-concept and self-esteem, which reduce the need for reinforcement through conformity with others they are likely to be able to resist the pressures for conformity (Cialdini & Goldstein, 2004). This will then enable them to act in accordance with their beliefs. This is generally easier as part of a group so there is collective solidarity and reinforcement and support from the group. Individuals trying to act on their own, particularly when they have a weak self-concept and selfbelief, may experience difficulties and end up feeling conflicted, due to being unable to act in accordance with their beliefs. A related issue is behaviour motivated by the desire for social approval. This can make it difficult for individuals to challenge or act counter to unethical behaviour which seems to have majority approval, for instance discrimination against members of minority groups. In addition, people often conform to expectations of their behaviour, even when they are expectations of behaving badly, however defined. Such negative expectations can act as a barrier to changing and improving behaviour. It has been suggested that emotions evolved to enable higher organisms to react quickly, strongly and flexibly to important situations. Emotions can narrow the range of choices and the time required to select an action, as they lead to (temporary) preferences for certain types of action (Pekrun, 1992). There is some evidence for the influence of emotions on behaviour (e.g. Cardinal et al., 2002; Haidt, 2001). Studies indicate that positive emotions, such as happiness generally have a positive effect, whereas negative emotions, such as dissatisfaction or anxiety, can have a positive or negative impact. There is also a feedback relationship between achievement and emotions. Success frequently leads to positive feedback loops, raising hopes and thereby motivation and leading to increased success (Pekrun, 1992). However, success can also lead to complacency and an assumption of future success without the necessary training, effort and time required to achieve it. Failure may have either negative or positive feedback loops with negative emotions. A negative feedback loop with anxiety can lead to anxiety-reduction motivation to increase performance. On the other hand, a positive feedback loop can result in increasing anxiety and reduced performance (Pekrun, 1992). Fear may be a particularly important emotion in the context of behaviour. It may be particularly relevant in exploitative and authoritarian systems, where fear of the consequences may lead to temptations to behave unethically. It is also relevant in the wide range of organisations which have a culture of blame rather than recognition and reward. This results in fear and puts pressure on individuals to cover up any mistakes they make rather than recognising and learning from them. It can also reduce individuals’ ability to challenge bad practice and lead to conformity The literature on behaviour and fear has generally focused on responses to communications which attempt to persuade or influence through appeals to the threat of impending danger or harm (e.g. Maddux & Rogers, 1983; Passyn & Sujan, 2006) rather than considering the impact of fear on behaviour more generally. There is some evidence that expectations have an impact on fear, anxiety and panic (Reiss, 1991). However, this model only considers the fears of (physical) injury, anxiety and

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negative evaluation. Other fears are equally important in a behavioural context, such as the fear of job and/or income loss and injury or disadvantage to family or friends. The discussion in this section has treated behaviour as though every action is a separate incident and each situation is considered separately. However, individuals are frequently involved repeatedly in similar or even identical situations, for which they develop habitual behaviours, which are associated with automatic cognitive processes (Steg & Vlek, 2009). Behaviour in other situations is also influenced by this habitual behaviour. Habits are generally only changed when there is a significant change in the underlying context or the overall situation. This then raises the issue of the factors that influence habitual behaviours and what makes such behaviours ethical. Many of the theories already discussed are still relevant.

2.5 Ethics and Behaviour Framework A variety of different theories of ethics and behaviour have been presented and critiqued in the previous sections. Most of them are based on single theories. However, there are a few multitheory multifactor ethical framework. The ethics and behaviour frameworks which will be used in critical discussion of the case study examples in Chaps. 7 and 8 will now be presented. The ethics framework is based on the author’s multitheory ethics framework (Hersh, 2003). The human behaviour framework is based on a structuring of factors from the theories presented in Sect. 2.4 to provide a multidimensional framework able to critically evaluate many different aspects of human behaviour.

2.5.1 Ethics Framework 1. Process and consequences 1.1 Deontological ethics: considers duties and obligations. 1.2 Positive utilitarianism: assesses benefits against risks and costs. 1.3 Negative utilitarianism: offsetting or mitigating present or future harms. 2. Character, rights and principles 2.1 Virtue ethics: supports actions which build good character and considers the impact of behaviour on character. 2.2 Normative ethics: beneficence—promoting acts that benefit others and minimise or prevent harms; non-maleficence—avoiding harms; justice— fairness including the need for distributive justice, what is due; and autonomy—defining and determining needs and having them met. 3. Consent, relationships and consequences

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3.1 The ethics of social experimentation: informed consent. 3.2 The ethics of care: full complexity of situation; sensitivity to others’ wishes and interests; nurturing and preserving network of relationships; taking account of everyone’s needs including your own; and responses to needs and showing caring. 3.3 Eco-centred ethics: connections and interactions, including long-term and indirect consequences.

2.5.2 Human Behaviour Framework 1. Habitual behaviours: the default state. 2. Needs: 2.1 The ERG theory: existence (material and physiological); relatedness (with other people); and growth (personal development, using existing abilities and new ones). 2.2 The three motivating needs: achievement (realistic, but challenging goals); authority/power (need to lead and have impact); and affiliation motivations (friendly relations and being liked). 3. Values and culture 3.1 Central values: stimulation, self-direction, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, benevolence, universalism, hedonism. 3.2 Organisational culture: prevailing perceptions of typical organisational practices and procedures that have ethical content; a number of common values. 4. Goals and ability to implement them 4.1 Goals: hedonic (feeling better now); gain (maintaining and improving resources); normative (acting appropriately); achievement (overcoming challenges, accomplishing things); positive change (overcoming threats and negative treatment of others, benefiting others/society or the planet) 4.2 Self-efficacy: perceived ability to carry out behaviour necessary to achieve particular types of outcomes. 5. External influences: 5.1 Conformity: sticking to principles, ignoring/non-conformity with the majority or dominant position, compliance, internalisation, integration. 5.2 Responses to fear: cover-ups, accepting or participating in bad practice, overcoming it.

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2.6 Conclusions This chapter has presented a critical overview and discussion of the wide range of theories of ethics and human behaviour. All these theories have advantages and disadvantages. However, most of them have the significant disadvantage of considering only one aspect of the problem. In the area of ethics, several frameworks involving multiple theories and sometimes also other factors have been developed. In addition, narrative ethics involves the perspectives of many different stakeholders. However, it can be time-consuming to apply, for instance using the seven-stage methodology developed by Hersh (2015b). Such multidimensional approaches seem to be lacking in the field of human behaviour. Therefore, the authors needed to develop a structured framework involving several existing approaches to carry out the critical evaluation of the examples in Chaps. 7 and 8. The ethics framework is based on the multidimensional framework developed by Hersh (2003). The rights ethics criterion has been removed as it is already covered by other components of the framework, such as autonomy and justice. However, both beneficence and non-maleficence and positive and negative utilitarianism have been included, although there is some overlap between them. Deontological and utilitarian ethics are complementary to each other and together cover the basic ethical issues. Beneficence and non-maleficence are part of the four normative principles, a commonly used approach. The behaviour framework was developed in an analogous way to include several theories of behaviour. However, the initial version was considerably longer than the ethics framework. It included several additional criteria which are not in the final version, namely individual culture, intentions and perceived behavioural control. Application of the framework to the case studies found that these criteria were not necessary. Individual culture is covered by values. It was considered sufficient to include goals and not also cover shorter-term intentions. There was a degree of overlap between perceived behavioural control and self-efficacy. Whether the person considered they would be able to carry out behaviours was considered more important than whether they considered the behaviour easy or difficult. The concepts of agency and self-theories were also considered to be covered sufficiently by self-efficacy. For instance, the relevant issue is still the individual’s belief in their ability to carry out an action or behaviour. Where this is controlled by external factors they will lack self-efficacy. This resulted in the ethics and behaviour framework presented in Sects. 2.5.1 and 2.5.2. It should be noted that the central values and goals listed are suggestions and other options may be more appropriate. To the authors’ knowledge, the behaviour framework is the first such multifactor framework for analysing behaviour. In addition, they believe this book to be the first time that a combined multifactor ethics and behaviour framework has been used. At a simple level, ethics could be considered the theory and behaviour the practice. To have an impact ethics needs to be implemented in practice, including through influencing behaviour. The theory of virtue ethics assumes a direct relationship between ethics and behaviour in the case of a virtuous person, as it is based on the ideas

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that a moral person will behave ethically and that ethical behaviour promotes the development of virtues. However, the link is less clear in the case of other ethical theories. This then raises the questions of the extent and the ways in which ethics influences behaviour in general and the factors this depends on. Acknowledgements We would like to thank Peter McKenna, graphics technician, University of Glasgow for drawing Fig. 2.1.

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Part II

Historical Background, Organisations and Individuals

Chapter 3

ICT Development in Poland and Wrocław

3.1 Introduction The previous chapter provided the theoretical background and ethics and human behaviour framework for the discussion of the case studies in Chaps. 7 and 8. The first part of this chapter provides the contextual background to the discussion of the computers developed by Elwro (Sect. 3.8) in Chap. 5 and some of their software and applications in Chap. 6. This consists of a very brief overview of the history of Poland from the ninth century to the establishment of the Third Republic in 1989 (Sect. 3.2). The main focus is on the period from the end of World War II to 1989, as this is the most relevant period for contextualising the subsequent discussion of the development of computers, software and applications. It is followed by an overview of the geography and history of Wrocław (Sect. 3.3) the ICT ‘capital’ of Poland, where many of these computers, software and applications were developed. The following sections present a very brief history of industrial development in Poland (Sect. 3.4), the reasons for the successful development of a computer industry in Poland (Sect. 3.5) and the factors that made Wrocław particularly suited to it (Sect. 3.6), and Sect. 3.7 ICT development in Warsaw. Poland was relatively unusual in responding to an embargo on the import of computers and electronic components by successfully developing its own computer industry. It is more common for restrictions on access to state-of-the-art technology to lead to economic stagnation. The final part of the chapter (Sects. 3.8–3.9) briefly presents Elwro and the other main organisations involved in ICT development in Wrocław in both the early period and subsequently. Polish abbreviations of the names of some of these organisations are used in the text and explained in Appendix 3.2. Appendices 3.1 and 3.3 give glossaries of the technical and historical terms, respectively, used in the chapter. Acknowledgements to the many people, including early Polish leading designers and programmers, as well as the information they provided are given before the references.

© The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_3

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3.2 Brief History of Poland The main sources of information are Asherson (1987), Dabrowski (2014), Lukowski and Zawadzki (2005) and Prazmowska (2011).

3.2.1 The Period up to the Partitions In Polish, Poland is Polska or more formally Rzeczpospolita Polska (Polish Republic). The term ‘rzeczpospolita’ is solely used for Poland, with other republics referred to as ‘republika’. The word Polska is frequently assumed to be derived from Polanie, a West Slavic tribe which occupied the basin of the Warta River in the western part of present-day Poland in the ninth and tenth centuries. Their name is probably derived from the Polish ‘pole’ or proto-Slavic ‘polje’ for ‘field’ (Anon, 2018a, 2018b). The Polanie were linked to their neighbours and other tribes of the Eurasian plain by language. They were Slavs, Sławinie or Sclavinii from ‘słowo’, (intelligible) word in Polish, as compared to the Niemcy (mute ones) of Germanic origin who did not speak languages intelligible to the Slavs. Of course, intelligibility depends on perspective and the Niemcy considered the Slavs equally unintelligible. Unfortunately, the Slavs were frequently sold as slaves and the word Slavus became synonymous with both Slav and slave. Poland was not conquered by the Romans, a source of pride, but also a reason for the very limited information about its early history. The first Polish tribal states were established in the ninth and tenth centuries. Early rulers expanded their territory through conquest and alliances, but did not always rule the new territories for long. Poland had a population of well under a million and difficult terrain with many forests, swamps and heaths, making self-sufficiency difficult and the results of nearly annual expeditions for slaves and plunder economically important. Periods of conquest were interspersed with revolts and foreign invasions. Christianity was imposed following a marriage alliance in 965 and was unpopular until the introduction of monasteries and friars in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries. However, the bishops eventually became established as a source of power in addition to that of the ruler. The new institution of kingship was equally unpopular. 100 Polish towns had effective self-rule (unfortunately men only) by the end of the thirteenth century and the majority of the peasants were to some extent ‘free’ by the end of the fourteenth. German settlement was encouraged. The first long-lasting Polish dynasty was the Jagellonian one. The dynasty and Kraków Jagellonian University are named after Jagiełło, the husband of Jadwiga, the daughter of the previous king. They were both crowned king and worked closely together, but like many women she is frequently written out of history. Wars continued, including with the Teutonic knights. They depleted the treasury and territories gained were often subsequently lost.

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To facilitate territorial expansion, thousands of people were made ‘nobles’ and acquired some decision making rights. However, the Sejm (parliament) had no formal voting procedures. The sixteenth century marked a golden period of the arts, literature and sciences. The astronomer Nicholas Copernicus (1473–1543) is one of the bestknown figures. The first printing press was set up in Kraków in 1476. The Republic of the two Nations, Poland and Lithuania, was set up in July 1569 in Lublin. Its nine hundred thousand square kilometres made it one of the largest European states. When the last Jagiellonian king died in 1572 the Polish Lithuanian monarchy became elective with all the nobles having a vote in person. Constitutional rules, the Henrician articles, were drawn up, but the peasants remained under the nobles’ control. Warsaw replaced Kraków as the capital as it was more central. However, few of the Sejms were able to enact legislation. Foreign rulers often used the monarchy elections for their own foreign policy aims and involved Poland–Lithuania in war. There were a number of lengthy wars with Russia, Sweden and Turkey, as well as fighting to maintain control over the Ukraine against revolts, including a large-scale Cossack rebellion. Frequent wars and troop movements through Poland–Lithuania resulted in devastation, halted scientific and cultural development and impoverished many towns and villages. The Jewish population suffered particularly and up to 10,000 were killed in the Cossack rebellions. Jewish history in Poland was very mixed, with the first extensive persecutions starting in the late fourteenth century and both restrictive legislation and more liberal periods of tolerance. However, the situation of the Jews in Poland was generally less bad than in many other countries and they were not confined to ghettos.

3.2.2 The Period from the Partitions to the Second World War The partitions in 1772, 1793 and 1795 divided Poland–Lithuania between Austria, Prussia and Russia. The final partition was in response to a rising against the Russians. It was initially successful, but was crushed when the hoped for French support did not materialise. Limited existing rights were generally reduced, though the peasants’ requirement to do forced and unpaid labour for the landowners decreased in the Prussian and Austrian areas and they gained some property rights in the Austrian areas. Partitioning led to a fight for independence, including with the support of Napoleon. There were several largely unsuccessful uprisings against Russia. However, Russia was able to reduce support in the countryside by implementing promised land reforms. Armed struggle was largely abandoned. Various political parties were set up, including two socialist parties. The National Democratic movement was unfortunately strongly antisemitic and managed to spread xenophobic views among many Poles. The peasant movement eventually led to the setting up of the Polish Peasant Party. The 1905 Russian revolution resulted in the removal of restrictions on political, social and cultural life and permission for the public use of Polish. 55 Polish deputies, mainly from the National Democratic Party, were to sit in the Duma.

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Each of the partitioning powers conscripted Poles in World War I and 400,000 were killed. Restoration of an independent Poland become one of the French and UK war aims in June 2018. By the end of the war, the three partitioning empires no longer existed. The German troops in Warsaw were disarmed, and Jósef Piësudski was recognised as head of state, first by the right-wing Regency Council in Warsaw and then by the left-wing People’s Republic in Lublin. 12 November, when he was declared commander-in-chief of the Polish forces, became Polish Independence Day. Social reforms, including an eight-hour working day and promises of compulsory land reform, were introduced. However, the country was devastated, 80% of industrial workers were unemployed and there was opposition from both the left and right. The 1919 elections with universal suffrage and proportional representation led to a Sejm divided fairly evenly between the National Democrats, the centre and the left. A constitution modelled on that of the French Third Republic was introduced, and the new Polish Republic was recognised by France and the UK. Poland had a national education system and a national army (rather than a peacebuilding force), but little experience of constitutional government, four different legal systems and three different railway systems. The zloty (the current Polish currency) was introduced in 1924, and inflation was halted. Construction of the new port of Gydnia, totally in Polish territory, and a railway from Gydnia to Upper Silesia to support the export of Polish coal began in 1925. However, there was a further economic crisis. A coup by Piësudski was fairly generally welcomed and ‘legitimised’ by the Sejm. Significant, but limited measures to remove continuing tsarist restrictions on the Jews were implemented. The Polish economy improved, but was then devastated by the Great Depression. A new constitution introduced in 1935 increased the powers of the president and reduced those of the Sejm. Large-scale strikes in 1936 and 1937 were violently suppressed. Antisemitic attacks and demonstrations escalated, nationalist groups encouraged peasants to boycott Jewish shops and some professions restricted Jewish membership. As a defensive measure Poland signed non-aggression agreements with the Soviet Union in 1932 and Germany in 1934. However, Stalin and Hitler drew up a non-aggression pact in August 1939, including secret clauses partitioning Poland. Germany invaded Poland on 1 September 1939 and the USSR on 17 September. Warsaw held out until 27 September and Poland was divided between Germany and the USSR the next day. The next six years until the end of World War II were marked by genocide, atrocities and human rights abuses. Concentration and extermination camps were set up throughout Poland, including in the eastern part following the German invasion of the USSR in 1941. This tragic history is well-documented and will not be repeated here. Diverse Polish resistance groups emerged from September 1939 onwards and their activities were gradually coordinated. The resulting Home Army with 400,000 members in 1944 was the largest underground organisation in occupied Europe. The Warsaw ghetto uprising took place in 1943 and the Warsaw uprising in 1944. The Polish Underground State was recognised by the four main political parties and supported by the majority of the population, but not recognised by Stalin. Instead he

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set up the Polish Committee of National Liberation in Lublin. It hounded surviving Home Army units and wooed popular support through cultural activities and much needed radical land reform, though most poor farmers only obtained tiny holdings.

3.2.3 The Post-World War II Period The leaders of the USSR, UK and USA agreed to set up ‘a strong, free, independent and democratic’ Poland at Yalta in February 1945 and confirmed its satellite status to the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference in July–August 1945. The new Poland was smaller, but more compact, shifted to the west and gained a 300-mile-long Baltic coastline (see Fig. 3.1). Its population increased by nearly 50% to 35 million and lost its diversity to become overwhelmingly Polish and Catholic. World War II and the various atrocities left the country devastated. Millions of people had been killed. Productive capacity was reduced to 40% and the railways could not operate due to the destruction of river bridges. A temporary pluralistic government of national unity was set up. In reality, the Soviet backed Polish Workers Party (PPR) and the opposition centred on the Polish Peasant Party with a million members at the end of 1945 were competing for power. Political dissent was suppressed and the PPR-led bloc claimed 80% of the vote in a rigged election. Recent studies indicate that the Polish Peasant Party probably obtained 60–70% of the vote. The previously independent Polish Socialist Party was purged and intimidated into the PPR to form the Polish United Workers Party (PZPR) in 1947. It ruled Poland until 1989, dominated the ‘Front of National Unity’ bloc which regularly received 99% of the vote, and controlled all state institutions through offering jobs and promotion to its supporters. A vast police and security apparatus was set up, involving 200,000 people. A Soviet style planned economy was imposed with an ambitious six-year plan of heavy industrialisation, including the Lenin steel mill in Nova Huta. The basic state welfare system favoured industrial workers over older people and the rural populations. There were some positive measures, but they were generally clumsily introduced. Unemployment disappeared and the prospect of advancement in the new urban centres and economic and administrative structures encouraged loyalty to the regime. However, food production dropped and there was compulsory requisitioning. Higher education was successfully opened up to young people from peasant and working-class urban backgrounds, but the entry of students from ‘bourgeois’ and ‘reactionary’ backgrounds was restricted. Poland joined Comecon, the mutual economic support council, in 1949. Culture was opened up to factory workers, but cultural expression other than social realism (reality as it ought to be) was closed down. In 1953, the government gave itself the right to appoint clergy who were required to swear an oath to it. The Head of the Catholic Church in Poland, Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, refused and was suspended and imprisoned. However, Poland did not see the worst excesses experienced in some other eastern bloc countries.

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Fig. 3.1 Post World War 2 Poland, 1982 (Courtesy of the University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin)

After Stalin’s death in 1953 Poles demanded governmental reforms and greater independence from the Soviet Union. High ranking members of the security police were dismissed, the Ministry of Public Security was restructured, its chief was demoted and Cardinal Wyszynski was released from prison. Poland joined the Warsaw Pact in 1955. The following year Stalinism was officially condemned in the Soviet Union. An amnesty for political prisoners contributed to reducing the atmosphere of fear, but did not meet the demand for change. Continuing low living standards and the reduction in fear led to mass demonstrations in Poznan in June 1956, including attacks on police and party headquarters. They were suppressed with troops and tanks.

3.2 Brief History of Poland

47

Wëadysëaw Gomuëka became first secretary (head) of the PZPR. He introduced various reforms, but his initial popularity did not last, as he was trying to achieve an impossible balancing act involving some liberalisation, but not democratising the PZPR or breaking links with Moscow. Discontent continued due to poor living standards and food shortages, reforms being repealed and workers’ councils dissolved. Increasing discontent led to student riots in 1968 (possibly part of the wider student protests) and strikes in the shipyards of Gdansk and Gdynia. The repression of these strikes and the gunning down of scores of workers on their way to work led to a workers’ revolt across northern Poland. Gomulka was dismissed and replaced by Edward Gierek as First Secretary of the PZPR in December 1970. There were further strikes. However, Gierek’s promises of reform and improvements in living standards, as well as freeing detained workers and replacing some top ministerial and party personnel, helped to defuse the situation. The economy was expanded rapidly, using 24 billion dollars of western credits, and modern technology was introduced to try to expand trade. Living conditions improved. Subsidies for housing, transport, holidays and health care were maintained and social security was extended to independent peasant farmers. However, economic problems continued. By 1974, there was growing inflation, food shortages and an increasing demand for unavailable consumer goods. Unacceptable political proposals from Moscow led to a campaign of protest. A Committee for the Defence of Workers was set up in 1976 to provide material assistance to victims of repression and from the following year to defend human and citizen rights and support Polish self-organisation. The influence of the Catholic church increased with the election of the Archbishop of Kraków, Karol Wojtyła, as Pope John Paul II in 1978. His triumphal visit to Poland in 1979 had a very powerful effect, including on national aspirations, and he was greeted by hundreds of thousands of people. Small increases in meat prices in factory canteens triggered discontent into a wave of strikes, factory occupations and the formation of strike committees. Interstrike committees were established in coastal cities, following the model at Gdansk, chaired by Lech Wał˛esa. The strikes spread to the coal mines and the government was forced to negotiate as Gierek rejected Soviet advice to use force. It capitulated to the central demand for independent trade unions. The national Solidarity Trade Union was set up under Walesa’s leadership. In three months its membership grew to eight million, a third of the adult population, and a year later to ten million. Gierek was removed from office in 1980. Rural Solidarity involving peasant farmers was legalised in 1981. Repeated crises between the authorities and Solidarity were defused, including with church involvement. Further deterioration in food supplies triggered further wage demands and the authorities’ hardening attitudes radicalised many Solidarity activists. An appeal by Solidarity for support from workers in eastern Europe and the Soviet Union angered the Soviet regime. General Wojciech Jaruzelski became first secretary of the PZPR in October 1981, but was unable to secure a compromise with Waë˛esa, and Wyszynski’s successor, Cardinal Joseph Glemp. Solidarity announced a mass demonstration in

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Warsaw for 17 December, but this was preempted by an operation involving most of the Polish army and security forces. Jaruzelski declared martial law, set up a so-called Military Council of National Salvation under his leadership as the supreme authority, and arrested and interned 6000 Solidarity activists, including Walesa. Social organisations were suspended, factories, transport and communications militarised and force used to crush the strikes that followed, but without large numbers of deaths. People returned to work and a semblance of public order was restored, but the underlying political and economic problems remained. Waë˛esa’s Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 enhanced his international reputation and strengthened Solidarity. The suppression of other organisations made the church a focus of opposition and millions attended church services with Solidarity banners. On his second visit in 1983, John Paul II called for the relegalisation of Solidarity to the ten million people who greeted him and had a long meeting with Jaruzelski. Industrial production and living standards continued to fall and half a million Poles left the country or remained abroad. All remaining political prisoners were released in 1986, but the Solidarity leadership, now able to act openly, refused to participate in a government sponsored consultative assembly. A referendum in November 1987 on limited economic reforms was resoundingly defeated. Two waves of strikes followed. However, the Soviet Union under Gorbachev was no longer prepared to underwrite satellite regimes in eastern Europe and martial law could no longer be justified as preferable to Soviet invasion, as in 1981. Talks between Waë˛esa and the interior minister, General Weszczak, led to the restoration of the Senate and President, with the Senate elected in free national elections and the President chosen by the Senate and Sejm. 35% of Sejm seats would be freely elected and 65% reserved for the PZPR and its allies. The Solidarity backed Citizen’s Committee was resoundingly successful. In July 1989, Gorbachev’s emissary declared Poland free to determine its own government. The Third Republic was established in December 1989 and Poland resumed the crowned white eagle as its emblem. The removal of Soviet influence led to the disintegration of Solidarity as a mass movement. The introduction of proportional representation in July 1990 led to a proliferation of small parties. Walesa won the 1990 presidential election and received his insignia of office from Ryszard Kaczorowski, the last president in exile, rather than Jaruzelski. History of course continues and at the time of writing Poland has a rather unsavoury right-wing government.

3.3 Wrocław 3.3.1 Overview of the Geography of Wrocław Wrocław, with a population of about 650,000 (Anon, 2016a), is the largest city in Western Poland and fourth-largest city in Poland. It is situated on the Odra River,

3.3 Wrocław

49

in the Province of Lower Silesia, which is now the most industrialised region in Poland. It is about 400 km from the Baltic Sea to the north and 50 km from the Sudetan Mountains in Germany (see Fig. 3.1 in Sect. 3.2.3). Wrocław is unusually rich in rivers and smaller watercourses, as well as a number of islands, and this has contributed to making it particularly attractive. It has been called the Venice of the North or the Venice of Poland (Anon, 2016b). The largest river flowing through the city is the Odra, the second-longest river in Poland. It is also watered by the Odra’s tributories, the Bystrzyca, Olawa, Sleza and Widawa, and many smaller rivers and streams. More than 130 road and footbridges in the city cross the numerous rivers, streams and islands (Fig. 3.2). The best known is the Grunwaldzki Bridge, which is 112.5 m long and 18 m high. It was built between 1908 and 1910, using what was then a new technology, brick pylons attached to the river banks with steel strips to support the bridge span. Wrocław also has the longest bridge in Poland, the Redzinski Bridge, constructed between 2006 and 2011. It is 1742 m long and suspended on a 122 m high pylon and has become a distinguishing feature of Wrocław (Anon, 2020a).

Fig. 3.2 Mosty mieszcza´nskei (Bourgeois bridges) (Jim Marston)

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3.3.2 Brief History of Wrocław Wrocław became the capital of Lower Silesia in 1919 and continues to be its largest and culturally dominant city. It started as a Bohemian stronghold located at the intersection of two trading routes, the Roman Via Regia and the Amber Road. It was recorded as Vratislavia in the tenth century. Wrocław is close to the western boundary of Poland and consequently has been part of different countries at different times. It first became part of Poland in 990 through conquest, but only remained under Polish control for about 50 years before being captured by Bohemia. Bohemian control was short-lived and Poland regained it in 1054 (Anon, 1997, 2016c). Silesia and Wrocław were briefly independent between 1079 and 1102. In 1163, Wrocław became the capital of the Duchy of Silesia, which gradually detached from Poland. Wrocław fully rejoined the Kingdom of Poland when much of the previously divided Polish lands were reunited by the Polish kings Henry I and Henry II from the middle of the twelfth century. It was devastated during the Mongol invasion in 1241. After being rebuilt, it adopted Magdeburg rights and joined the Hanseatic League at the end of the thirteenth century. Further changes of ownership occurred. Wrocëaw became part of the Kingdom of Bohemia in 1335, was inherited by Austria in 1526 and captured by Frederic II of Prussia during the War of Austrian Succession (1740–1748). Wrocław (Breslau in German) was part of the German Empire from 1871 until its dissolution in 1918 at the end of World War I. In the subsequent Weimar Republic period, Wrocław was a Weimar Republic city and the capital of the Province of Lower Silesia from 1919. Unfortunately, during the subsequent Nazi period from 1933, Wrocław became a strong base of Nazi support (Anon, 1997, 2016c). Wrocław was not significantly affected by the fighting during most of the World War II. This changed in 1945, when the Soviet Red Army approached the city and the Germans declared it ‘Festung Breslau’, a fortress to be held at all costs. Consequently, by the end of the Siege of Breslau, much of the city was destroyed, particularly the western and southern parts and the old town (Fig. 3.3). After World War 2, Wrocław again became part of Poland and the Polish authorities tried to de-germanise and polonise it. Much of the city, including most of its industrial infrastructure, was destroyed during the siege and required extensive rebuilding and repair. However, large-scale reconstruction had to wait until the rebuilding of the capital Warsaw was nearly complete. Despite the loss of most of its Jewish population, Wrocław’s population had grown significantly, due to large numbers of people being repatriated or deported there from Vilnius, Lvov and other areas, which had been incorporated into the Soviet Union. These new ‘immigrants’ played a significant role in re/establishing industry in Wrocław, with many of the new or re-established industries having a leading role in Poland. They included the national wagon factory Pafawag, the Dolmel manufacturer of electrical machines, the Archimedes manufacturer of agricultural machines and the WSK plant for manufacturing transport equipment.

3.3 Wrocław

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Fig. 3.3 Devastation in Wrocław after World War II, View south from the tower of the City Chambers (Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu)

Recognition of the positive impact of western computers on economic development motivated the setting up of a Polish computer manufacturer. The reasons for the choice of Wrocław included its well-established technical tradition and the availability of the Wrocław Technical University (now the Wrocław University of Technology) and the University of Wrocław to produce highly educated graduates. This led to a further significant expansion of Wrocław’s industrial base (Anon, 2016c). In July 1997, the city was heavily affected by the Millennium Flood, the most severe flooding of the Odra River over the last thousand years (Anon, 1997). About a third of the city area was covered by water. Strong collective efforts by the citizens were able to save the islands endangered by the flood and many historical buildings. The subsequent rebuilding and restoration took place very quickly, and Wrocław is now considered one of the most attractive cities in Poland (Fig. 3.4).

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Fig. 3.4 Wyspa Słodowa (Malt Island) (Soren Wulf Kristiansen)

3.4 Brief History of Industrial Development in Poland and the Western Embargoes Poland experienced three partitions which had a disastrous impact on its population and economy. It was further devastated by two world wars and required very significant rebuilding of its economic and industrial infrastructure after both of them. Poland was also affected by the Cold War between the eastern and western blocs. In 1949, 17 western countries established The Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom) (Anon, 2020b) to block access by the eastern bloc countries, later called COuncil of Mutual ECONomic assistance (COMECON) and particularly the Soviet Union to dual purpose modern technologies, i.e. those with military as well as civilian applications. This was probably more strongly motivated by rivalry between the blocs and the desire to stifle development in the eastern bloc, than real concerns about the proliferation of advanced technologies with military applications. It led to embargoes on the export of a wide range of modern technologies. The controls were generally effective in preventing access to modern technology by ordinary citizens and industry, but not in cutting off the Soviet military from advanced technologies, as they were available via intermediates, usually at a much

3.5 Factors that Enabled Poland to Develop Its Own ICT Industry

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higher price. Thus, the Soviet Red Army was able to obtain all the advanced electronics and technology it desired for highly destructive weapons, whereas Polish industry and civil designers were unable to obtain computers and other advanced technologies. This had the unintended effect of making many people in the COMECON countries hostile to the western bloc. Many of the CoCom economic restrictions were withdrawn from Poland and some other COMECON countries in 1990. However, the USA did not relax its restrictions on computer and telecommunications equipment to former eastern bloc countries until the end of March 1994 and CoCom was dissolved the day after. However, some restrictions on radio and encryption technologies are still in place (Knes, undated).

3.5 Factors that Enabled Poland to Develop Its Own ICT Industry Awareness of the development of computers in the west and their contribution to economic development very naturally led to a desire for them in Poland. Somewhat paradoxically, it was the western embargoes that provided the impetus and motivation for the development of a Polish computer industry since they prevented computers being imported from abroad. However, other COMECON countries experienced the same embargoes, but only Poland, Hungary and the Soviet Union developed a viable computer industry. The factors that made this possible in Poland included the Polish education system and exact science tradition which delivered personnel with the high-level skills, including in problem-solving, required to do this. The history and culture of Poland probably also played a role in providing the determination to succeed.

3.5.1 The Education System in Poland After World War II Primary and secondary school education in Poland both before and after World War II was broad-based. It aimed at developing knowledge and understanding across a wide range of different domains and enabling students to solve complex problems. This type of education, when successful, was able to equip young people with many desirable characteristics for the design and development of emerging computer technologies. In particular, the ability to deal with problems in many different domains was very important in developing early computers in the absence of up-to-date electronic components and materials. A typical problem involved the magnetic drums used for memory in early computers. They were manufactured locally, but the ferromagnetic powder for coating the drum surface was not available. The solution involved obtaining ferromagnetic power by dissolving recorder tapes in acetone.

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This is just one example of the wide range of problems that early computer design and development teams had to resolve. The university education system and the teaching staff of Polish technical universities also made an important contribution to the development of the Polish ICT and automation industry, in particular through the education of many highly qualified technical staff. In the period after War II university education frequently focused on the need for graduates able to apply their knowledge to repair the devastation caused by the war. The political authorities of the time stressed the importance of educating practitioners rather than theoreticians. However, there is value in both understanding (theoretical) knowledge and being able to apply it in practice. A combination of advanced and often very abstract mathematical knowledge with an understanding of its practical applications was typical of many of the mathematical faculties in the post-war period. This enabled the education of numerous mathematical staff with appropriate skills to design and develop computers. However, after the initial ICT pioneering period the atmosphere changed and education at the Wrocław University of Technology focused on the theoretical at the expensive of the practical, rather than providing a balance of the two. This had negative consequences for the ICT and automation industries, as graduates no longer had the appropriate combination of theoretical and practical skills.

3.5.2 The Exact Science Tradition Poland has a long tradition of work in the natural sciences and, in particular, mathematics which was very valuable in the development of the Polish computer industry. There are both many Poles who worked relatively anonymously in these areas and a smaller number of famous Poles who had a significant impact on the natural sciences. The latter include Nicolaus Copernicus (1473–1543), Maria SkëodowskaCurie (1867–1934), Stefan Banach (1892–1945), Marian Rejewski (1905–1980), Jerzy Rozycki (1909–1942), Henryk Zygalski (1908–1978) and Jan Łukasiewicz (1978–1956). Rozycki, Zygalski and Łukasiewicz were involved in decoding the German enigma ciphering system. The tradition of work in the natural sciences and, in particular the work of these famous scientists and mathematicians was influential in attracting many young Polish people to the natural sciences, particularly mathematics and logic. Consequently, finding appropriately qualified personnel for computer design and development teams was never a problem. This provided a sound basis for the Polish ICT industry.

3.6 Factors that Suited Wrocław to ICT Development

55

3.6 Factors that Suited Wrocław to ICT Development Wrocław inherited considerable industrial infrastructure from Germany after World War II. Much of it was in a poor condition due to the war, but was rebuilt relatively quickly subsequently. This led to the establishment of several industrial plants in Wrocław which obtained leading positions in Poland. They included firms operating in domains close to ICT and automation, such as Dolmel, which manufactured electrical machines, Polar, the largest Polish manufacturer of electrical household appliances, and Diora in nearby Dzierd´zioniów, which manufactured wireless devices. Thus, the development of the new computer industry in Wrocław was supported by a well-developed industrial infrastructure, the necessary knowledge and skills and experience of successfully carrying out large industrial projects and meeting challenges. Wrocław’s industrial infrastructure and the fact that it was already a centre of important industrial plants in areas related to ICT were major factors in the Polish authorities’ decision to establish the first Polish firm manufacturing computers in Wrocław. The broad-based Polish education and training system discussed in Sect. 3.5.1 was most successful in Wrocław and Lower Silesia. This was probably due to the presence of large numbers of immigrants from, for instance, Lwów (now Lviv in Ukraine) and Vilnius (now the capital of Lithuania) where this education system was used. Natural sciences teaching was based on a good knowledge of mathematics to provide the theoretical background for understanding phenomena and problems in both the sciences and other areas. Students with significant scientific ability were expected to attend classes across the full curriculum, including the humanities. This contributed to preparing them to solve both the technical problems required by the emerging domains of ICT and automation and the wider technical and social problems resulting from the lack of an appropriate infrastructure. At university level Wrocław benefited from two universities, the University of Wrocław and Wrocław Technical University (now Wrocëaw University of Technology), able to teach a wide range of different technical and other subjects. The great devastation left after World War II, with Wrocław the most affected city after Warsaw, motivated students, teachers and the local authorities to educate good practitioners. This was very valuable for the emerging ICT industry. However, the importance of theory as the basis of practice and for developing knowledge which is both valuable in itself and may be needed in the future should also be recognised. The Wrocław Technical University had an important role in educating the engineering staff required for computer design and development. Initially, this was mainly under the leadership of Prof. Zygmunt Szparkowski, the founder of the Wrocław School of Automation, and Jerzy Bromirski, the founder of the Wrocław School of Computer Science. They focused on educating engineers with a wide spectrum of engineering abilities, including in the design and development of useful solutions which worked in real conditions, not just in the laboratory. Thus, a combination of the conditions produced by World War II and the education system of Lower Silesia, particularly Wrocław, contributed to educating young people who were particularly

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well prepared for the pioneering work required for ICT and automation design, development and implementation. The very difficult and often horrendous experiences of World War II and the Nazi occupation and genocide, as well as subsequent expulsion from eastern areas formerly part of Poland to Lower Silesia had a very strong impact on the people of Wrocław and Lower Silesia. This resulted in burning anger, a desire for revenge and a determination to show what they considered the traitorous western nations what they were capable of. They felt they had been sold out to Stalin and that the computer embargoes prevented them redeveloping and rebuilding the country and enjoying the prosperity apparently being experienced in the west. Awareness of these feelings and their positive role in the past in motivating struggle, hard work and solidarity was a further reason for choosing Wrocław as the location for the first Polish computer manufacturer.

3.7 ICT Development in Warsaw 3.7.1 The Mathematical Apparatus Group From the end of World War II until the very early 1960s Warsaw rather than Wrocław was the ICT capital of Poland in the areas of computer and communication systems hardware and software (Anon, 2016d). Computers, then called mathematical machines, were designed and developed by two groups in Warsaw, the Mathematical Apparatus Group (GAM) and the Mathematical Machine Construction (BMM) Faculty. The former was set up in 1948 in the National Mathematical Institute to develop Polish versions of the electronic computing machine ENIAC, which had been developed two years previously in the USA. In 1953, GAM became part of the Polish Academy of Sciences. At that time, it was not possible to study computer science in Poland. The term mathematical machine was used rather than ‘computer’ (‘komputer’ in Polish). In addition, electrical and electronics engineers were educated in communications rather than electronics faculties. Consequently, mathematicians with a number of different specialisations designed and developed the first Polish computers. The GAM group established to design and develop the first Polish mathematical machine (computer) consisted of two mathematicians and four engineers, specialising in communications and electrical engineering. The conditions in which the early Polish computers were developed were very difficult. Only vacuum tube technology was available, a computer manufacturing industry had not yet been developed and there was no experience of manufacturing complex electronic devices. Therefore, the hardware designers had to design the mechanical and electrical component assemblies needed to develop computer logic, as well as the logic itself. The resulting experience of designing, developing and

3.7 ICT Development in Warsaw

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implementing computers made it possible to develop the ICT manufacturing industry in Poland. GAM’s first big success was the first Polish analog electronic computer, the Differential Equation Analyser, which was launched in 1954 (Anon, 2016e). It demonstrated conclusively that computers could be developed and implemented in Poland. The GAM pioneers (e.g. Leon Łukaszewicz (1923–2013), Romuald Marczy´nski (1922–2000), Henryk Greniewski (1903–1962), Andrzej Wakulicz (1934–2010) and Zdzisław Pawlak (1926–2006) belong to the legends of Polish Computer Science and Polish Science in general. In 1958, GAM developed and launched the first Polish digital computer known as XYZ (Anon, 2016f). It was subsequently modernised and, as the ZAM-2 computer, manufactured in a small series of 12 by the Experimental Department of the Mathematical Machine Institute between 1961 and 1965. Attempts by the Wrocław electronics firm Elwro to manufacture these computers were unsuccessful. However, a series of 16 ZAM-41 computers was manufactured by the Institute of Mathematical Machines which developed out of GAM. Subsequently, most of its design and development staff were moved to other ICT firms.

3.7.2 The Mathematical Machine Construction Faculty The BMM Faculty resulted from the merger of two faculties of the Warsaw Technical University (currently the Warsaw University of Technology). It had about 140 research and technical workers (Anon, 2016d) and specialised in constructing reliable electronic equipment. Initially, it worked on developing an electronic digital machine based on a concept developed by Zdzisław Pawlak (Anon, 2016f), which included the use of three-valued logic. Five vacuum tube computers, called UMC-1, were launched starting in 1960. Elwro was allowed to take over industrial production of UMC-1 under the leadership of Prof. Antoni Kilinski. It manufactured 24 UMC-1 computers between 1962 and 1964. The UMC-1 was the first computer produced by Polish industry and the first Elwro computer (see Sect. 5.2.3). When transistors became available, the BMM Faculty designed the transistorbased version of UMC-1, UMC-10. Three UMC-10 computers were developed and commissioned by the BMM Faculty in 1966–1967. However, Elwro did not undertake its industrial production. Subsequently, the BMM Faculty became the Mathematical Machines Institute and finally the Information Technology Institute of the Warsaw University of Technology. The BMM Faculty was the first faculty in Poland to be involved in the education of ICT personnel.

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3.8 Elwro (Wrocław Electronic Works) Elwro played a leading role in the development of Polish computers. In particular, it designed, developed and manufactured the Odra series of computers, which are discussed in Chap. 5. Elwro was set up by the Polish government in 1959. The initial Elwro computer engineers and programmers were trained in Warsaw, under the leadership of Leon Lukaszewicz and Romuald Marczynski. Prof. Jerzy Bromirski was the first head of the Elwro Construction Office, responsible for the development of the Elwro computers and other products. Initially, Elwro developed electronic systems for TV sets which were being produced in increasing numbers. At the time, it worked out of an old sugar plant in Wrocław. In September 1959, Elwro launched production of a switch to change TV channels. It also started its first project related to the development of mathematical machines at about the same time. In its early years, Elwro was able to draw on the pioneering experience of GAM and the Mathematical Machine Construction Faculty in the development of the UMC-1. This had demonstrated the feasibility of developing and manufacturing electronic computers in Poland despite the embargoes. Elwro set up two subsidiaries, the Digital Computer Application Centre in 1961 to develop applications of its computers and the Foreign Trade Office in 1968 to coordinate collaboration and encourage sales to Comecon (and the few other) countries which used Elwro computers. Elwro developed and manufactured a whole series of computers which formed the basis of the Polish computer industry. It was able to produce and sell reasonable numbers of them by the standards of the time, though nothing like the current mass production computer industry. At its height, Elwro employed about 6000 people. Elwro was privatised and sold off in two stages. In 1993, 80% of Elwro’s assets were sold to Siemens and 20% to the workers who wanted to continue to retain some control. This was illusory, and production was wound down. In 2000, the remains of the firm, including the 20% owned by the workers were sold to Telect without consulting the workers, who did not receive any of the proceeds. The only small compensation was the relatively high redundancy payments they received. In 2015, the Wrocław City Council named the factory’s former location Elwro Square to commemorate Elwro’s contributions to the computer industry (Fig. 3.5).

3.8.1 Elwro Computer Service Centre and Other Components of Elwro The Elwro Computer Service Centre was set up to ensure operators had adequate training in computer programming, operation and servicing. Its work included program validation and testing, the organisation of hardware and software training and laboratory software tests. Program validation involved close examination and

3.8 Elwro (Wrocław Electronic Works)

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Fig. 3.5 Elwro Square and Obelisk (Jarosław Kutkowski, http://elwrowcy.pl/index.html)

validation of the functionality of all the software produced by Elwro. Program testing involved ensuring correct operation before programs were approved for delivery to customers. The test procedures carried out by the Computer Service Centre for each computer manufactured by Elwro are shown in Fig. 3.6. The initial tests involved investigating the requirements for market acceptance in Poland and abroad. This was followed by software and hardware testing. It should be noted that this is very different from current procedures, where, for instance, market surveys are carried out before development starts. In the event of problems, the procedure was repeated from the start. Training was generally outsourced to the Main Technical Organisation, the largest Polish organisation of engineers and technicians which had considerable experience and suitable premises for carrying out technical and organisational training. Elwro and customer software and computers were tested on-site. The Centre worked

60 Fig. 3.6 Computer test procedures carried out by Elwro Computer Service Centre (Fabian Klejn)

3 ICT Development in Poland and Wrocław COMPUTER ACCEPTANCE

SOFTWARE VALIDATION TEST

OK ?

N

Y HARDWARE TEST

OK ?

N

Y INHOUSE TRAINING

Y EXPORT ?

COMMISSIONING AND TRAINING AT THE CUSTOMER’S PREMISES

EXIT

together with Elwro users, leading to the setting up of the Elwro User Club. It also commissioned computers and hardware and software training both in Poland and abroad, for instance in Czechoslovakia, Hungary and the Soviet Union. Computers for export were commissioned and customer staff training carried out abroad.

3.9 Other ICT Firms and Institutes in Wrocław Elwro had a particularly important role in the development of automation and computation in Wrocław. However, there were a number of other firms and institutes working in ICT applications and some of them are discussed below.

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3.9.1 Institute for Power Systems Automation (IASE) The history of automation in Wrocław started in 1947 with power system modelling and design for boiler automation by a team at the Wrocław Technical University led by Prof Jan Kozuchowski (1911–1994) (Bialkiewicz et al., 2016). This team became the Electric Power Automation Unit of the Wrocław Technical University in 1949 and developed into the Institute for Power Systems Automation (IASE) which opened in 1962 (Fig. 3.7). The Electric Power Automation Unit and IASE worked in the area of power system automation. They were responsible for automating the boilers for almost all the power plants in Poland and also analysed power grids. Prior to 1989, IASE worked on complex problems related to the automation and management of electric power generation, transmission and distribution. This included the automation and computerisation of electric power systems and large power generation units, as well as environmental protection. IASE entered the domain of power industry computer applications on a large scale (Fig. 3.8) when Elwro announced production of the Odra 1325 computer (Anon, 2016a). The first successful large-scale ICT automation project for both IASE and Poland, worth several billion dollars, was a regional power control board with associated systems, including a power industry training simulator and a power industry virtual display unit. It was designed and developed in the 1970s and 80s. Other ICT power system applications included combined heat and power plants and a power plant database project (see Sect. 6.3.6). Polish industry was ill-prepared for the opening up of trade with western firms after 1989. Like Elwro, IASE did not receive the state financial and other support it required to compete with the large western firms working on power industry automation. In

Fig. 3.7 IASE in the 1970s (IASE)

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3 ICT Development in Poland and Wrocław

Fig. 3.8 IASE lab, 1975 (IASE)

addition, the new IASE director lacked appropriate knowledge and skills. These factors contributed to IASE’s collapse and a reduction in the workforce from about 700 to about 100. However, unlike Elwro, IASE was able to recover (Fig. 3.9). This was largely due to the appointment of a more dynamic director, who was able to get the government restrictions, which constrained actions, without providing financial support for research and development, lifted. It soon regained its leading role in the domain of Polish power industry automation. It continued to successfully market systems developed earlier, including complex automation systems, operator stations, software and specialised systems. The latter included a steam turbine electro-hydraulic control system, a power unit automatic control system, a power distribution system and algorithms and programs for quality rating of control systems. These systems were very successful and enabled IASE to compete with large western power industry automation firms (Fig. 3.10).

3.9 Other ICT Firms and Institutes in Wrocław

Fig. 3.9 The IASE building from the left side (IASE)

Fig. 3.10 Control room (IASE)

63

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3.9.2 Firms and Institutes which Developed out of Elwro The concentration of expertise at Elwro gave birth to a number of other firms, some during its lifetime and others after its collapse. Some of them will be discussed briefly in this section. WPA Elam (Wrocław Automation Enterprise) developed out of the former Elwro Automation Department, including its in-house Automation Design Office. It had a major role in automation development projects in Wrocław prior to 1989 and became an independent firm in the late 1980s. It designed, developed and implemented analog and digital automation systems for the paper and pulp processing, cement, metallurgical and environmental protection industries, including for wastewater treatment plants. Elam both initiated a number of new projects and continued work on projects started and operated earlier by Elwro. It designed and developed the earliest computer automation system in Poland which was used in the steel bar mill of the Warsaw Nova Huta Metallurgical Plant. This showed that Polish engineers could design and implement computer automation systems using hardware and software developed and manufactured in Poland. Subsequently, Elam was reintegrated into Elwro in the mid-1970s. The Institute for Computer Automation and Measurement Systems (IKSAiP) was set up in 1977. It included the Elwro Research and Development Centre and carried out the research necessary for the design and development of its Odra computers, as well as research on automation system (Anon, 1977). In addition to its research role, IKSAiP continued with its earlier activities in the areas of automation and measurement, in particular for a recording device for ship manoeuvres. ENES was set up in 1986 by two former Elwro and Elam engineers who thought they would be able to work more effectively in a smaller firm without organisational overheads. It designed, developed and implemented 20 different automation systems, generally based on programmable logic computers, in wood processing, water treatment and other plants. Increased trade with the west after 1989 had a positive rather than negative impact on ENES. In particular, it benefited from the increased availability of goods and services. It continued to design and develop computer control systems, generally based on programmable logic controllers. ENES designed more than 300 applications in the power, chemical, paper, cement and other industries. Leader, which was set up in the late 1970s, applied simulation, measurement and other methods to the performance and robustness evaluation of computer systems and networks (Lewoc et al., 1990a, 1990b, 2006, 2009). Its projects included the e-Train diabetes project to provide rapid training for nurses in the basic medical care of people with diabetes (Abramczyk et al., 2004, 2005; Lewoc et al., 2008) and robustness evaluation of ICT automation systems (Izworski et al., 2003a, 2003b, Lewoc et al., 2009). Its legal seat was transferred to the USA in 2012 to enable it to continue voluntary unpaid work on local technical and research problems, which the Polish tax authorities did not allow. However, it continued to be physically located in Wrocław.

3.9 Other ICT Firms and Institutes in Wrocław

65

3.9.3 Firms which Developed out of the Institute for Power System Automation (IASE) Procom Systems was set up in 1989 by about 10 power automation engineers who had previously worked on a power plant database project (see Sect. 6.3.6) design and development team at IASE. Insofter was set up by IASE leading programmers in 1994 to get away from the bullying and managerialism which characterised IASE under its new director after 1989. Procom initially worked on computer measurement and automation systems for the two coal-fired power plants. This was followed by successful collaboration with Elwro on the development of further power-generating units for one of them. Subsequently, it developed measurement and automation systems for particular applications. Power industry applications included monitoring and supervision of electric power-generating units and processes and obtaining operating data to facilitate analysis of the commissioning and start-up of power-generating units. Systems with power and wider industrial applications included monitoring tools for production processes in coke, cement, chemical, wastewater treatment and power and combined heat and power-generating plants. Procom Systems have been implemented in 17 countries. Insofter’s first major project was a system for monitoring traffic lights. A subsequent project involved the measurement of the time from the start to end of a camera shot. Insofter developed a card for six photographic shots (ensuring resolution of 50 frames per second). It also developed a system for estimating the number of people in a crowd using about twelve cameras and signal processing using vision processing cards and the Microsoft KINECT programs (Microsoft, 2016). Two cameras were used to increase accuracy and robustness to light disturbances and eliminate false signals.

3.9.4 Other Firms The Zakład Elektronicznej Techniki Obliczeniowej (ZETO) ICT firm in Wrocław was set up in 1971 as part of the government electronic computing technology network run by the State Computer Science Office. It played a major role in the development and operation of professional computer applications software in Poland. ZETO provided data processing services for a number of firms in Lower Silesia. They included a power plant, a manufacturer of power plant machinery, a very large Polish manufacturer of road works machinery, copper mines and metallurgic plants, and the largest Polish manufacturer of railway equipment. ZETO also produced business and banking hardware and software systems. They included a production planning computer system, a recording and information system for procurement and commercial networks, a bank service system for the Polish Central Bank and a multiaccess system on the Odra 1305, which enabled subscribers to run banking programs from their terminals.

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Firms which became involved in ICT in Wrocław after 1989 included Nokia and EBS Ink-Jet Systems. A number of different firms were set up in and around Wrocław by the Nokia Corporation. The Nokia Siemens Networks involving 10 people employed by Siemens formed the basis of Nokia Solutions and Networks in 2007. The Nokia Networks European Software and Engineering Center in Wrocław was set up in 2011 and taken over by Nokia Solutions and Networks in 2013 and Nokia in 2014. Nokia Wrocław currently employs more than 3000 people. It is the largest ICT firm in Wrocław and the third-largest Nokia firm in the world. The EBS Ink-Jet Systems firm (EBS, 2016) is involved in the research, development and manufacture of technologically advanced industrial inkjet printers and operational consumables and the supply of high-quality inkjet-type printing systems. EBS provides complex solutions for product marking. It uses a contact-free printing method to permanently mark a wide range of different objects made of diverse materials and of different sizes and geometries. It provides a wide range of coloured pigments and ink dyes based on organic solvents, as well as advisory services on adapting printing equipment to user applications and problem-solving.

3.10 Conclusions The chapter has presented a brief history of the development of ICT in Poland and the context in which it developed. This context included an overview of the complex and often difficult history of Poland and the history and geography of Wrocław. The chapter has also discussed some of the factors that enabled Poland to set up its own ICT and automation industry when embargoes prevented the import of hightechnology products from the west and the factors that made Wrocław the ICT capital of Poland for a period. As is not infrequently the case, the success of these industries in Poland, particularly in Wrocław, is due to the coming together of a number of different factors. While recognising the many negative consequences of these embargoes, the development of the Polish ICT and automation industry might never have taken place without the embargoes. They seem to have led to intense anger and a desire to show the west. The horrendous experiences of the Second World War and Nazi occupation also seem to have resulted in anger and increased motivation to rebuild and develop rather than leading to feelings of apathy and powerlessness. Despite the material devastation of the Nazi occupation, Wrocław and some other Polish cities benefited from the remaining German industrial infrastructure and used it to support industrial development after the Second World War. The education system was broad-based and resulted in young people with both a technical education and the broad-spectrum knowledge and abilities required to solve complex technical problems. It may have also managed to obtain an appropriate balance between theoretical and practical education, with a focus on solving real problems.

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67

Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following people for providing useful and important information without which we would not have been able to write this chapter. We have organised the list of contributions by the chapter sections rather than author names to make it easier to determine the contributors of information for particular sections. 3.7.2 The Mathematical Machine Construction Faculty B. Kasierski: use of three-valued logic in electronic digital machine developed by the Faculty. 3.8 Elwro (Wrocław Electronic Works) A. Kolesnik: sale of remaining 20% of Elwro assets. 3.8.1 Elwro Computer Service Centre and Other Organisational components F. Klejn: setting up of Elwro Computer Service Centre. 3.9.1 Institute for Power Systems Automation (IASE) A. Kieleczawa, E. Ziaja and J. Szubert: lack of state financial and other support to compete with the large western firms working on power systems automation. 3.9.2 Firms and Institutes Which Developed Out of Elwro Piowar and Kurilec: IKSAiP’s role in carrying out research to support design and development of Odra computers (see Sects. 5.3–5.6). 3.9.2 Firms and Institutes which developed out of Elwro L. Niemczycki and T. Galazka: ENES’ activities post-1989. 3.9.3 Firms which developed out of the Institute for Power System Automation (IASE) A. Wojnar: initial work of Procom. A. Wolniak: availability of highly qualified technical staff, particularly in the area of ICT design and development. M. Rozent: the reasons programmers left IASE to set up Insofter and Insofter’s first major project. We would further like to gratefully thank the following for allowing us to use their maps and photographs. • The University of Texas Libraries, the University of Texas at Austin for Fig. 3.1 Post World War 2 Poland, 1982 • Jim Marston for Fig. 3.2 Mosty mieszcza´nskei (Bourgeois bridges) • Muzeum Architektury we Wrocławiu for Fig. 3.3 Devastation in Wrocław after World War II, View south from the tower of the City Chambers • Soren Wulf Kristiansen for Fig. 3.4 Wyspa Słodowa (Malt Island) • Jarosław Kutkowski for Fig. 3.5, Elwro Square and Obelisk • Fabian Klejn for Fig. 3.6 Computer test procedures carried out by Elwro Computer Service Centre • IASE for Fig. 3.7 IASE lab, 1975 • IASE for Fig. 3.8 IASE in the 1970s • IASE for Fig. 3.9 the IASE building from the left side • IASE for Fig. 3.10 Control room

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Appendix 3.1: Technical Terms Three valued logic: each digit can take one of three possible values e.g. −1, 0, +1 Vacuum tube technology: a glass tube emptied of air to a vacuum. Vacuum tubes containing electrodes to control electron flow were used in early computers as a switch or an amplifier. They are larger than transistors.

Appendix 3.2: Abbreviations of the Names of Polish Organisations BMM: Biuro Maszyn Matematycznych (Mathematical Machine Office). BPBIT: Biuro Projektowo-Badawcze i Tłumacze´n (Design/Research and Translation Office). ENES: an abbreviation based on the surnames of its founders, Leslaw Niemczycki and Kazimierz Switalski. GAM: Grupa Aparatów Matematycznych (Mathematical Apparatus Group). IASE: Instytut Automatyki Systemow Energetycznych (Institute for Power Systems Automation). IKSAiP: Instytut Komputerowych Systemów Automatyki i Pomiarów (Institute of Computer Automation and Measurement Systems). PZPR: Polska Zjednoczona Partia Robotnicza (Polish United Workers’ Party). ZETO: Zakład Elektronicznej Techniki Obliczeniowej (Electronic.Technical Computation Plant.

Appendix 3.3: Historical Terms Hanseatic League: medieval defensive and commercial grouping of northern and central European merchant guilds and market towns which expanded to nearly 200 settlements across seven modern-day countries by the fifteenth century. In its heyday it dominated sea trade in the North and Baltic Seas. It was sometimes able to get trade restrictions removed for its members. Magdeburg rights: a set of town privileges developed at the end of the tenth century Teutonic knights: commonly used name for the members of the Order of the Brothers of the German House of St Mary in Jerusalem, which was set up as a military order in 1190 to aid Christians on pilgrimage to the Holy Land and set up hospitals. It

References

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crusaded for forced conversion to Catholicism and also gave military protection to Catholics in Eastern Europe. It has been purely religious since 1810. War of Austrian succession: conflict from 1740–1748 fought for control of territory in central and eastern Europe, including Austria, the Netherlands and parts of ITALY, ruled by the Habsburg family. Its pretext, hence the name, was the right of succession of Maria Theresa to her father Kaiser Karl VI.

References Abramczyk, A., Izworski, A., & Lewoc, J. B. (2004). A case study: risks & challenges for training nurses in diabetes problems. P. Duquenoy, S. Fisher-Huebner, J. Holvast, & A. Zuccato (Eds.), Second international summer school: Risks & challenges of the network society, IFIP, Karlstad, 6. Abramczyk, A., Lewoc, J. B., & Izworski, A. (2005). Nurse training case study: e-training of nurses In diabetes problem. Nurse Education in Practice (elsevier), 5(2), 70–77. Anon. (1977). Utworzenie Instytutu Komputerowych Systemów Automatyki i Pomiarów (Establishment of the institute of computer automation and measurement systems). https://www.prawo. pl/akty/m-p-1977-26-127,16819407.html Anon. (1981). Odra monthly, a collection of papers (in Polish). Anon. (1997). A collection of papers on the great flood in Wrocław (in Polish). Anon. (2016a). Wrocław. Available https://en.wikedipia.org/wiki/Wroc%C5%82aw Anon. (2016b). Category: Rivers in Wrocław. Available https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Cat egory:Rivers_in_Wroc%C5%82aw?uselang=pl Anon. (2016c). History of Wrocław. Available https://en.wikedipia.org/wiki/History_of_Wroc% C5%82aw. Anon. (2016d). History of computer science in Poland. Available https://pl.wikedipia .org/wiki/Historia_informatyki_w_Polsce (in Polish). Anon. (2016e). Differential equation analyser. Available: https://pl.wikedipia.org/wiki/Analiz ator_R%C3%B3wna%C5%84_R%C3%B3%C5%BCniczkowych (in Polish). Anon. (2016f). XYZ. Available https://pl.wikedipia.org/wiki/XYZ#Dane_techniczne (in Polish). Utworzenie Anon. (2018a). Name of Poland. https://en.wikedipia.org/wiki/Name_of_Poland. Accessed October 3, 2018a Anon. (2018b). Polska. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Polska. Accessed October 3, 2018b Anon. (2020a). List_of_bridges_in_Poland. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bridges_in_ Poland Anon. (2020b). Coordinating committee for multilateral export controls. https://en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Coordinating_Committee_for_Multilateral_Export_Controls Asherson, N. (1987). The struggles for Poland, a Channel Four book, Pan. Bialkiewicz, Z., Huckiewicz, J., & Lubczynski, Z. (2016). Jan Kozuchowski (1911–1994). Available http://apw.ee.pw.edu.pl/tresc/sylw/kozuch/komplBiogram.htm (in Polish) Dabrowski, P. M. (2014). Poland: The first thousand years. Cornell University Press. EBS. (2016). EBS—Ink-jet systeme. Available http://www.ebs-inkjet.com Izworski, A., Lewoc, J. B., & Skowronski, S. (2003a). Robust performance case study: Topology of system media. In R. Bars & E. Gyurkovics (Eds.), A proceeding volume from the 12th IFAC Workshop, Visegrad, Elsevier, 2003, (pp. 63–68). Izworski, A., Lewoc, J. B. (2003b). Robustness comparison of enterprise energy distribution systems of various topologies. In Robust system design (IFAC) (p. 6)

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Knes, M. (undated). Coordinating committee for multilateral export controls and the wassenaar arrangement. https://www.referenceforbusiness.com/encyclopedia/Con-Cos/CoordinatingCommittee-for-Multilateral-Export-Controls-and-the-Wassenaar-Arrangement.html. Accessed May 6, 2020. Lewoc, J. B. (1990a). Performance evaluation in computer network practice. WWSIwZG. Zielona Gora (in Polish) Lewoc, J. B. (1990b). Performance evaluation for actual computer networks. AMSE Press. Lewoc, J. B., Izworski, A., & Skowronski, S. (2006). A LSIS Case Study: Computer Integrated Manufacturing and Management Systems. IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 39(14), 118–123. Lewoc, J.B., Izworski, A., & Skowronski, S. (2006a). An internal internet traffic modelling/performance measuring tool. In I. Troch, & F. Breitenecker (Eds.), 5th Vienna Symposium on Mathematical Modelling MATHMOD, Vienna, Agresim, 2006a (pp. 91–99) Lewoc, J. B., Izworski A., Skowronski S. (2006b). Performance modelling of a computer integrated manufacturing and management system. In B. Zupancic, R. Karba, S. Blazic (Eds.), Eurosim Congress on Modelling and Simulation, EUROSIM 2007, Ljubljana, Slovenia, Agresim, 2007 (p. 8). Lewoc, J. B., Izworski, A., Skowronski, S. (2008). Distant learning case-study: nurse training in diabetes problems. In R. Chbeir et al. (Eds.), The Fifth International Conference on Soft Computing as Transdisciplinary Science and Technology, CSTST’2008 (pp. 101–105). IEEE, Cergy-Pontoise, ACM. Lewoc, J. B., Izworski, A., Skowronski S. (2009). A time delay system case study: computer integrated manufacturing and management system robustness. In E. Petre (Ed.), 8th IFAC Workshop on Time-Delay Systems, TDS’2009, Sinaia (Romania), Elsevier (p. 5). Lewoc, J. B., Izworski, A., Skowronski, S., Kieleczawa, A., & Dimirovski, G. (2009). Power generation/distribution control systems topology selection based on robustness evaluation. IFAC Proceedings Volumes, 42(2), 179–184. Lukowski, J., & Zawadzki, H. (2005). A concise history of Poland (2nd ed.) Cambridge University Press. Microsoft. (2016). Meet kinect for windows. Available https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/win dows/kinect Prazmowska, A. J. (2011). A history of Poland. Macmillan International Higher Education.

Chapter 4

The Pioneers

4.1 Introduction The previous chapter presented some of the organisations involved in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and automation design and development in Poland. This chapter is about the pioneers, the designers, programmers and other professionals, who initiated and carried out the early development of ICT and automation in Poland. Brief biographies of a number of them are presented in Sect. 4.2. This is organised by the main projects the pioneers were involved in or led and sometimes further divided into designers and programmers. Information for the biographies was obtained from the pioneers themselves and their students, colleagues and/or families in the case of those who had already died. The brief biographies are followed by discussion of some of the factors that attracted the pioneers to ICT. Many of the computers, software and applications, the designers and programmers worked on are discussed in Chaps. 5 and 6 and some of the organisations they worked at are presented in Chap. 3. Concise information about the remaining technologies and organisations is presented in Appendix 4.2. A glossary of the technical terms in the chapter is presented in Appendix 4.1. The leading roles in the design and development of emerging (pioneering) technologies in Poland were generally divided into leading designer and project manager. The leading designer was responsible for the initial design of the solution and for leading the subsequent design and development work, concluding in the successful commissioning of a computer or other system. The project manager was responsible for the general logistics of the project work. However, they generally worked with teams rather than independently and it is therefore important to recognise the contribution of the whole team. In Poland, leading designers were generally well-qualified technical professionals and took their work very seriously. The project managers were frequently political appointees, who were expected to manage projects in line with the regime’s expectations, without necessarily having appropriate technical or managerial qualifications, experience or expertise. In addition, there was sometimes a degree of corruption © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_4

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which encouraged project managers to concentrate on personal advancement and profit, without necessarily being willing to earn it through diligent work on the project. This meant that leading designers frequently had to do part of the work of the project manager. However, there were also some very good project managers and biographies of some of them are included in this chapter. Due to the importance of leading designers in the early development of ICT and automation in Poland, Sects. 4.4 and 4.5 consider the characteristics and prerequisite education, training and experience required by leading designers, and Sect. 4.3 the factors that attracted the early designers to ICT. Section 4.6 discusses their role in training subsequent generations of designers. Looking at the biographies shows that women were underrepresented among the ICT pioneers. This is unfortunately still the case for engineers and other ICT professionals. Section 4.7 considers the reasons for this. Acknowledgements to the many people, including early Polish leading designers and programmers, who provided information are given before the references. This section also provides details of the information they provided. A glossary of technical terms is provided in Appendix 4.1 and of the names of software, applications and organisations in Appendix 4.2. Despite the various difficulties they experienced, as discussed in Chap. 3, the work of the Polish pioneers led to the development and implementation of a number of useful computers, associated software and applications. These systems contributed to development both in Poland and globally. However, ICT has had negative as well as positive impacts. Some of the wider issues related to the impacts of ICT and engineering more generally are discussed very briefly in Chap. 1. Ethical practice goes beyond competent and professional engineering and needs to consider applications and their wider social, environmental and other impacts. Awareness of these wider issues unfortunately does not appear in these biographies. In this, the Polish pioneers were similar to other computer scientists and engineers of the period, as well as many more recent ones. However, this needs to change. We face many grave threats which could destroy much or all of humanity and the planet. These include global climate change, nuclear weapons and serious loss of biodiversity. The 2020 COVID-19 pandemic raises both the threat of further waves of pandemics and shows the potential of engineers to contribute to solutions. These risks pose important ethical challenges to engineers and computer scientists. When choosing what projects to participate in and how to carry them out they need to consider their wider impacts and whether their work has the potential to contribute to solutions or is likely to cause further problems.

4.2 Brief Biographies This section presents brief biographies of many of the leading designers responsible for hardware or ICT application projects, the leading programmers responsible for software projects and other key figures in the early development of computers and

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applications in Wrocław. The biographies are organised by the main type of projects that the pioneers worked on.

4.2.1 Designers and Developers of Odra Computers Most of the computers developed by Elwro (see Sect. 3.8) were called Odra after the river running through Wrocław. Their development took place in several different stages as discussed in Chap. 5. Since the embargoes prevented the import of state-ofthe-art electronic components, the Elwro designers frequently required considerable ingenuity to find appropriate solutions. Although these computers may have used less advanced technology than available elsewhere, for instance discrete transistor technology in the Odra 1204 rather than silicon integrated circuits, they generally performed well. For instance, the Odra 1204 had a lifetime of up to 20 years, which is much greater than that of many modern computers (Fig. 4.1).

Fig. 4.1 Working with an early computer, probably Odra 1003, 1965 (Wrocław Museum of Architecture)

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4.2.2 Odra Computer Designers The Odra designers included Thanasis Kamburelis, Piotr Kociatkiewicz, Jur Lesi´nski, Ryszard Fudala, Bogdan Kasierski (see RIAD designers), and Adam Urbanek. A summary of their Odra design work is given in Table 4.1. Thanasis was born in Greece and came to Poland at the age of 17. All the designers except Ryszard studied at university level in Wrocław. Thanasis and Edmund both obtained MScs in mathematics from the University of Wrocław. Piotr, Ryszard and Adam had MScs in electronics, Piotr and Adam from the Technical University of Wrocław, Piotr with a specialisation in mathematical machines, and Ryszard and Bogdan from the University of Warsaw. Jur studied at both Wrocław universities. He obtained an MSc in mathematics from Wrocław University and in electrical engineering from Wrocław Technical University. This raises the issue of the relative benefits to future (software) designers of studying mathematics and electronics/electrical engineering. Now, of course, there are other options involving computer science, which were not available at that time. Thanasis obtained a PhD in computer logic from the Silesian Technical University and Piotr in digital systems from Wrocław Technical University. Thanasis was the leading designer of most of the Odra computers, as well as the Riad computer R-32. While working on the Odra 1304, he realised that the same instruction set as the compatible International Computers Ltd (ICL) series 1900 computer (see Sects. 5.3.1 and 5.3.2) could be used to run ICL 1900 software and that an identical logical structure was not required. He ensured this compatibility by applying microprogramming techniques tested on the earlier Odra 1204 computer. This avoided the need to develop new software for the Odra 1304, as had been required for previous Elwro computers. Jur was involved in the design, sometimes as leading designer, of digital industrial automation systems, communication computers and networks, diagnostic software, and different types of asynchronous networks. Ryszard co-designed the Odra 1204 and 1325 and led the projects for developing the Rodan computer (the military version of the Odra 1325) and the KON-10 Table 4.1 Odra computer designers Computer

Thanasis

1001

Lead

1002

Lead

1003

Lead

Designer

1013

Lead

Designer

1103

Piotr

Co-lead

Jur

Ryszard

Bogdan

Co-design

Launch

Adam

Co-lead

1204

Lead

1304

Lead

Co-design

Co-lead

1305

Co-lead

Co-design

Co-lead

1325

Lead

Co-design

4.2 Brief Biographies

75

computer (an automation-oriented computer with less complex hardware and software than the Odra). Adam was a co-author of a multiplexer developed at Wrocław Technical University. This was the main component of the multiaccess system for all Odra 1300 series computers. He was the leading expert in the implementation of remote access to Odra 1300 computers on the railway system. He was the leading designer for a very large-scale integration (VLSI) processor and SKOK a smaller and faster version of the Odra 1305 (see Sect. 5.6.4). Unfortunately for him, Thanasis was ‘promoted’ from a technical designer position to a managerial one shortly after the successful launch of Odra 1305. He did not enjoy being a manager and returned to Greece in 1979, where he became first a lecturer and then a professor of information systems at the University of Crete. Piotr also subsequently moved into teaching of computer and digital device technology at Wrocław Technical University. He also worked on network design at the Automation and Measurement Computer System Institute (IKSAiP) (see Sect. 3.9.2). His further career included marketing and commissioning ICT devices at Elwro and Northern Telecom, a multinational telecommunications firm with headquarters in Canada. Like Thanasis, Piotr’s final career involved teaching information systems, in his case as a director of the Professional Computer Science College in Wrocław. After leaving Elwro, Ryszard and Adam worked at EBS Ink-Jet Systems (see Sect. 3.9.4) and for the NetWork Monthly Journal produced in Warsaw. Adam was on its editorial board and wrote and commissioned articles on ICT problems for about 12 years. The Odra designers had a wide range of interests outside of their work lives. Several of the designers were keen on sports. Piotr and Adam were keen on tennis, Ryszard enjoyed swimming and Jur, who was also keen on sport, liked visiting coastal areas. Thanasis’s hobbies revolved around maths and he was interested in analysing and designing algorithms.

4.2.3 Odra Computer Programmers A summary of the Odra work of the Odra programmers is given in Table 4.2. Several of them have unfortunately already died, often not at a great age, Teodor in 2003, Edmund in 2012, Jerzy Jan in 1997 aged 56 and Mieczysława in 2006 aged 65. The majority of the programmers, Piotr, Teodor, Edmund, Jan Jerzy, Mieczysëawa, Lidia and Anna, obtained MScs in mathematics, Jerzy Jan and Mieczyslawa with a specialisation in mathematical logic and Anna in theoretical mathematics, all from the University of Wrocław. Now, they would probably have degrees in computer science, but that option was not available at the time. The links with computer science of the University of Wrocław’s mathematics faculty are illustrated by the fact that Lidia’s diploma thesis was supervised by Assistant Prof. Stefan Paszkowski, who later became the Director of the University of Wrocław’s Computer Science Institute. Fabian obtained an MSc in physics from the University of Wrocław and Jerzy in electronic engineering with a specialisation in mathematical machines from Wrocław Technical University.

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Table 4.2 Odra computer programmers 1003

1013

1103

1204

1304

1305

Piotr Kremienowski

Lead

Lead

Lead

Lead of part

Lead of part

Lead of part

Teodor Mika

Software Software

Edmund Szajer

Involved Involved Involved Involved Involved Involved Involved or led or led or led or led or led or led or led

Software

Fabian Klein

Software

Jerzy Jan Szczepkowicz

Involved

Mieczysława Piernikowska-Małkowska

Involved

Jerzy Wietrzych

Lidia Zajchowska Anna Mirowska

1325

Involved or led part Involved Involved

Involved Launch Involved

Launch

Launch Involved

Piotr was the leading programmer for several Elwro computers, including a major role in programming and commissioning the ICL George 1, 2 and 3 operating systems for the compatible Odra 1304 and 1305 computers. He also devised and/or programmed a variety of software to enable Elwro computers to run more effectively and overcome potential problems. For instance, the move to software programming improved the operation of the Odra 1003 and other computers compared to the pushbuttons and indicator lights then in use. He developed an algorithm to support the computer-assisted location of programs on drums to replace the existing rather cumbersome memory interleaving approach (see Sect. 5.3.1). Piotr also designed and implemented two assemblers to convert source programs in various formats to machine code to support users of tabulating machines (see Sect. 6.2.3). Teodor led the team which developed the software for the ODRA 1003, 1013 and 1204 computers. This included a symbolic address language and the MOST 1 and MOST 2 autocodes for Odra 1003 and 1013, respectively, (see Sect. 6.2.2), and the executive/operating system SOW for Odra 1204 (see Sect. 6.2.4). He was the leading programmer on these projects. Teodor and his team developed the MOST autocode automatic coding system to facilitate programming in machine code. They also used sequential instructions and different memory locations (see Sect. 5.3.1) to reduce program execution time and showed that large-scale computers were not required to reduce programming effort and that this could be achieved on the smaller-scale Odra 1003, 1013 and 1204 computers. Edmund worked on Elwro software problems as a programmer, team leader, the head of the research/scientific unit and the Elwro Vice-Director for low-series product development. He was involved in and/or led development of the user software library, development and implementation of the microprogramming logic structure concept and diagnostic tests for various Odra computers, particularly the ODRA 1204, 1304 and 1305. Edmund led the development and testing of the Polish version

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of the telecommunications system for the Riad computers and participated in or led the development of the training documentation for most Elwro computers. He also designed and developed a library of programs and procedures to support the development of software for tabulating machines. Fabian worked for four years as a research assistant at the University of Wrocław and the Polish Academy of Sciences before moving to Elwro where he developed software for several computers. He was subsequently transferred to the Elwro Service Division, where he held the positions of department head, specialist and leading specialist. He had a leading role in developing a system for servicing the software developed at Elwro, setting up the Odra Computer User Club, assisting the engineering staff in debugging programs for all Elwro computers and implementing the E6RM Executive and George 3 operating systems (Fig. 4.2). The E6RM was used to run large programs on the largest ICL 1900 series and compatible computers, e.g. Odra 1305. Fabian attended numerous exhibitions and symposia on behalf of Elwro. On graduation, Jerzy Jan joined the Institute of Mathematics and subsequently the Computer Science Institute at the University of Wrocław. His most important project was developing the Algol 60 compiler for the Odra 1204 computer. The use of machine code made it faster than similar solutions developed elsewhere. Jerzy Jan led the development project for the Mason operating system for the Odra 1204 computer. It was faster and required less working memory than the previously developed operating system SOW (see Sect. 6.2.4). He also developed a more powerful testing system to cope with the greater complexity of the Odra 1204 compared to previous Elwro computers and microprograms to realise the Odra 1204 instructions.

Fig. 4.2 At work at Elwro, 1970 (Wrocław Museum of Architecture)

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Mieczyslawa, Lidia and Anna all joined Elwro after graduation. Mieczyslawa was initially employed as a basic software programmer for various Elwro computers. In particular, she was involved in the design and development of the Mason operating system for the Odra 1204 computer and the operating system EX2P for the Odra 1325 computer (see Sect. 6.2.5). She also led several military projects. Lidia worked on teams led by Thanasis Kamburelis and Teodor Mika and also held the positions of programmer, programming specialist, programming team head and software unit head. She is the author or co-author of many important software modules for several ODRA computers, including the symbolic address language JAS and the MOST autocode for Odra 1204. She was also involved in launching the ODRA 1304, 1305 and 1325 computers, the Polish equivalents of the ICL Series 1900 computers. Lidia was subsequently the leading designer and contractor of the TAPOL system developed in 1972 to support the production of printed circuit boards. For many years, she chaired the Polish delegation for a series of annual meetings on the control and coordination of COMECON country ICT activities. Anna developed tests for computer systems, initially for the Odra 1204. She was subsequently transferred to the department responsible for developing computers for military applications and worked on Odra 1325 and its military version Rodan. She designed and developed tests to be run under several different executives/operating systems. They included EX2M developed by ICL and EX2P, which was developed from EX2M by Elwro, for real time control operation (see Sect. 6.2.5). Jerzy has worked for several different organisations, including the Institute for Power System Automation (IASE), the Theoretical Cybernetics Institute of Wrocław Technical University and the Telesoft Sp.o.o. company. He is currently at the Electronics Faculty of the Wrocław University of Science and Technology. Jerzy led and/or participated in several major projects, including the design, development and implementation of a front-end processor for the Odra 1305 using the X.25 protocol (Anon, 2020) and the X.25 communication network node for various operating systems. Jerzy also worked on X.25 controllers and software for terminals issuing road tax discs in Germany and the Netherlands. His other professional activities included quality assessment software systems for copper production and price evaluation system software for transportation and other firms. On leaving Elwro Edmund joined Telbank and Mieczysława and Lidia went into education. Mieczysława taught computer science and Lidia initially worked at the IKSAiP Institute (see Sect. 3.9.2) and subsequently taught mathematics and computer science in a secondary school in Wrocław. Like a number of other Elwro programmers, Teodor left the firm when translating ICL documentation replaced writing software after the Odra 1204 upgrading project was abandoned (see Sect. 5.5.1). He moved to the Information Technology Unit of the Wrocław University of Technology, where he developed programs for networking systems including the Cyclades Network with a French institute. Fabian was unjustly dismissed from Elwro when martial law was introduced (see Sect. 3.2.3). He then worked for a small ICT firm in Wrocław, where he developed software for the INTEL 8080 and Z80 microprocessors and the COMMODORE 64 and PSPD-90 computers. He subsequently worked for the Wrocław automation firm WINUEL where he programmed and serviced

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Fig. 4.3 Elwro’s holiday centre in Jaroslawiec (http://elwrowcy.pl/strona5.html)

computers in Luxemburg, West Germany and Poland. His final employer was the Wrocław Province Cadastral (property ownership) Unit, where he worked on network administration and support for network users. The Odra programmers also had wide-ranging leisure interests (Fig. 4.3). Jerzy Jan and Mieczysëawa were both socially concerned and enjoyed helping others in their communities. Teodor enjoyed reading and Lidia’s interests included travel and painting. Piotr, Fabian and Jerzy were all keen on sports and physical activities. Piotr enjoyed a range of outdoor activities, including cycling, skiing, hiking and horticulture. Fabian enjoyed hiking and Jerzy cycling. Anna enjoyed spending time with her colleagues, watching films and needlework.

4.2.4 Regional Power Monitoring System designers The designers who worked on regional power monitoring systems included Jozef Bohdan Lewoc and Stanisëaw Olejnik and the programmers Mieczysëaw Rozent and Adam Wojnar. Their main projects are presented in Table 4.3. Bohdan, Stanisëaw, Mieczysëaw all studied in Wrocław. Bohdan, Stanisëaw and Adam obtained MScs and Bohdan and Adam also PhDs from the technical universities of Warsaw and Wrocław. Bohdan and Mieczysław obtained MScs in electronic engineering, Bohdan with a specialisation in mathematical machines and Stanisław with a specialisation in automation and telecommunications. Adam had an MSc in

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Table 4.3 Power industry and related projects Jozef Bohdan Lewoc

Stanisëaw Olejnik

Mieczysëaw Rozent

Adam Wojnar

Power industry automatic data processing system Central and Great Poland

Power industry automatic data processing system

Power industry automatic data processing system

Power industry automatic data processing system Central and Great Poland

Power network simulator—initial phase

Power industry-oriented peripherals

Power network simulator (design, implementation)

Power plant engineer support tool

Steel bar mill

Electrical power disturbance recorder

Traffic light monitoring

PROMAN monitoring tools

Power plant database

Electronic device to capture digital still frames

Inter-university communication network

Client number estimation

electrical engineering. Mieczysëaw and Bohdan obtained MScs in mathematics from the University of Wrocław. Bohdan, Stanisëaw, Mieczysëaw and Adam all worked for at least part of their careers at IASE, Stanisëaw throughout his career and Adam from 1961 to 1992. Stanisëaw led a number of electric power industry device and system projects, including for regional power control centres and power industry utilities and a disturbance recorder for the electrical power industry. After graduation, Mieczysëaw worked at IASE on a power industry project for the automation of the regional control centres. He subsequently led a network training simulator software project, and a project for power utility control. He took over as leading designer for the development and implementation phase of a power network training simulator project (see Sect. 6.3.4) from Bohdan who was the leading designer for the initial phase. Mieczysëaw then set up the software company Insofter (see Sect. 3.9.3), where he led various electronics projects, including on monitoring traffic lights and an electronic device that captures individual digital still frames from an analog or digital video signal. He also worked on systems for estimating the number of clients of popular magazines and a process information delivery system for manufacturing stands for commercial fairs. Adam has worked on several major power industry control system software projects, including an automatic data processing system for the regional power control centres (see Sect. 6.3.1), a system to support control engineers in electrical power plants and a training system for control engineers in nuclear power plants. He joined the computer control firm Procom (see Sect. 3.9.3) in 1992, where he led the PROMAN project to develop monitoring tools which could be used in a number of different industries.

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Bohdan has led ICT projects for a number of different employers, including Elwro, IASE, Wrocław Technical University, the University of Wrocław and the household appliance manufacturer Polar. He co-designed the first Polish computer control and coordination system for a steel bar mill (see Sect. 6.4.1). He has led several major power systems projects, including a regional power control centre monitoring system and versions designed for Central and Greater Poland. Other projects included a power network training simulator, the operating system for the regional power control centre monitoring system and a power plant database (see Sect. 6.3.6). He was also leading designer for the development of a hospital database and TV Solidarity (see Sect. 6.4.4). Bohdan has also developed digital simulation tools for control systems and computer networks and applied these tools to investigate system performance and robustness. He has published about 300 papers. He established and has worked at the Design and Translation Agencies Leader and BPBIT Leader LLC (USA). This group also had a range of outside interests. A number of the group were keen skiers and enjoyed the outdoors. Bohdan was also keen on water sports and enjoyed sailing and swimming in his free time. Adam enjoyed hiking while Stanisëaw loved to read. Mieczysëaw especially enjoyed DIY and liked to spend some of his free time on home improvements in his house in the country.

4.2.5 Automation and Automatic Control Designers The designers involved in automation and automatic control projects include Jan Kurilec, Lesëaw Niemczycki, Antonina Kieleczawa, Tomasz Gal˛azka and Willy Wojsznis. Their main professional activities are given in Table 4.4. Jan and Antonina obtained MScs in electronic engineering from Wrocëaw Technical University, Jan with a specialisation in automation and telecommunications. Lesëaw and Willy both started their university studies at a Technical University in Poland, Silesian and Gdansk, respectively, and continued to obtain a degree at a Technical University in the Ukraine. Lesëaw obtained an MSc in automation and instrument construction from Kharkov Technical University and Willy a BSc in electrical engineering from Kiev Technical University within the framework of foreign student exchange in the COMECON countries. Willy also obtained an MSc in applied mathematics from the University of Wrocław and a PhD in automation from Warsaw Technical University. Tomasz showed particular determination and commitment in obtaining a BSc in electrical engineering by attending evening classes at Wrocław Technical University while working as a design assistant in the Automation Design Office at the automation firm ELAM (see Sect. 3.9.2). On graduation, Lesëaw was employed by Elwro and subsequently WPA ELAM as a designer of automation systems. Lesëaw and Tomasz have jointly run the automation service firm ENES (see Sect. 3.9.2) since 1986. Lesëaw was also employed there as a leading designer and project manager of automation projects. During his nearly 50-year professional career, he designed, developed and commissioned automation systems for more than 500 different industrial facilities in Poland and abroad. Tomasz

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Table 4.4 Automatic control system designers Jan Kurilec

Lesëaw Niemczycki

Antonina Kieleczawa

Tomasz Gaë˛azka

Willy Wojsznis

Automatic control systems in power plant

About 500 automation systems in power industry

Cyclotron measurement analysis system

About 500 automation systems, particularly in power industry

Computer automation system for Steel bar mill

Automation systems for power plants

Electrical power disturbance recorder

Department head at Nigerian University of Technology

Technical Director of Elwro

Power plant database

Emerson computer automation and research engineer

Primary/secondary automation system PowerSter power plant control tool

designed a few hundred automation systems for several different industrial facilities and generally combined the roles of leading designer and project manager. Jan worked for Elwro and several other firms on the research and development of automation and measurement systems. He led and/or managed several major projects, including on electronic controllers, automation component systems and the development of industrial electronic measuring and control equipment for different Elwro departments. He also led the project for the development of a system of automatic control components to be used in the design and control of automatic control systems with particular applications to the power industry. The resulting system was widely applied in Poland, including all power and combined heat and power generating plants. Among other positions, Jan was Director for automation and measuring equipment of the Elwro Research and Development Centre and Elwro Deputy Director for Technology. Antonina worked for IASE (see Sect. 3.9.1) and the United Nuclear Research Institute in Dubna (Soviet Union). She was the (leading) designer and the commissioning engineer for a cyclotron measurement analysis system, an automation system with primary and secondary components and a system for recording disturbance waveforms in the electric power industry. Other projects included a power plant automation database (see Sect. 6.3.6) and its derivative systems for power stations, heat and power generating stations and other power industry facilities. During his career, Willy worked for IASE, Elwro, the Nigerian Federal University of Technology as the Head of the Mathematics and Computing Science Department, ZETO (see Sect. 3.9.4) and Emerson in the USA where he worked for about 20 years as a computer automation and research engineer. At Elwro, he led the project on

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the development of the first Polish computer automation and coordination system for a steel bar mill (see Sect. 6.4.1) jointly with Bohdan Lewoc. The work included designing a set of industrial control modules with analog and digital outputs and an electronic timer module. Willy has published more than 60 papers and four books, with three of these books obtaining International Society for Automation bestseller awards. This group had a wide range of interests and hobbies. Antonina’s interests included theology, sacred music and hiking. Tomasz enjoyed classical music and constructing things with his hands. Willy had a passion for the outdoors, particularly skiing, and also enjoyed studying history. Jan’s leisure activities included driving and reading while Lesëaw enjoyed watching sports and films.

4.2.6 RIAD Computer Designers and Programmers The RIAD (see Sect. 5.7) designers included Bogdan Kasierski, Gra˙zyna Fudala and Thanasis Kamburelis (see Sect. 4.2.2) and programmers Jozefa Bernadyn, Ryszard Bernardyn and Joanna Logo´n. All of them worked on both the IBM/360 compatible R32 and IBM/370 compatible R34 computers, Bogdan as the leading designer. Jozefa and Ryszard both worked on the R60 mini computer navigation system and the IBM 4341 computer which was compatible with the IBM/370 computer. Their main projects are shown in Table 4.5. Table 4.5 Riad computer designers and programmers Bogdan Kasierski

Gra˙zyna Fudala

Jozefa Bernardyn

Odra 1204 launch

Computer utility patterns

Starling software Starling software Odra 1300 Series for inter-university for inter-university tests computer network computer network

Odra 1304 and 1305 co-design

COMECON Riad R-32 front-end feasibility study processor for inter-university computer network, lead

R-32 and Rodan co-design R-34 leading and designer commissioning Data teleprocessing processor co-design and commissioning

R-34 and IBM 4341 interface for another academic network, lead

Ryszard Bernardyn

Joanna Logo´n

R-32 front-end R-32 and R-34 processor for tests inter-university computer network, designer R-34 and IBM 4341 interface for another academic network designer

Odra 1204 microprogramming

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The RIAD designers’ university education was related to mathematical machines and that of the programmers to mathematics (and numerical methods), as in the case of the Odra programmers. Bogdan and Gra˙zyna both obtained MScs from the Warsaw Technical University, Bogdan in electronics with a specialisation in mathematical machines from the Electronics Faculty and Grazyna in engineering from the Mathematical Machines Faculty. Jozefa and Ryszard obtained MScs in mathematics from the University of Wrocław, Jozefa with a specialisation in numerical methods. Her diploma work was supervised by Dr Jerzy Szczepkowicz, the leading programmer of the Algol 1204 project. Joanna obtained an MSc in numerical methods from Wrocław University. Bogdan was one of Elwro’s outstanding computer hardware designers. He launched the Odra 1204, co-designed the Odra 1304 and Odra 1305 computers and was the leading designer of the R-32 and R-34 computers. He was transferred to the R-34 project when it started working on emulating the IBM system/360 and made the necessary modifications to its microprograms to enable Phoenix data processing programs to be implemented on it. After leaving Elwro, he was employed by other electronics firms as a computer hardware and software expert. Gra˙zyna, who joined Elwro on graduation, was also a successful hardware designer. She was involved in a number of hardware design projects and made several useful design innovations in the Polish versions of the RIAD computers (R-32 and R-34). Gra˙zyna also participated in the development of the RIAD system feasibility study in the Soviet Union. She co-designed and commissioned Rodan, the military version of Odra 1325. Both Jozefa and Ryszard joined the Wrocław Technical University Computing Centre on graduation. They were a husband–wife team who worked successfully together, including on a number of networking projects, where interestingly it was always Jozefa who took the lead. They participated in a number of projects, including a multiuser access system used mainly by university students and teachers and a telecommunications system for the first heterogeneous inter-university computer network (see Sect. 6.4.3). They were both involved in developing the Starling program as a component of the software for the front-end processor for RIAD computers. They also both worked on connecting the R-32, R-34, R-60 and IBM 4341 computers to this inter-university computer network as hosts, Jozefa as the leading programmer. Another common project was the visual displays for the Mera 7900 computer terminals which were an analog of the IBM 3270 terminals, with Jozefa as the leading programmer. Jozefa also worked at Wrocław Technical University on implementing a UNIX system to be used in education there and the early development and implementation of an e-learning system and e-learning tools. Ryszard was involved in developing another academic computer network and two data processing networks. Joanna developed tests for the Odra 1300 series computers and the R-32 and R34 computers under the supervision of her mentor Thanasis Kamburelis. She was involved in the microprogramming of the Odra 1204. The RIAD programmers and designers also had many outside interests. Bogdan enjoyed playing cards, Gra˙zyna’s hobbies included listening to music and dancing and Jozefa loved growing interesting and unusual plants. Ryszard and Joanna were both successful in competition. Ryszard won 10 Polish championship medals in badminton and Joanna the bronze medal in the Polish women’s chess championship.

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4.2.7 Project Managers The project managers among the ICT pioneers included Jerzy Sta´nczak, Janisëaw Muszy´nski, Wacëaw Kasprzak, Stanisëaw Alfred Szabla and Eugeniusz Bilski. Their main activities are summarised in Table 4.6. Jerzy, Janisëaw, Wacëaw, Stanisëaw and Eugeniusz all obtained engineering MScs from Wrocław Technical University, Jerzy in electrical engineering, Janisëaw and Stanisëaw in electronic engineering, Janisëaw with a specialisation in mathematical machines, Wacëaw in mechanical engineering and Eugeniusz in electronic measurement engineering. In addition, Janisëaw obtained an MSc in mathematics from Wrocław University and Wacëaw a PhD and DSc in mechanics from Wrocław Technical University. Eugeniusz also studied mathematics for four years. Stanisëaw unfortunately died in 2016. Jerzy worked as a project manager at IASE, where he was mainly responsible for power industry technology projects. His major achievements included setting up the firm Procom Systems (see Sect. 3.9.3), which specialised in computer automation systems, particularly in the power industry, and developing the functional assumptions for two Polish power plants. He collaborated with Siemens on the development and implementation of these systems, bringing together Procom’s local experience and Siemens’ facilities. Jerzy also developed a data acquisition and presentation system for power generation units. Janisëaw led a project at ZETO (see Sect. 3.9.4) which developed a multiuser data processing system. He subsequently held several managerial positions, including Technical Director of ZETO and Deputy Director and Communication Network Table 4.6 Project managers Jerzy Sta´nczak

Janisëaw Muszy´nski

Wacëaw Kasprzak

Stanisëaw Alfred Szabla

Eugeniusz Bilski

Setting up Procom System

Leading designer of multiaccess data processing system

Professor, director for cooperation with industry, pro-chancellor for science, rector of Wrocëaw Technical University

ELAM—deputy general designer, IKSAiP—chief expert

UMC-1 project manager of Elwro

Power plant functional assumptions

Director of ZETO after staff demand

Project manager multiuser academic access system and inter-university computer network

TEL-EKO—deputy director, SOFTIN—co-founder and CEO

Elwro—technical director

Data acquisition and presentation for power generation units

Deputy governor and governor of Lower Silesia province

Ship data logger –project manager

Several multiuser academic access system projects—project manager

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Project Manager at the Wrocław Technical University Computing Centre. He became the managing director of ZETO in 1981 in response to a request from the ZETO personnel, but was dismissed when martial law was introduced (see Sect. 3.2.3) and became the manager of a small computer and toy company. After 1989, he became the deputy governor and then governor of Lower Silesia province. He was also the president of the Business Centre Club of representatives of small and medium firms. Janisëaw is the founder and President of the Lower Silesian Regional Development Foundation. Wacëaw worked for Wrocław Technical University throughout his career. He started as a research assistant and subsequently was a professor, director for cooperation with industry, pro-chancellor for science and finally rector (vice chancellor). He was the initiator and/or project manager of several research projects, including the Wrocław Technical University case studies for the computerisation of higher education, a multiuser computer system and the inter-university computer network (see Sect. 6.4.3). He is the author or co-author of about 130 publications, including eight books. After graduation, Stanisëaw worked for Elwro as a designer and team leader. He then transferred to the automation firm ELAM as deputy general designer. Subsequent posts included chief expert at the Computer Automation and Measurement Institute (see Sect. 3.9.2) and deputy director of a telecommunications firm. Stanisëaw was also the co-founder and chief executive officer of the computer automation firm SOFTIN and was generally considered a very effective project manager and decisionmaker. Engeniusz was project manager at Elwro for the development of the UMC-1 digital computer (see Sect. 5.2.3) and the ELWAT-1 analogue computer. As Elwro Technical Director, he participated in negotiations with ICL and signed the contract that resulted in the launch of the Odra 1304, 1305 and 1325 computers, which were compatible with the ICL 1900 series computers. After leaving Elwro, Eugeniusz worked at Wrocław Technical University where he managed several multiuser academic computer network projects. He is the co-author of seven books. All of the project managers enjoyed sports, with skiing particularly popular and practised by Jerzy, Janisëaw and Wacëaw. Cycling was also popular and enjoyed by Jerzy and Janisëaw. Other sports engaged in by the group included rowing (Janisëaw), sailing (Wacëaw) football, kayaking and hiking (Stanisëaw). Eugeniusz appreciated travelling and books about nature.

4.2.8 Other Professionals at Elwro and Wrocław Technical University Other Elwro professionals, some of whom also worked at Wrocław Technical University include Ludwik Ignacy Gorski, Zofia Gajek, Jerzy Olechnowicz and Barbara Ma´ckowiak (Table 4.7).

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Table 4.7 Other professionals Ludwik Ignacy Gorski

Zofia Gajek

Jerzy Olechnowicz

Barbara Ma´ckowiak

ship data recording system—co-designer

Computer hardware—control and testing

Ship data recording system—co-led

Head of Elwro Electronic Instruments Department

General-purpose telephone adapters—co-designer

Commissioned ICL peripherals and disks for pilot Odra 1300 computers

Central data Scientific Secretary of recorder co-designer IKSAiP

Co-designer of remote batch-processing station

Commissioning engineer for ICL 7903 transmission units and scanners

Co-designer of industrial data collection terminals

Leading designer for EC 8371.01 teleprocessor

Computer science lecturer

TEL-EKO international cooperation specialist

Leading designer for R-34 computer teleprocessor Lead—Leading designer

Barbara was exiled with her family to Kazakhstan and returned to Poland in May 1946. Zofia, Jerzy and Barbara all obtained engineering MScs from Wrocław Technical University, Zofia and Jerzy in electronic engineering and Barbara in engineering with a specialisation in radio technical transmission. Ludwik obtained an MSc in electronic engineering from the Warsaw Technical University. Barbara obtained a PhD on measurement in electronics firms in 1971 after working for Elwro for 12 years. Ludwik was employed both by Elwro proper and its research and development division in Elwro Wrocław. He was subsequently employed by Telbank Wrocław bank and its successors. Ludwik was a co-designer for a data recording system for ship manoeuvres, general-purpose telephone adapters and an IBM analog remote batch-processing station. He was the leading designer of several data teleprocessors, including one to support the development of the R-34 computer. Zofia joined the Industrial Electronic Institute on graduation and four years later moved to Elwro. She worked on computer hardware control and further development for applications. Among other projects, she commissioned the ICL peripherals and disc units for the pilot Odra 1300 systems. She was the commissioning engineer responsible for launching the transmission units for the ICL 7903 communication processors and data transmission peripherals. Zofia filed three major proposals for improving computer hardware and led several Elwro theoretical and practical training courses. Jerzy worked for Elwro, a few related firms and the Institute of Computer Automation and Measurement Systems in Wrocław. He was involved in the design and commissioning of several projects, including a data recording system for ship manoeuvres and data collection terminals for use in the electrical power and other industries.

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On graduation, Barbara began her professional career in the Wrocław Branch of the Communications Institute based in Warsaw. She joined Elwro as a hardware designer when it was set up in 1959 and three years later was promoted to Head of the Electronic Instruments Department. She moved to the Computer Automation and Measurement Institute in 1973, where she was Head of Forecasting and International Cooperation and the System Centre and finally Scientific Secretary of the Institute. Throughout this time, she continued to work closely with Elwro. After retiring in 1990, she was employed as an international cooperation specialist at TEL-EKO, an Elwro subsidiary, which frequently collaborated with the UK, until 2000. Zofia and Barbara both enjoyed travel and skiing. Barbara was part of the team that won the Wrocław Cup in 1970 and transmitted her passion for skiing to most of her co-workers, who would regularly meet up at winter sports centres at weekends. Ludwick and Jerzy both enjoyed the outdoors and hiking among other hobbies Zofi played volleyball and tennis.

4.2.9 Educators Many of the ICT pioneers were also leading educators. However, the educators discussed in this section had a particularly important role. Their activities are summarised in Table 4.8. Jerzy, who was born in Kiev in the Ukraine in 1915, is often considered the first ICT pioneer. Both he and Franciszek fought in the Second World War. After it ended, Jerzy obtained an MSc in telecommunications engineering from Wrocław Technical University. On graduation in 1948, he started working there as well as studying for a PhD in technical sciences. Zygmunt studied at the Technical University in Warsaw. After a few years as a department head at the Post and Telegraphy Ministry, he organised communications in Lower Silesia. Table 4.8 Educators Jerzy Bromirski

Antoni Kilinki

Zygmunt Szparkowski Franciszek Paëka

Elwro co-founder and Mathematical machine Organised leading hardware educator communications in designer Lower Silesia

Excellent English teacher

Set up Faculty of Computer Science at Wrocław Technical University

Head of Central Construction Office in Dzier˙zoniów

Set up Faculty of Automation and Telecommunications at Wrocław Technical University

Director of Grammar School in Legnica about 60 km from Wrocław

Principal of the Wrocław Technical University

Mathematical Machine Vice principal and Institute Director principal of Wrocław Technical University

Founder and director of Legnica Cantans choir

4.3 Discussion of what Attracted the Pioneers to ICT

89

Zygmunt became a full professor in 1950 and Jerzy in 1972 and subsequently obtained a chair in the Automation Department of the Technical Cybernetics Institute. Zygmunt established the Faculty of Automation and Telecommunications at the Wrocław Technical University and Jerzy the Faculty of Computer Science. Zygmunt was Dean of the Department of Electronics and vice principal and then principal of the Technical University. Unfortunately, as principal he excluded some of the students who participated in the 1968 student protests (see Sect. 3.2.3) and testified against them. Jerzy was very successful in educating and providing further training to computer engineers, including 33 PhD students. Good working conditions, a collegial atmosphere and being available to students and colleagues were important to him. He was nicknamed Boule after the creator of Boolean algebra, which he taught. Jerzy was one of the founders of Elwro in the late 1950s and was nominated to the position of leading hardware designer. However, he was unfortunately pushed out of the firm due to internal politics and envy of his successes. At the end of the Second World War, Franciszek returned to Poland and became the English teacher and director of a Grammar School in Legnica about 60 km from Wrocław. He encouraged a broad-based educational approach which provided a good basis for solving complex ICT problems. He was considered the best English teacher in Poland at the time, and his students were very successful in university entrance exams. He also established and led the school choir Legnica Cantans. Fanciszek died in 1993 at the age of 88. He enjoyed his career in education and his other interests included hiking, literature and film.

4.3 Discussion of what Attracted the Pioneers to ICT Two of the older pioneers were born before 1930, and therefore, only the ENIAC computer was available when they decided to work in this area. Evidence from their students indicates that they were probably motivated by a combination of research curiosity and a belief in the responsibility of researchers to work to improve the situation of people in their country, Poland. They were probably aware of the opportunities presented by computers to do this more effectively and on a larger scale, but not of the potential dangers and negative impacts on society. By the start of the other pioneers’ careers, a number of computers had been developed and awareness of these computers and their potential had an impact on the pioneers’ decisions to enter this area. They were also generally aware of the probable difficulties, but motivated rather than put off by them. For instance, Lesëaw called them crossword puzzles and loved to solve them. Interest in the social aspects of ICT and the particular computers or applications was another important factor. Many of the pioneers were motivated by the desire to apply technology to benefit humanity, either in general or specifically in Poland. ICT seemed to have great potential for positive social impacts, making it particularly attractive to people with technical ability and qualifications who were interested

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in having a positive impact on society. At that time, there was limited awareness of possible negative impacts and the need to choose ICT and applications appropriately in order to avoid this. In addition, the earlier pioneers working soon after the end of the Second World War may have seen military-related work as a way to enhance Poland’s security. They were probably totally unaware of the greater effectiveness of peacebuilding and resolving the problems that cause instability than developing advanced weapons systems in promoting international stability. These problems include climate change; competition over resources, particularly oil and water; growing inequality and marginalisation; global militarism, global poverty, loss of biodiversity and environmental degradation (Abbott et al., 2006; Langley et al., 2005; ORG, 2006). Global pandemics should probably now be added to the list. A further attraction was the good ambience on ICT and related courses with feelings of collegiality and good relationships with supervisors and fellow students. Existing students spread information about this when talking to other (potential) students. The conditions of the time were also very student-friendly. Professors Bromirski and Kili´nski therefore attracted students who were interested in a particular type of working culture and student-friendly atmosphere, which would probably have been attractive to students in most disciplines. This then had a positive impact on ICT and automation workplaces. The western embargoes on computer and other technology and know-how angered many of the pioneers. This acted as a challenge and spur to many of them to develop systems to beat the embargoes and to show the authorities (and computer designers) of the Western countries that they did not need them and could develop their own computers and applications. At the time, leading designers led teams of designers and had the main role in the initial designs. Therefore, subsequent sections will discuss some of the characteristics and prerequisite education and training of good leading designers. However, the authors recognise the value of other approaches, including collective ones with rotating leaders for different activities.

4.4 What Makes a Good Pioneer/Leading Designer? A number of personal, technical and problem-solving abilities are important for good leading designers. However, the characteristics and skills discussed briefly below are one possible set of options rather than a blueprint. Important personal characteristics and skills include the ability to work together with a team and to provide appropriate leadership which encourages the team to work effectively. There are a number of different leadership styles, which may be appropriate in different contexts. In the case of ICT and automation projects, team members need to work creatively and take responsibility for components of the work and this is more compatible with collaborative than authoritarian leadership styles.

4.4 What Makes a Good Pioneer/Leading Designer?

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The leading designer generally has the main role and may be the sole person involved in developing the initial design. They will also frequently have much greater design and development experience than other team members. However, the design and development work in a major or even medium-sized project will generally require a whole team. This makes the sharing of information, including of the initial design, by the leading designer and all team members, and a good working culture particularly important. It also means that leading designers need to be able to both work on their own and with others in order to share their ideas. The team culture needs to be based on honesty, respect for others, ensuring all team members feel valued and that the collective effort is important and will be acknowledged. The culture should encourage the acknowledgement and correction of mistakes rather than cover-ups for fear of blame. The leading designer should set a good example by acknowledging their own mistakes, valuing the work of other team members and providing support to team members to help them correct their mistakes. As an example of this, one of the leading designers lost their temper with a project subgroup head who suggested that flow diagrams were obsolete and they would not use them. They closed the subgroup and moved its members to other subgroups. Fortunately, the leading designer was able to recognise they had made a mistake, reinstated the subgroup and publicly apologised to its head. This also illustrates the importance of respectful treatment of colleagues and ‘subordinates’ and not assuming they can or should be shouted at, bullied and humiliated. Leading designers should be able to set the example of good working practices to ensure that the project is carried out effectively and that the team members do not overwork. They need to avoid creating a culture of overwork which leads to burn out and can have high personal costs, as team members neglect family, friends and outside commitments. They also need to support their team members and try to ensure that they are not bullied or taken advantage of and do not come under pressure to behave unprofessionally or unethically. Leading designers should also encourage team members to support and learn from each other. They should also be able to pass on their skills to their team members, as part of their role of both training them to carry out the project effectively and training the next generation of (leading) designers. This should include the ability to develop and present design and other technical ideas. As part of this leading designers should be able to provide constructive criticism, which encourages rather than undermines people. They should also encourage team members to share their ideas and skills and be ready to learn from them and implement team members’ ideas rather than their own. However, this does not mean that the leading designers should be expected to be saints or have superpowers. Everyone makes mistakes, and this can make apologies important, as indicated above. Where leading designers are working with good project managers, they can leave the division of work and financial oversight to their project managers. Unfortunately, this was not always the case in the Polish pioneering period and leading designers frequently needed to take some responsibility for project management and financial oversight.

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In addition, team members’ job security is important both because this should be seen as a right (though this frequently does not happen in practice) and because job security can prevent people leaving partway through a project due to a permanent or longer-term position becoming available. There are a number of different approaches to dividing project tasks between team members. It is frequently useful for a leading designer to divide projects into tasks of similar complexity and time requirements. They will then need to have the ability to allocate these tasks in ways that challenge and expand the capabilities of their team members without unduly stressing any of them. The work of the team is often more effective if everyone, including the leading designer, obtains the same remuneration. This means that the main motivation of leading designers should not be financial. However, this rarely happens in practice. While appropriate leadership and encouragement are very important, they are not of themselves sufficient. Problem-solving and technical skills are essential. Leading designers need to be excellent at design, be able to solve problems as they occur and, at least to some extent, to foresee potential problems and act proactively to try to prevent them occurring or minimise their impact. Many of these skills can be acquired by appropriate education and training, and this is discussed in the next section. ICT is a fast-developing area, and this means that (leading) designers need to continually update their knowledge and skills so as not to fall behind. Another important area for all team members is ethics, and again leading designers should be taking the lead. In a design and development context, ethical considerations can be divided into professional practice and wider social, environmental and other impacts of projects, e.g. (Hersh, 2014). In the past, including in the Polish pioneering period, the focus has been on professional practice with relatively little attention given to wider issues. This relates both to project choices and how projects are carried out. There is now much greater awareness and concern about issues such as climate change, workers’ rights and impacts on majority world (developing) countries than there was in the past.

4.5 Discussion of the Prerequisite Education and Training As in any new field, initially there were no experts or people with adequate education and training to lead computer and application development projects. Although technical expertise was available, as discussed in the previous section, of itself this was not sufficient to properly prepare and train leading designers. Therefore, there was a need to develop the capacity of people to lead these projects. Useful subjects could be found in electronics and mathematical faculties. Consequently, postgraduates of these faculties were considered for the first appointments as leading designers. However, while the study of mathematics can encourage the development of problemsolving abilities, mathematics postgraduates might lack the practical skills required. Therefore, they may require additional education and training in engineering and/or computer science.

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The vital role of ethics in the education of designers and other technical experts was unfortunately not considered in the Polish pioneering period. However, ethics needs to become an essential component of current training and cover the longand short-term wider applications of engineering and design work in addition to professional ethics. While an appropriate educational background is important, it is not sufficient on its own and it should be supplemented by considerable experience of solving emerging problems. Working with and learning from experienced leading designers is also very valuable. A variety of courses on project management and leadership are now available, as well as master in business administration (MBA), which was not the case throughout the pioneering period. These can be very useful if care is taken to choose a high-quality course with appropriate content. Successful leading designers of computer and application development projects recommend at least 10 years of practical experience after obtaining an MSc or PhD before becoming a leading designer. This is unfortunately confirmed by the high number of project failures at the end of Elwro’s life, when young people with insufficient experience were employed as leading designers. These failures had a significant role in the downfall of Elwro. They also had a negative impact on the young designers. While being able to recover from adversity is a useful ability for everyone, complete failure at the start of their careers due to lack of experience could discourage (talented) young designers from continuing. In summary, leading designers require a range of personal qualities to lead a team, suitable education and practical experience. Appropriate education includes an MSc in electronics, ICT, computer science or a similar area or possibly mathematics, in all cases with good ethics courses throughout. This should generally be followed by at least 10 years of practical experience designing projects. At least, some of this experience should be working with successful leading designers.

4.6 The Role of Pioneers in Educating and Training the Younger Generation As indicated in Sect. 4.5, leading designers, programmers and other pioneers have an important responsibility to pass on their experience and expertise and contribute to educating and training future designers and programmers. However, much of this experience and expertise is in the form of the pioneers’ tacit knowledge, which is difficult to codify and write down. Therefore, this knowledge needs to be passed on directly, both to avoid it being lost and to benefit new designers. Passing on new and skills and helping younger or less experienced colleagues develop design, leadership and other skills can be very satisfying. However, this process of knowledge transfer should not just be one way. ICT is a fast-evolving area, with rapid advances in technology. Effective designers need to keep up with new developments. One of the ways they can do this is through learning

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from younger colleagues who have been recently educated and are therefore more likely to be familiar with up-to-date techniques. This two-way learning can also be beneficial in team building and developing the self-esteem of new designers. In addition, to technological developments there have also been advances in ways of working and team building and the use of technology to support them. This is an area where younger colleagues may often have greater expertise than leading designers. Therefore, group learning involving leading designers and their younger colleagues may be appropriate. It should also be noted that design teams should be both aware of new approaches to group working and the technologies to support them and look for the ways of working that are most appropriate to their particular circumstances. Like other forms of teaching the most appropriate approaches depend on the interests, characteristics and skills of the leading designers and their colleagues. Possible approaches include combinations of the following: • Shadowing the leading designer, who explains all aspects of their work in detail and the reasons for them and encourages questions. • Case study presentations of the features of existing designs, followed by colleagues critiquing them and trying to improve the design. • Preparation of part of the detailed solution under the supervision of the leading designer. As an example, a complex computerisation project for a large combustion power plant will be considered. The majority of the interdisciplinary team, including engineers, technologists, hardware designers and programmers, attended weekly team meetings in which the leading designer developed and presented general solutions. The team members copied the diagrams to learn the complete general solutions designed for the first phase of the project. The more detailed design involved individual designers developing detailed solutions based on sections of the schematic diagrams. This was very successful in both developing the skills of the team members and completing of the first phase of the project. Some of the young designers suggested a new approach for designing and developing some of the programs. The leading designer considered their approach feasible and was happy for them to apply it, as they could learn better how to become competent designers with their own ideas. This increasing independence was also valuable in preparing them for the move from being team members to leaders.

4.7 Women as ICT Pioneers As can be seen from the biographies, women were not well-represented among the ICT pioneers. Discussion with some of these women indicates the prevalence of stereotypical views that women were better at sustaining ongoing work than initiating new workstreams and that they lacked the creativity necessary to be leading designers. Unfortunately, stereotypes of this type are still prevalent. This disadvantages both society as a whole and the women unable to develop their talents. Women who did

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work in ICT did not necessarily work at the more senior levels in engineering teams and may have been more likely to be involved in assembly work, though it should not be implied this is unimportant. Engineering and information technology were considered unsuitable professions for women. This led to less than 30% of female students in the faculties of electronics and mathematics in the numerical methods specialisation. This negative view was unfortunately accepted by some academics and discrimination against female students sometimes resulted. The current situation in many countries is not any better. Engineering is still generally seen as a male profession unsuitable for women and strategies to increase the percentage of women have often been unsuccessful (Powell et al., 2009). The greatest pressures are experienced by ethnic minority and mature women students, including being singled out, ignored or not taken seriously (Hersh, 2000). This lack of involvement of women and consequently reduced diversity has several disadvantages. In particular, successful equality and diversity policies have been found to have positive impacts on organisations (EEOT, 2008) and together with diversity practices and values to generally produce very significant benefits for the organisation (Kirton & Greene, 2005; Monks, 2007). For instance, high achievers prefer to work in organisations with diversity policies, practices and values (Ng & Burke, 2005). In addition, the reduced involvement of women engineers and designers both fails to make use of their creativity and makes it less likely that the resulting products and systems will meet the needs of women in the population. As is frequently still the case, women pioneers had to be better and work harder than their male colleagues from their student days on in order to overcome stereotypes and prejudice to succeed. Women are still likely to experience more barriers to promotion, have to do more for the same degree of recognition and are generally given more routine and less challenging work (Hersh, 2000). This is clearly unjust, as well as highly problematical, since women generally had (and still have) the major role in bringing up children. It is very difficult to combine working a lot harder and longer than colleagues with bringing up children. However, most of the Elwro women had children. Therefore, work–life balance and finding time for themselves were major issues. Women engineers at Elwro and elsewhere generally did not consider the possibility of being managers among their career objectives. There are clearly a number of good reasons for deciding not to go into management. However, in the case of the women pioneers this was generally a negative rather than a positive decision. In addition, while they were interested in having good jobs, they did not focus on career development, again presumably due to their negative expectations (Fig. 4.4).

4.8 Conclusions This chapter has presented brief biographies of some of the Polish pioneers in the development of ICT and automation. The following two chapters will present some of the technologies they and their colleagues developed. Many, but by no means all of

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Fig. 4.4 Women’s match between Elwro (striped t-shirts) and Weltex, 1975 (http://elwrowcy.pl/str ona5.html)

them were educated at Wrocław University or Wrocław Technical University. Since degrees in computer science were not yet available, many of them studied mathematics with various specialisations or engineering of different types. They had a wide range of leisure interests, with sport being particularly popular. Then as now, women were underrepresented. The political rhetoric of the time and current approaches to attract women to engineering and computer science have been unsuccessful, though numbers are slightly greater in mathematics. While this is now more frequently challenged, there has been too little change in the perceptions of engineering as an unsuitable profession for women. Women are still expected to be better than men to achieve the same and still have the main role in child (and adult dependent) care, giving them less time in which to achieve more. Acknowledgements We would like to thank B. Kasierski for providing information in Sect. 4.5 about the recommendation of 10 years of practical experience. We would further like to thank everyone who provided information which was used in the biographical information in Sect. 4.2. We would further like to very gratefully acknowledge the Wrocław Museum of Architecture for allowing us to use the photographs in Figs. 4.1 and 4.2 and Jaroslaw Kutkowski (http://elwrowcy. pl/strona5.html) for Figs. 4.3 and 4.4.

Appendix 4.1: Technical Terms

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Appendix 4.1: Technical Terms Asynchronous network: data only flows in one direction at a time, unlike a synchronous network where data is transmitted and received at the same time. Batch processing: frequently used programs that are run with minimal human interaction. Boolean algebra: based on the binary values 0 and 1 and used to simplify digital logic circuits. Computer terminal: electronic or electromechanical device used to input data to and display or print data from a computer or computing system. Cyclotron: device that accelerates charged atomic or subatomic particles in a magnetic field. Driver: a program that enables a hardware device to communicate with the computer operating system and operates and controls the devices, for instance, sending print requests and data to be printed to be sent to a printer. Firmware: software that provides low-level control for a device’s hardware. Electronic devices other than the simplest generally have firmware. Front-end: a software interface to support user-friendly interaction with a system or a computer system unit which control the data communications link between terminals and the main computer. Memory interleaving: technique for increasing memory speed and making the system more efficient, faster and more reliable by spreading memory addresses across available storage. Microprocessor: a computer processor with the functions of a central processing unit on a single or up to eight integrated circuits. Microprogram: a set of low-level instructions used in microprogramming. Microprogramming: writing low-level code called microcode which defines how a microprocessor should execute machine code instructions. Generally, there are several microcode instructions for each machine code instruction. Multiaccess system: a number of users can access computational and data resources simultaneously through terminal devices. Multiplexer: selects between several input signals and forwards them to a single output line. It is used to increase data transmission. Node: a point of intersection or connection in a network. Printed circuit board (PCB): board used to connect electronic components together to support the design of electronic devices.

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Protocol: standard used to define a set of rules of procedures for exchanging data between computers, including over a network. Tabulating machine: created in 1890 to tabulate US census data. Very large-scale integration (VLSI): creation of integrated circuit (IC) by combining millions of metal oxide silicon (MOS) transistors onto a single chip. An IC is a set of electronic circuits on a small flat piece or chip of semiconductor material.

Appendix 4.2: Software, Hardware, Applications and Organisations ENIAC: electronic numerical integrator and computer, first general-purpose digital computer. Cyclades Network: packet switching network developed in France in 1972 with many of the features of modern computer networks. It introduced new concepts which influenced the development of the Internet. Packet switching is a way of organising data transmitted over a digital network into packets. E6RM executive: used to run large programs on the largest ICL 1900 series and compatible computers, e.g. Odra 1305. George: series of operating systems for the International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), later ICL Series 1900 computers. ICL 7093: communications processor, with ancillary equipment able to control up to about 32 keyboard and 10 card reader/line printer terminals. MOST 1 and MOST 2: autocodes (early computing languages) for early Odra computers. Parrot: software interface between the PDP-11/20 and the IBM/360 and /370 computers modelled on the PDP. Phoenix: data processing system for IBM systems /360 and /370 computers. TAPOL: PCB design system. Teleprocessor: device that uses telecommunication links to exchange data between computers or between a central computer and terminals. UNIX: family of multiuser multitask operating systems. An operating system is a program that manages computer programs, hardware and resources and provides common services for computer programs. Zeto: Zakład Elektronicznej Techniki Obliczeniowej (Electronic Technical Computation Plant.

References

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References Abbott, C., Rogers, P., & Slaboda, J. (2006). Global responses to global threats Sustainable Security for the 21st Century Briefing Paper. www.thebreakingnews.com/files/articles/globalthreats.pdf. Accessed June 26, 2013. Anon. (2020). X.25. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.25. Accessed April 14, 2020. EEOT. (2008). Diversity and equality, a review of the literature. Equal Employment Opportunities Trust. Hersh, M. A. (2000). The changing position of women in engineering worldwide. IEEE Transactions on Engineering Management, 47(3), 345–359. Hersh, M. (2014). Science, technology and values: Promoting ethics and social responsibility. AI & Society, 29(2), 167–183. Kirton, G., & Greene, A. (2005). The dynamics of managing diversity. A critical approach (2nd edn.). Elsevier. Langley, C., Parkinson, S., & Webber, P. (2005). Soldiers in the laboratory military involvement in science and technology—And some alternatives. Scientists for Global Responsibility. Monks, K. (2007). The business impact of equality and diversity. The international evidence. The Equality Authority, Dublin. Ng, E. S. W., & Burke, R. J. (2005). Person-organisation fit and the war for talent: Does diversity management make a difference? International Journal of Human Resource Management, 16(7), 1195–1210. ORG. (2006). Global responses to global threats. Oxford Research Group. Powell, A., Bagilhole, B., & Dainty, A. (2009). How women engineers do and undo gender: Consequences for gender equality. Gender, Work & Organization, 16(4), 411–428.

Part III

Computers, ICT and Applications Projects

Chapter 5

A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry

5.1 Introduction Information and communications technologies (ICT) have become an integral part of modern society. This has had both benefits and disadvantages, including the digital divide between those who do and do not have access to ICT (Livingstone & Helsper, 2007; van Dijk, 2006). ICT technologies have also been changing the nature of society and in particular the ways in which people interact with each other (Licoppe and Smoredda, 2005). Since the introduction of ICT, memory, speed and computing power have been increasing and device size has been decreasing. The original large main frame computers were gradually replaced by desktop or under desk computers (PCs). They were followed by laptops and then by smaller and more mobile devices, including tablets, PDAs, smart phones and wearable devices with greater computing power than the original mainframes. Mobile devices are increasingly popular and, for instance, the market in games for mobile devices is overtaking that for games on consoles and PCs (Kharpal, 2016). However, the different devices have overlapping functionality and slightly different contexts of use rather than mobile and wearable devices having largely replaced PCs. Mechanical calculating devices have a very long history. The abacus was first developed by the Egyptians in the tenth century BCE and refined by Chinese teachers in the twelfth century CE. The first mechanical computer was developed by Charles Babbage in 1833. The Electronic Numerical Integrator And Computer (ENIAC), developed by J. P. Eckert and J. W. Mauchy in 1946, is considered to be the first successful electronic computer. It was a very large device, weighing 30 tonnes, with very limited memory and a modular structure. Its versatility was due to its ability to branch or trigger different operations based on the sign of a computed result (Anon, 2009). Developments and technological improvements continued to take place. Thus, by the time that computer development started in Poland in 1950, several computers and an embryonic computer industry had already been developed elsewhere. Over time, © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_5

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the technology matured, the available options increased and the industry developed. An upsurge in popularity and increase in use of computing devices, both PCs and mobile devices, occurred in about 1985. This was a result of the activities of the Polish Informatics Society over a period of several years. Developing a local ICT or computer industry has considerable benefits. However, many countries are not in a position to do this. In addition, there are advantages to drawing on external expertise and experience to support this development. However, the embargoes by the western countries (see Sect. 3.2.3) prevented this. Fortunately, Poland was successful in developing its own computers. Otherwise, development would have stagnated. Thus, somewhat paradoxically, the embargoes had an unintentionally beneficial effect in stimulating the computer industry in Poland. A firm called Elwro was set up in Wrocław in Lower Silesia and became the first Polish manufacturer of computers. It was very successful and led to Wrocław becoming the ICT Capital of Poland. A brief history of the industrial development of Wrocław and an overview of the factors which contributed to its success as the ICT capital of Poland are presented in Chap. 3. After 1989, the embargoes were withdrawn, and Poland was able to finally start importing computers and computer software. It was also opened up to trade and competition from outside companies. As discussed in Sect. 3.8, due to various factors, including a lack of government support, Elwro experienced difficulties in competing with these companies and was sold off. Consequently, Wrocław lost its place as the ICT capital of Poland and Poland lost much of its ICT industry. This chapter will discuss some of the ICT and applications development projects in Poland, with a particular focus on Elwro and Wrocław. This discussion has several main aims. It will present a little known, but important part of the history of technology and provide insight into the reasons for the particular pattern of development of the different technologies. It will also provide a background for the presentation of case studies of ethical and behaviour issues associated with the development of some of these technologies in Chap. 7. Acknowledgements to the many people, including early Polish leading designers and programmers, who provided information are given before the references. This section also provides details of the information they provided. Appendices 5.1–5.4 provide a glossary of technical terms, a list of Polish abbreviations, a list of Elwro computers and brief explanations of other computers and software referred to in the text, respectively. To date, there have been five main generations of computers. The classification is based on a major technological advance which transformed the way computers operate. The first generation (1959–1965) used vacuum tubes (electronic valves) and the second-generation (1959–1965) transistors. The third generation (1965–1971) used integrated circuits, and the fourth generation (1971–1980) used microprocessors The fifth generation (1980 onwards) is based on ultralarge-scale integration (ULSI) technology with many millions of components on one microprocessor chip. Modern computers are of this type (Anon, undated), though they suggestion they use artificial intelligence has only been realised to a very limited extent. Since computer development started later in Poland, the different generations were introduced and

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continued in use until later than the dates above imply. The Elwro computers were first to third generation and the SKOK computer based on one of the later Elwro computers fourth generation. They were also all mainframe computers. The term was originally used for the large cabinets that housed the central processing unit and main memory of early computers. The term is now used for very stable and reliable computers used in organisations to distinguish them from the personal computers used by individuals. They are particularly used for applications where reliability is crucial, and lack of availability could be costly or catastrophic (Anon, 2020a). The most important stages of computer development in Elwro are shown in Table 5.1. The structure of this chapter is largely based on this table. Sections 5.2–5.7 discuss the six stages of Elwro computer development, A glossary of technical terms is provided in Appendix 5.1 and of Polish abbreviations in Appendix 5.2. Acknowledgements to the many people, including early Polish leading designers and programmers, who provided information and details of the information they provided are given before the references.

5.2 Early Computers 5.2.1 Mathematical Machine: Elwro Student Project The pioneering context of ICT development in Poland provided a range of opportunities, including for students. For instance, while studying for an M.Sc and also employed at Elwro, Alicja Kuberska was involved in designing the logical structure for a small ‘mathematical’ machine, as computers were called at that time, to meet specified design criteria. This was the state-of-the-art type of computer being developed in the richer countries. However, there was no experience of this type of development in Poland and the embargoes prevented her from drawing on outside expertise. The design criteria were chosen to reduce hardware and storage requirements. This resulted in sequential operation with instructions following each other and a single address per machine word. Hardware requirements were reduced by serial processing executed bit by bit and the use of twos complement to enable operations on positive and negative numbers with the same hardware. Other requirements were a 16-bit word length divided into a sign bit and 15 bits for the absolute value of the number. This gave a number range of ±1 to ±2–15 . As an early computer, it was only expected to carry out fixed-point operations with floating-point ones requiring special programs. Instructions were limited to addition and subtraction, basic logical operations, transferring to and from the accumulator without an address location, a shift to the left or right to multiply or divide by two and input and output instructions. The design was based on the schematic diagram in Fig. 5.1 with design criteria chosen to reduce hardware and storage requirements. Although it was not implemented, the design was very successful and had a significant impact on design education. Since there were no textbooks at the time on computer (mathematical

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Table 5.1 Important features of computer development at each Elwro development stage Development stage

Computer development conditions

Computers produced

Pre-Elwro

Very strict embargoes on computers and electronic components led to development of the first the first-generation (vacuum tube technology) industrial computer

UMC-1 See Table 5.2

Initial Odra

A slight relaxation of the embargoes Odra 1003 enabled the design and development Odra 1013 of second-generation serial computers See Table 5.3 with drum disc main memory (Odra 1003) and a core memory sector able to considerably accelerate computer operation (Odra 1013)

Tabulating machine applications

A further relaxation of the embargoes Odra 1103 made available ferrite cores and See Table 5.4 transistors and enabled the designers to design and launch a general-purpose second-generation (transistor technology) computer with the main memory fully realised on ferrite cores

End of Elwro pioneering era

Further embargo relaxation released Odra 1204 ferrite cores and silicon transistors and See Table 5.5 enabled the design and launch of a modern by global standards of the time computer: interrupt driven, second generation, parallel, for numerical calculations and industrial control applications

Odra series 1300 (very rich software)

The relaxation of computer embargoes enabled the design and development of a series of Elwro computers compatible with the ICL series 1900 and able to use its very rich software. This considerably increased the available computer applications

Riad computers

Links with IBM and access to design Riad-32, Riad-34 specifications which enabled the See Table 5.7 development of IBM System /360 and System /370 analog computers

Odra 1304 Odra 1305 Odra 1325 SKOK See Table 5.6

machine) design, it became the basis of teaching on mathematical machine and computer hardware design at Wrocław Technical University. Part of Alicja’s success was due to the involvement and support of her supervisor Thanasis Kamburelis, one of the early pioneers and an excellent computer leading designer. This illustrates the importance and value of mentoring and support from more experienced colleagues in the education of designers and other technology professionals.

UMC-1

2

Digital, serial

Analog

Software

Logical structure of mathematical machine (computer)

ELWAT-1

Type

Name

1

Computer No.

Table 5.2 Early computers launched successfully Production volume

Microprogrammed, first-generation, vacuum tube technology. Drum working memory: 4096 38-bit words

25

Destined to solve 50 differential equations and for simulation. Maximum computational error: 10%

Software for early computer

Main characteristics

1966–1967

1967–1969

Prototype

Production years

Hungary

Exported to

Section 5.2.3

Section 5.2.2

Section 5.2.1

Section No.

5.2 Early Computers 107

Name

Odra 1003

Odra 1013

Computer No.

3

4

Digital, serial

Digital, serial

Type

Table 5.3 The early Odra computers Production volume

Transistor technology, second-generation computer, ferrite core working memory: 256 39-bit words, drum memory: 8192 39-bit words

84

Germanium transistor 42 technology, second-generation computer, drum working memory: 8192 39-bit words

Main characteristics

1966–1967

1963–1965

Production years

53 Odra 1013s were exported to COMECON countries

Export

Section 5.3.2

Section 5.3.1

Section No.

108 5 A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry

5.2 Early Computers

109

IN / OUT

CONSOLE

ARITHMETICAND LOGIC UNIT

DRUM MEMORY

CONTROL

LEGEND:

SERIAL TRANSFER PARALLEL TRANSFER

Fig. 5.1 Schematic diagram of ‘mathematical machine’ developed in student project (Alicja Kuberska)

5.2.2 Analog Computers, ELWAT-1 Analog computers predate digital ones. The earliest Polish analog computer, ARAL, was launched in 1954 (Anon, 2016a). Elwro designed and developed an analog computer, ELWAT-1, in cooperation with the Military Technical Academy in Warsaw. Fifty computers (a reasonable number for the time) were produced from 1967 to 1969 when interest in analog computers waned due to the better performance of the new digital ones, particularly Odra 1204.

5.2.3 UMC-1 Computer UMC-1 was Elwro’s first serially produced computer (Anon, 2015a, 2015b). Serial production is a type of large-scale production involving batches of products. Development of the UMC-1 drew on the experiences obtained with the earlier BMC digital machine, designed and developed in the Telecommunication and Radiophone Structures Department of the Warsaw Technical University and then sent to Vietnam to be manufactured. Thus, COMECON countries, like the west, exploited cheap labour in the majority world (developing) countries. UMC-1 was a microprogram-based serial computer built with electronic valves, as the embargoes prevented access to good quality transistors. The microprogram realisation and serial organisation made the design and development of the computer using the available electronic valve (vacuum tube) technology feasible, as it significantly reduced hardware requirements. The device was very slow, even in terms of

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what was feasible at the time, only capable of 100 additions per second. It had a small drum memory (4096 words of 36-byte length each) with mean access time of 10 ms. The peripherals included a teletype with a paper tape reader and punch. Its most important feature was the successful realisation using electronic valve technology and three-valued logic. It was one of the first computers using this logic. Other computing devices based on three-valued logic only started appearing several years later, but computers were not developed due to the complicated and difficult hardware realisation. Despite the considerable skill and ingenuity applied to overcome the various challenges in its development, the UMC-1 had the significant disadvantage of using vacuum tubes which were already obsolete at the time. It has been suggested that three-valued logic has advantages, as three is the closest integer to the base e (2.71828) of natural logarithms and exponentials, which have many applications. The UMC-1 proved the feasibility of three-valued logic computers. However, this logic has now been replaced by binary (on–off or two-valued) logic. The lack of documentation means that the schematic diagram of the UMC-1 in Fig. 5.2 is provided without explanation.

sterowanie = control, odczyt ścieżki adresowej = reading the addresses Fig. 5.2 Schematic diagram of UMC-1 hardware (Bogdan Kasierski)

5.3 Early Odra Computers

111

Design and development were completed, and UMC-1 was the first Elwro computer launched into series production. It was successfully used in several applications, including in the areas of hydrology, metrology and water management and the study of the use of stochastic time series in the analysis of sedimentation. It was also used in the training of highly educated staff able to contribute effectively to the future design, development and use of computers in Poland. Internal politics prevented the further development of the UMC-1 under the pretext that it was based on outdated vacuum tube technology. A few dozen versions of a slightly later development, the UMC-10, were manufactured by the Warsaw University of technology, though it lacked the capability or facilities for computer production, particularly above very small scale.

5.3 Early Odra Computers The Odra computers, named after the Odra, the main river running through Wrocław, were Elwro’s most significant achievement. The two initial attempts, Odra 1001 and 1002, were unsuccessful. However, Elwro learnt from this experience and the successful launch of the Odra 1003 and 1013 followed. The Odra 1003 and many of the subsequent Elwro computers were based on the von Neumann architecture, the earliest computer architecture which was developed by the mathematician and physicist John von Neuman, John Mauchly and John Eckert in 1945. It has five main components (Anon, 2015a; Von Neumann, 1945): (1) a processing unit containing an arithmetic logic unit and processor registers; (2) a control unit containing an instruction register and program counter; (3) a memory for storing data and instructions; (4) external mass storage; and (5) input and output units which interface with the operator. This resulted in a stored program digital computer, as both program instructions and data are stored in readwrite, random-access memory (RAM) (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Random-acc ess_memory). This was a significant advance over program-controlled computers, such as the ENIAC, which were programmed by setting switches and inserted patch cables to send data and control signals. Thus, the Odra 1003 and subsequent computers were part of an advance in technology involving a move away from hardware to software implementation. The term von Neumann architecture machine is now used for all stored program computers (Anon, 2023) with a common bus for fetching instructions and data operation. This prevents them taking place simultaneously and this can limit performance. The more complex Harvard architecture machine has separate address and data buses for the two operations. In modern computers, this distinction is generally applied to the cache architecture rather than the main memory.

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By this time, the embargo on electronic components had been relaxed to some extent. This enabled the use of transistor technology to design and develop secondgeneration (based on transistors) serial computers. However, the continuing component shortages required particular ingenuity from the Odra 1003 designers and prevented component overspecialisation which was subsequently a problem in computer design in several western countries.

5.3.1 Odra 1003 Computer The Odra 1003 was the second computer to be successfully launched by Elwro and implemented in a number of firms. The use of transistors rather than electronic valves, as in UMC-1, considerably improved its reliability and significantly reduced its power requirements and size. A simplified diagram of the Odra 1003 is presented in Fig. 5.3 and the Odra 1003 is shown in Fig. 5.4. It had a drum and three peripherals. The drum contained the main or working memory, the control unit, the arithmetic and logic unit (ALU) and the control panel. The three peripherals were the teletype, the tape punch and the tape reader. The ferrite core memories used in the west were replaced by magnetic drums which could be

ODRA 1003 Control Panel Teletype 10 char/s

Arithmetic and Logic Unit

Tape Punch Tape Reader

Control Unit

Main Memory (9192x39b)

Fig. 5.3 Schematic diagram of the Odra 1003 computer (Piotr Kremienowski and Fabian Klejn)

5.3 Early Odra Computers

113

Fig. 5.4 Odra 1003 (Tadeusz Broniewski and Stefan Arczynski)

produced by Elwro using specially devised techniques. For instance, ferrite powder was obtained by dissolving magnetic tapes in acetone and drying the results. As in contemporary computers, the operation of the Odra 1003 central processing unit (CPU) was governed by control signals produced by the control unit. The ALU carried out arithmetical and logical instructions and the operator used the control panel to interact with the computer, including to load and operate programs. This panel had a set of pushbuttons for giving the computer commands and indicator lights to indicate the computer operations and status. To facilitate operations, the information processed by the computer was organised into groups of 39 bits. This allowed each instruction word to include the addresses of the current and next program instructions. Odra 1003 was a serial computer with operations carried out one bit of the computer word at a time. This significantly reduced computer hardware requirements compared to parallel operation. Therefore, serial operation was more appropriate in Poland where component availability was limited, and components were expensive. The downside was reduced speed, as the more complex hardware of parallel computers made them much faster, as they were able to execute operations on complete words in parallel. The Odra 1003 had two main programs which together could be considered the equivalent of a small operating system. The first program replaced the labour, time and component-intensive manual operation using pushbuttons and indicator lights on the control panel. The second loaded and ran programs, as shown in Fig. 5.5. The loading and execution program was first loaded and then converted to binary from binary coded decimal, based on ten digits and therefore more easily comprehensible

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BCD = binary coded decimal ENTRY

1

LOAD MAIN PROGRAM

OPERATOR ACTION1

BCD TO BINARY CONVERSION

OBEY NEXT INSTRUCTION

RUN THE BASIC PROGRAM

N

Y

READ PT AND LOAD INTO MEMORY

END OF PROGRAM

STOP OR ERROR

OPERATOR ACTION2

N

Y

END OF PROGRAM? Y

MACHINE STOP EXIT 1

PT = paper tape Fig. 5.5 Odra 1003 program loading and execution (Fabian Klejn)

N

5.3 Early Odra Computers

115

by human operators. Then the second program was read and subsequently read the paper tape and loaded the user program into memory. An operator command was required to continue execution. When it was received, the first iteration and subsequent instructions were carried out. The program ended when the program end (stop code 0) was reached, or execution errors were encountered. The use of computer instructions located sequentially on the surface of the working memory drum could lead to high program execution times due to the need to wait for the drum to revolve so that the next instruction could be located. This problem was resolved by designing Odra 1003 as a two-address computer. This reduced operation and execution times by allowing the next operation to be located at a selected location on the drum. This is known as memory interleaving. The programmers knew the drum speed and could locate their instruction and data words. However, the resulting process was quite complex. It was simplified by the development of an algorithm for computer-assisted location of programs on the drum to optimise program execution. However, this was first implemented on the Odra 1013 and not on the Odra 1003. The Odra 1003 designers were able to solve the problems resulting from component shortages, and it was launched for serial production in 1963. Several dozen computers (a reasonable number for the time) were manufactured and sold in Poland and abroad. The successful launch of the Odra 1003 marked the de facto establishment of Wrocław as the ICT capital of Poland.

5.3.2 Odra 1013 Computer The Odra 1003 was a great success for Elwro. It proved to be a reliable computer with user-friendly programming based on the MOST autocode (see Sect. 6.2.2) despite the very limited availability of electronic components, including ferrite cores for computer memories. Improved component availability and increased expertise provided the context for the development of the next Elwro computer, the Odra 1013. Elwro was able to access a small number of ferrite cores, and some of the Elwro engineers had gained experience in producing small ferrite memories for computers. In addition, Elwro and some of its clients had developed an Odra 1003 software library. The Odra 1013 was designed to be much faster than Odra 1003, but downwardly compatible with it, so that Odra 1003 programs could be used with minor modifications. A schematic diagram of its hardware is shown in Fig. 5.6. The only difference from that of the Odra 1003 is the replacement of a block of drum memory by an equivalent block of graphite core memory. Its programs could be segmented into blocks of up to 256 words and moved to the core memory when needed. However, it was rarely necessary to move program sections, and the instructions were executed almost as fast as if the complete program had been located in the core. The Odra 1013 was recognised as the fastest computer produced in the COMECON countries at the time. Its speed was increased by maximising the use of the ferrite core and only using blocks in the drum memory when the core capacity was exceeded. In this

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Control Panel

Teletype 10 char/s

Tape Punch

Arithmetic and Logic Unit

Control Unit

Tape Reader

OR

Core Memory (256x39 b)

Drum Memory (9192x39 bit)

Fig. 5.6 Schematic diagram of the Odra 1013 computer (Adam Urbanek)

case, it downloaded a whole block rather than individual instructions. The software was optimised to enable the best use of the core memory. In particular, the software which had replaced manual operation and the MOST autocode were upgraded to optimise program segmentation and memory block moves and enable users to run both old and new programs relatively fast. It was successfully implemented in both universities and general-purpose computing centres and exported to Czechoslovakia and Hungary.

5.4 Computers to Work with Tabulating Machine Many computing centres in Poland and several other countries were equipped with tabulating machines. They were electromagnetic machines designed to assist in summarising information and later in accounting (Anon, 2015a). They were invented by Herman Hollerith in 1890 to help process data for the 1890 USA Census and were later widely used in many different countries. There were two basic machine types: (1) the tabulator which carried out basic information processing functions (summarising and accounting) and (2) the reproducer which copied full or partial data from punched card decks (the data medium used by the tabulating machines) onto other card decks.

5.4 Computers to Work with Tabulating Machine

117

The development of electronic computers made it possible to enhance and speed up operation in computing centres and gave rise to a demand for computers which were compatible with tabulating machines. To meet this demand, Elwro decided to design and develop a general-purpose computer with hardware and software solutions able to meet the needs of tabulating machines. This computer had several detailed modifications to meet the needs of tabulating machine applications, as shown in Fig. 5.7. A really fast CPU was needed, as tabulating machines could generate much more intensive data traffic than standard data processing computers. Therefore, the working memory had to be realised exclusively with ferrite cores. Intensive data traffic made suspension of CPU operation during data transfer unacceptable, as this significantly decreased computer performance. Magnetic drums were used for the first time in Elwro computers to provide external memory to support the intensive data traffic.

Fig. 5.7 Schematic diagram of the Odra 1103 computer (Piotr Kociatkiewicz and Adam Urbanek)

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5.4.1 Odra 1103 Computer The Odra 1103 (see Fig. 5.8) was the main Elwro computer developed for tabulating machine applications. However, it was designed and developed as a general-purpose computer. Its characteristics were typical of modern second-generation (transistorbased) computers of the time. The main working memory consisted of ferrite cores. Additional working memory was provided by the external memory magnetic drum. The transmission between peripherals and the CPU was realised with concurrency rather than stopping processor operation. This significantly increased the computer speed. Its main features are presented in Table 5.4.

Fig. 5.8 Odra 1103 (Piotr Kociatkiewicz)

Table 5.4 Odra 1103 computer Computer Name Type No. 5

Odra 1103

Main characteristics

Production Production Exported to volume years

Digital, Transistor technology, 64 specialised second-generation calculator computer, ferrite core working memory: 1024 16-bit words, drum memory: 32,768 16-bit words

1967–1969 Czechoslovakia

5.5 End of Elwro Pioneering Era

119

The computer was organised serially, and its instruction set included operations on four-bit characters. This simplified the development of programs for the punched card data medium used in tabulating machines. One hole could be punched in any of the 10 rows of 80 columns on each card. Tabulating machines both reduced programming effort and could run data processing programs faster than computers operating on full words only. This made the Odra 1103 computer particularly attractive to users working with tabulating machines. Its 80-bit INPUT and OUPUT registers enabled data buffering during transmission. This used asynchronous input/output and interrupt signals in card reading and writing operations when individual data items were transmitted to or from tabulating machines. It eliminated the loss of time associated with stopping the program to allow data to be read, which occurred in older computers. This enabled the program to execute other data processing activities while ‘waiting’. The end of a card reading or writing instruction was signalled by an interrupt signal that interrupted other processing and enabled the suspended program to continue operation. The concurrency and interrupt are currently applied in general-purpose computers, and the Odra 1103 was the first Elwro product to use it. Another Elwro novelty was full realisation of the working memory with ferrite core technology. This was possible due to improvements in ferrite core availability over time and Elwro engineers’ developing the ability to produce reliable ferrite core memories which could be used in state-of-the-art devices. They had sufficient random-access memory (RAM) for the majority of data processing operations in a tabulating machine environment. However, an external drum memory was provided for programs or data which required a larger working memory. The character length enabled easy operation on the four-bit data words processed by tabulating machines. The Odra 1103 was the first Elwro computer to have this combination of a complete ferrite core working memory and an external drum memory. Several programs were developed to meet the software needs of users working with tabulating machines. This included two assemblers to convert source programs into machine code, with a one-to-one relationship between the source and target program instructions, and a library of programs and procedures to facilitate the development of software for tabulating machines. The Odra 1103 was a relatively high-performance computer by the standards of the time. It was successfully implemented in various computing centres in Poland and Czechoslovakia, particularly between 1967 and 1969. Its relatively high performance unfortunately made it of interest to the military for their tabulating machine centres.

5.5 End of Elwro Pioneering Era 5.5.1 Odra 1204 Computer The main functions of the Odra 1204 are presented in Tables 5.5 and 5.6.

Name

Odra 1204

Computer No.

6

Table 5.5 Odra 1204 computer

Digital, parallel, microprogrammed

Type Silicon transistor technology, second-generation computer, interrupt driven, microprogrammed, ferrite core working memory: up to 64 K 24-bit words, 4 or more drums of 16K 24-bit words each, magnetic tapes, line printer, VDU with light pen

Main characteristics 179

Production volume 1967–1972

Production years

114 Odra 1204s were exported to COMECON countries

Exported to

120 5 A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry

Name

Odra 1304

Odra 1305

Odra 1325

Computer No.

7

8

9

IC technology third generation

IC technology third generation

Discrete component technology second generation

Type

Table 5.6 Odra 1300 series computers

Business and numerical processing. Remote processing possible. Microprogrammed Industrial process control possible

Business and numerical processing. Remote processing possible. Microprogrammed

Business and numerical processing. Remote processing possible Micoprogrammed

Main characteristics

151

432

90

Production volume

1973–1979

1973–1986

1969–1973

Production years

24

48

17

Number exported

Section 5.6.3

Section 5.6.2

Section 5.6.1

Section No.

5.5 End of Elwro Pioneering Era 121

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The relaxation of the embargoes due to pressure from large suppliers of electronic components wanting to expand their markets and a relaxation of the cold war after the 1956 Russian Communist Party convention produced the context which enabled development of the Odra 1204. Availability of western electronic components, a few computers and ICT knowledge increased, but the best computers were still excluded. A positive factor was the wide experience of the Elwro staff gained over a period. The resulting Odra 1204 computer was reliable by the standards of the time and continued to operate correctly for up to 20 years, considerably longer than many modern computers. The Odra 1204 (See Fig. 5.9 for Odra1204 hardware) used discrete silicon transistor technology, as silicon integrated circuits were not yet available in Poland. However, it was able to use standardised printed circuit boards (PCBs) and ferrite core memories, due to the partial embargo relaxation, though they were slower than those available in the west, with a memory cycle of six rather than one microsecond. Its CPU had a microprogram memory and hardware able to execute microinstructions to produce a computer instruction set. This approach significantly reduced the hardware needed to realise the control units compared to earlier Elwro computers. The fast cache memory included microinstructions which contributed to creating the computer instruction list. The microprogram memory was based on transformer devices to maintain high speed and reliability. The use of microprogramming was a key factor in the Odra 1204’s success. It significantly simplified the logic of the Odra 1204 and made it easier to build and boot (start) and reduced its price compared to a full hardware realisation of the CPU. The Odra 1204 CPU had Datum (first) and Limit (last) registers, which enabled it to locate user programs in specified memory areas and execute them without Fig. 5.9 Odra 1204 hardware (Adam Urbanek and Ryszard Fudala)

Printer Magnetic tapes Keyboard

Transmission channels

CPU Industrial interface Plant under control

Key CPU - central processing unit

5.5 End of Elwro Pioneering Era

123

affecting other programs in the computer memory. This feature together with program interrupts facilitated running several programs in parallel at the same time, thereby increasing the speed of operations. The Odra 1204 had a wider range of peripherals (see Fig. 5.10) than both earlier Elwro computers and other computers developed at the same time. This enabled it to be used in numerical data processing and industrial control applications. All the peripherals were connected via computer channels or paths between two computers or devices which enabled the use of asynchronous concurrency and interrupts. This allowed the CPU and peripherals to be operated in parallel, thereby increasing the overall processing speed. Its peripherals included a paper tape reader and punch, a line printer, a magnetic drum memory which could be connected to the magnetic drum control unit and magnetic tapes which could be connected via the magnetic tape control unit. The industrial control peripherals could be connected to the CPU using any of its channels. They communicated with the CPU and used seven interrupt request

64K

OC

ODRA 1204 CPU

TR

TP

LP

DMCU

MTCU VDU

Control

MT DRUM

DRUM MT

DRUM

DRUM

MT MT MT MT

Key: TR - tape reader, LP - line printer DMCU - drum control unit MT - magnetic tape

TP - tape punch OC - Operator console MTCU - magnetic tape control unit VDU - visual display unit

Fig. 5.10 Odra 1204 and some of its peripherals (Adam Urbanek)

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signals to inform the computer of important events in the plant under control. The CPU received and identified individual interrupt requests, and the required program action could be initiated. The Odra 1204 interrupt identification process required fewer program instructions to determine the reason for the interrupt request than the popular Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-11 minicomputers (Anon, 2015b). This could be particularly important in time consuming applications. Users could buy an inexpensive Odra 1204 and increase its functionality using computer logic packets available from Elwro. Another interesting option designed and developed by Russian engineers and programmers was a visual display unit (VDU) with a light pen which provided an easy way to input data to the computer. The steel mill production control system presented in Sect. 6.4.1 provides an example of the Odra 1204’s capacity to support the development of industrial control systems. Despite its relative complexity even by modern standards, the Odra 1204 was developed by only two designers. Elwro manufactured 179 Odra 1204 computers between 1967 and 1972, with 114 exported to the COMECOM countries. In summary, the Odra 1204 was a successful computer aimed at numerical data processing and industrial control. Its performance was comparable with other computers of the time and some features, such as the interrupt system and Algol 1204 (see Sect. 6.2.4) were in advance of the solutions implemented in its western counterparts. It marked the end of Elwro’s pioneering era and the start of the normal industrial production of computers. Towards the end of its manufacturing period, silicon integrated circuits became available in Poland and several ICT experts suggested that the Odra 1204 should be improved and implemented using integrated circuits, but this suggestion was not taken up.

5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers The Odra 1204 demonstrated Elwro’s ability to design and develop top quality computer hardware. However, users required software to support a wide range of applications and provide fast and simple solutions to real technical, business and scientific problems and the Odra 1204 was lacking in this area. Therefore, Elwro decided to obtain a licence to manufacture computers with rich software and approached the UK firm International Computer Limited (ICL) which manufactured the 1900 computer Series (Anon, 2016a). The ICL 1900 Series included several mainframes of different sizes, including the 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904 and 1906 computers (Series A, S and T). They used several operating systems including executive, GEORGE and Minimop/Maximop and generally had the PLAN assembly language and the ALGOL 60, COBOL and FORTRAN 66 programming languages installed. Optional additional software included compilers for Pascal, Fortran 77 and BCPL; the early Algol 68 implementation for the ICL 1900 Series, Algol 68R, the assembly language PLASYD (IBM, 2018), the list-processing language POP-2 and the report generation language NICOL.

5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers

125

These programs were attractive to Elwro and their potential customers. The inclusion of several applications packages, including data management and report generation systems, the 1900 Series data analysis package FIND, the multiterminal data entry and enquiry packages DATADRIVE and DATAVIEW and the flexible tool Filetabb for generating reports from decision tables, increased the attraction. Business and control specific software included the 1900 Series production control system NIMMS and stock control and analysis system SCAN, the financial planning system PROSPER, the payroll program COMPAY and the project evaluation and review system PERT. Following the end of the cold war and the increased trade between the ‘eastern’ and ‘western’ blocs, Elwro was able to purchase a licence for the 1900 Series computers and software from ICL, which duly delivered the complete set of technical documentation to Elwro, including detailed hardware logic diagrams. However, ICL’s diligence had the downside of providing Elwro with a very large number of complex logic diagrams. (Anon, 2016b). This apparently intractable problem was resolved by recognising that the Odra 1304 and ICL 1904 only needed to have identical instruction sets and did not also require identical logical structures. The Odra 1304 could use microprogramming techniques to enable it to run ICL 1900 Series software. The Odra 1304 was transistor-based, so still second-generation, whereas the Odra 1305 and 1325 were integrated circuit (IC)-based and therefore third-generation computers. They all mapped the ICL 1900 Series computer logic structures in their instruction lists and applications software. The Odra 1300 computer family was very successful, and more than 600 computers were manufactured between 1970 and 1973. This was a large number for the time and these early developments contributed to the development and proliferation of modern ICT. The Odra 1300 Series of computers enabled the development of Polish data processing applications for industry and business and process control applications, particularly in the power industry.

5.6.1 Odra 1304 Computer The Odra 1304 used the same electronic components and mechanical technology for producing printed circuit boards that had been successfully applied in the Odra 1204. However, differences in the logic design of the two computers led to differences in their printed circuit board design. The use of Odra 1204 technology speeded up the development of the initial Odra 1304 computers and enabled them to pass the detailed ICL 1900 Series computer tests. See Fig. 5.11 for the Odra 1304 hardware. The Odra 1304 CPU had both core working memory of 32, 64 or 128 KWords capacity and microprogram memory (512 words of 44 bits) of the transformer type. Character, multiplexer and autonomous channels could be used to connect a variety of computer peripherals to CPUs. The operator keyboard was connected directly. The character channel transmitted one symbol at a time. It was used to connect paper tape readers, paper tape punches, card readers, line printers and visual display units (via

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32/64K ODRA 1304 CPU AC

MPXC

OC

ChC PTR

DISC CU

MT CU

PTP

DRUM CU

CR MT DISK1

DRUM

LP

MT DISK2

MT

VDU CU

DRUM

VDU MT

MPX

DISK3 DRUM DISK4 8M

VDU

DRUM

64K MOSAIC PRINTER & KBRD

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

MOSAIC PRINTER & KBRD

Key LP - line printer KBRD - keyboard PTR - printer OC - Operator Console AC - autonomous channel MPX - multiplexor ChC - character channel DMCU - drum control unit Fig. 5.11 Odra 1304 hardware (Adam Urbanek)

MOSAIC PRINTER

MOSAIC PRINTER

MT - magnetic tape M - m emory (megabytes) PTP - punch CR - card reader CU - control unit MPXC - multiplexor channel VDU - visual display unit MTCU - magnetic tape control unit

5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers

127

the VDU Cluster Control Unit). The multiplexer and multiplexer channel were used to connect remote peripherals such as mosaic printers with or without keyboards to the CPU. The autonomous channel was used for high-speed peripherals, including discs, magnetic tape and drums. It consumed one memory cycle per four 6-bit characters to be read into or written from the CPU memory. Since the Odra 1304 was compatible with the ICL 1904 series computers, it could use the ICL 1904 software and there was no need for new software to be developed. However, the software was modified to take account of the differences between the Odra 1304 and the IBL machines. In addition, the ICL documentation was translated into Polish by expert translators with expertise in ICT, taking contextual factors into account. The appropriateness of the resulting documentation was then analysed. Its quality was a contributory factor to the Odra 1304 quickly becoming the leading COMECON computer. However, despite its rich software, the ICL 1900 series and Odra 1304 were unsuitable for the real-time industrial control applications of interest to Elwro and the Polish authorities. This led to suggestions for upgrading the Odra 1204, as a reliable real-time control computer. However, they were not implemented and the development of a Polish computer for real-time industrial control had to wait another ten years for the Odra 1325 (see Sect. 5.6.3). However, upgrading the Odra 1204 would have had advantages, as it was originally a numerical processing computer and therefore particularly suited for numerical calculations, especially with Algol 1204.

5.6.2 Odra 1305 Odra 1305 (Anon, 2016c) was developed to take advantage of the availability of Texas Instruments Transistor–Transistor Logic (TTL) integrated circuits (Anon, 2016d) in Poland. It was based on the ICL 1905A. The 1900 A series was the first series of ICL 1900 computers which used integrated circuits (Anon, 2016a). It included a ferrite core or semiconductor working memory (see Fig. 5.12) of between 96 and 256 kilowords (with a word equal to 24 data bits plus a parity bit). A version with working memory of 512 kilowords was developed for use in the Polish railway system. Similar peripherals to those of the Odra 1304 could be connected using the character and multiplexer channels, with Odra 1305 able to support a much larger number of peripherals. Odra 1305’s new features included a priority channel or path connected to the interprocessor buffer. This feature made it possible to create simple two-computer arrangements, which were used, for instance, at Schoenefeld Airport. See Fig. 5.13 for a schematic diagram of the Odra 1305 hardware. Its software was similar to that of the Odra 1204 (See Sect. 6.2.4). An Odra 1305 was used in Wrocław Brochow

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5 A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry

Fig. 5.12 Part of the memory of the Odra 1305 (Adam Urbanek)

railway station (See Fig. 5.14) until the end of April 2010, when it was replaced with a modern computer system (Anon, 2020b).

5.6.3 Odra 1325 Computer The Odra 1325 was an extended equivalent of the ICL 1902A/1903A (Anon, 2016a) developed for the real-time control of industrial processes. It was the only Polish control computer developed to be used in industrial control applications at this time. Odra 1325 used transistor–transistor logic integrated circuits rather than microprogramming to implement its functions. The CPU generally had a ferrite core or semiconductor (in later versions) memory scalable from 8 to 128 kilowords. An automation module system (AMS) (see Fig. 5.15) provided support for industrial control applications. It had six main components: (1) an AMS control unit which enabled data exchanges between AMS modules connected to the AMS bus; (2) digital inputs, mainly used for entering digital information from relay-type telecommunications devices; (3) analog inputs to support networking with analog telecommunications devices; (4) telecommunications interfaces to enable access to telecommunications stations; (5) keyboard interfaces to give the control engineers access to the control board operating system (5.9.3); and (6) an interface enabling operation of a

5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers

129

96/256K ODRA 1305 CPU PC MPXC

AC

OC

ChC PTR/P CR

DISC CU

MT CU

DRUM CU

LP MT DISK1

DRUM1 VDU CU

MT DISK2

MT MT

DRUM2

VDU

DRUM3 MPX

DISK3 DRUM4 ...

DISKn 30/60M

VDU

8M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

IPR

MOSAIC PRINTER & KBRD

AC - autonomous channel MPX - multiplexor KBRD - keyboard MT - magnetic tape ChC - character channel LP - line printer CPU - central processing unit PTR/P - paper tape reader / punch

MOSAIC PRINTER & KBRD

MOSAIC PRINTER

MOSAIC PRINTER

PC - priority channel MPXC - mu ltiplexor channel CU - contr ol unit M - memory ( megabytes) IPR - Inter Pro cessor Buffer CR - card reader OC - Operator Channel CU - control unit

Fig. 5.13 Schematic diagram of Odra 1305 hardware (Adam Urbanek)

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5 A Little-Known History: The Polish Computer Industry

Fig. 5.14 Two Odra 1305 computers in the Wrocław Brochow station (Adam Urbanek)

large panel showing the state of the power network in the region under control. The design proved to be very successful (Lewoc et al., 1992). The computer peripherals, including the keyboard and other input and output devices, were connected to the computer using several different types of channels. Six-character channels could be used to connect Odra 1304/1305 peripherals and the multiplexer channel to connect remote terminals, such as mosaic printers with or without keyboards. Two or four buffered channels enabled interaction with highspeed external memories, including up to four discs (or magnetic drums), each of two megabytes and up to four magnetic tape decks. The industrial channel was a new feature of the Odra 1325 and a counterpart of the priority channel of the ICL Series 1900 and Odra 1305 (see Sect. 5.6.2). It enabled the connection of the automation module system (AMS) industrial control peripherals. This included standard industrial process control devices, such as analog and digital inputs and outputs, interrupt inputs, clocks and application-oriented modules, such as telecommunications and high time resolution digital input modules for power industry applications. The industrial channel was used for communication between the process under control and the individual AMS modules. The Odra 1325 generally had good performance, despite its disadvantages, including frequent crashes of the ferrite core memory drivers. As a result of its good technical characteristics, Odra 1325 was unfortunately also widely used in military applications, under the names of Rodan 10 and 15.

5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers

131

ODRA 1325 IC

AUTOMATION MODULE SYSTEM CONTROL UNIT

DI

AI

DO

AMS BUS

AO

INT

CLOCK

APPLICATION – ORIENTED MODULES

PROCESS UNDER CONTROL

Key AI - analog inputs DI - digital inputs INT - Interrupt (request)

AO - analog outputs DO - digital outputs AMS - automation module system

Fig. 5.15 Block diagram of Automation Module System (Stanisëaw Olejnik)

The frequent crashes of the ferrite core memory drivers were probably due to them being over-controlled. Therefore, modifications were required to resolve these problems for use in industrial process control. The Institute for Power System Automation (IASE) developed a restartable software and an automatic restart unit to resume operations after a crash. This solution was very successful and resulted in over 92% officially recorded system availability, with planned system inspections being recorded as failures. The problem of frequent crashes disappeared when the Odra 1325 core memory was upgraded. For instance, Rodan reported few CPU crashes. However, the automatic restart units were used to restart the CPU in other cases, such as new program errors.

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5.6.4 SKOK SKOK has been included in this section due to its derivation from the Odra 1300 computers, though it was not developed or manufactured by Elwro. It was the colloquial name for the EMCX1300 developed by the Wrocław firm, GM Complex. As its name which is the Polish for jump or leap indicates, it was intended to be a leap forward from the Odra 1300 Series. This included the use of very large-scale integrated (VLSI) circuits and microprocessors, making it a fourth-generation computer. It was designed, manufactured and launched very quickly in 18 months from 1988 to mid-1989. SKOK’s computing power was about four times that of the original Odra 1305, and it had a processing speed of about one million operations per second. It had four megabytes of RAM. SKOK was more reliable than previous computers due to the replacement of outdated external hardware by modern hardware and software utility functions. It used standard 3.5,, (6.35 cm) and 5.25,, (13.34 cm) floppy discs as storage media rather than paper tapes and punched cards. They were much more userfriendly and facilitated data transfer between different computers and preparation of data on a personal computer for subsequent entry to the SKOK. The SKOK processor had an open microprocessor architecture. This allowed additional functions to be added to the basic list. The standard microinstructions were stored on the hard disc. When the machine was switched on or restarted, they were automatically loaded into fast SRAM (static random-access memory) of 112 bits with a nanosecond cycle. This then acted as a block of permanent memory for microprograms. The integrated CXMT 1300 controller module, which was compatible with magnetic tape, was particularly popular. When old Odra 1305 computers were replaced by SKOKs, users were surprised at its functionality and relatively small size, particularly compared to the Odra 1305). During its two years of production, at least six SKOK computers were produced, and several dozen disc drives and emulators of external devices were installed on personal computers in Poland. Unfortunately, the continued manufacture of SKOK computers became uneconomic after 1991 due to the uncontrolled introduction of free market conditions and the 22-year history of Odra 1300 related computers ended with it. Further developments would have required a move away from mainframes to personal computers and subsequently to mobile and wearable devices to take account of the increasing demand for multifunctional personal computing devices.

5.7 Riad Computers The next development in Polish computers was also based on analogs of existing machines, in this case the new mainframe International Business Machines (IBM) System /360 and System /370 computers which were delivered between 1965 and 1978, and 1971 and 1990, respectively (Anon 2016e, 2016f). Analogs of these

5.7 Riad Computers

133

Table 5.7 Riad computers Computer Name No.

Type

Main Production Production Export Section No. characteristics volume years

10

Riad-32 IBM /360 As for IBM compatible System /360

175

1973–1984 15

Section 5.7.1

11

Riad-34 IBM /370 As for IBM compatible System /370

106

1986–1991 34

Section 5.7.2

computers were produced in the Soviet Union and the COMECON countries and called Unified System or Riad. Poland was included in the Unified System project and developed the IBM analog computers R-32 and R-34. See Table 5.7 for their main characteristics.

5.7.1 R-32 Computer Elwro was commissioned to develop the R-32 computer based on IBL System /360 Model 50 (Anon, 2016f). The Model 50 was a mid-range computer in the System/360 family. It included compatible mainframes of various sizes and associated costs, which could be upgraded, if required, to larger computers of Model 50 type. The R-32 computer had the standard von Neumann architecture (Anon, 2015a). Like the IBM original, it was microprogrammable. In addition to the CPU and main memory, its components included an IBM compatible selector operating at high speed and IBM compatible multiplexer operating at low speed. The selector and multiplexor were connected to peripherals via their control units. The peripherals connected to the multiplexer included paper tape readers and punches, card readers and punches, line printers, visual display units and teleprocessor units (see Fig. 5.16). The Polish versions of later IBM computers, such as IBM 3725, were not developed until considerably later, after the collapse of Elwro. The teleprocessor unit could be connected to the high-speed scanner line for high-speed transfers, particularly in networking applications. The high-speed selector was mainly used to connect highspeed external memory devices to the R-32 computer, via their respective control units. This included discs, magnetic tapes and possibly the teleprocessor unit. The R-32 computers used the multiprogramming with variable number of tasks (MVT) operating system (Anon, 2016g). Despite the popularity of the IBM System /360 worldwide, its hardware and software designs both had serious errors. This was largely due to the use of rules developed for discrete electronic components of low reliability in the hardware design. Consequently, additional hardware not required in a design based on silicon integrated circuits was added with the aim of improving system reliability. For instance, the number of CPU registers was doubled, and a complex error detection system based on binary logic gates was added. The presence of additional, unnecessary components resulted in both additional errors and the detection of errors when the system was working correctly. It may have been the

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92K

OC

ODRA 1325 CPU BC

6b

IC

MPXC

ChC PTR/P CR

DISC CU

MT CU

MT

LP

24b

6b

DISK1

VDU CU

MT DISK2

VDU

MT

VDU

MT MPX

DISK3 AMS

DISK4 8M

MOSAIC PRINTER & KBRD

Key MT - magnetic tape M - memory (megabytes)

VDU - visual display unit BC - Buffered channel MPX - multiplexor PTR/P - paper tape reader / punch

LP - line printer 6b - 6 bit word

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

M

MOSAIC PRINTER & KBRD

MOSAIC PRINTER

MOSAIC PRINTER

CU - control unit

KBRD - keyboard AMS - automation module system IC - Interrup t channel MPXC - multiplexor channel

ChC - Character Channel OC - Operator Console 24b - 24 bit word

Fig. 5.16 Odra 1325 hardware (Adam Urbanek and Jozef Muszy´nski)

5.7 Riad Computers

135

main cause of reported computer crashes. The complex error detection system was simplified, and considerably fewer crashes were reported. Another significant design error was the lack of CPU registers similar to the Odra 1204 and Odra 1300/ICL 1900 Datum and Limit registers which enabled user programs to be moved to other memory locations. This considerably reduced flexibility and forced programs to be run to their end in a single location. As programs were completed, they were removed from the main store, but the freed memory could only be used by smaller programs, as there was no mechanism for relocating programs. Therefore, multitask operation did not make the best use of the available memory, leading to reduced speed and efficiency. Several research studies were carried out to try and improve memory partitioning (IBM, 2005) or division of computer memory into different storage areas. However, they did not result in design improvements. The MVT operating system also had several errors, despite the possibly billiondollar design and development work involved in producing it (Encyclopaedia Britannica, 2017). This resulted in a significant reduction in the performance of IBM System /360 and R-32. A comparative study found that R-32 with the MVT operating system and the telecommunications access method was much slower than Odra 1325 (Sect. 5.6.3) with operating systems EX2S Executive and MINIMOP (multiple on-line programming) providing an on-line, time-sharing environment.

5.7.2 R-34 Computer The launch of the IBM System /370 (Anon, 2016h) was soon followed by the development of analogs in the Soviet Union and Comecon countries. This led to the development of the R-34 by Elwro. Several factors made developing the R-34 easier than the R-32. Backward compatibility with the IBM System /360 computers facilitated the transition to System /370 and R-34. System /370 had significantly better performance than System /360, dual processor operation as standard, full virtual memory and hexadecimal floating-point arithmetic. Virtual memory is a memory management technique involving both hardware and software. The program memory addresses, called virtual addresses, are mapped into physical addresses in computer memory. The operating system manages the virtual addresses and the assignment of real to virtual memory. When the virtual address space has greater capacity than the real memory, this has the advantage of enabling the computer to use more memory than it has physically. The other main benefits of virtual memory include removing the need for different applications to manage a shared memory space and increased security as a result of separating the memory used by different applications. However, despite its advantages, the use of virtual memory was unable to eliminate the problems related to memory partitioning and improve performance. Further mechanisms were required to prevent memory corruption. They included the Datum and Limit memory registers used in the Odra computers from the Odra 1204 onwards. The R-34 hardware (see Fig. 5.18) was similar to that of R-32 (see Fig. 5.17). The main differences were in the selector and multiplexer and the replacement of

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two peripheral device buses by a single high-speed selector and a single high-speed peripheral device bus. The R-34 was run by the recently launched IBM virtual memory operating system (Anon, 2016i). It was a considerable improvement over the MVT operating system but did not eliminate memory partitioning and other problems, and performance was consequently reduced. A new operating system called Phoenix (Anon 2016j) was

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

MAIN STORAGE (MS)

SELECTOR (SEL)

MULTIPLEXOR (MPX)

DISKS

CU

MT

CU

CU

PTR/P

CU

CR

CU

CP

CU

LP

CU

VDU

CU

TPU EC 8371

… PERIPHERALS

Key: PTR/P - Paper Tape Reader / Punch CR - Card Reader CP - Card Punch LP - Line Printer

VDU - Visual Displa y Unit TPU - Teleprocessing Unit CU - Control Unit MT - Magnetic Tape

Fig. 5.17 R-32 hardware (Bogdan Kasierski and Adam Urbanek)

5.7 Riad Computers

137

CENTRAL PROCESSING UNIT (CPU)

MAIN STORAGE (MS)

CHANNEL SUBSYSTEM SELECTOR

DISKS

MT

CU

PTR/P

CU

CR

CU

CP

CU

LP

CU

VDU

CU

TPU EC 8371

CU

CU

SELECTOR PATH

Key: PTR/P CR CP LP VDU

— — — — —

… PERIPHERALS, COMPUTER NETWORK

Paper Tape Reader / Punch Card leader Card Punch Line Printer Visual Display Unit

TPU — Teleprocessing Unit CU — Control Unit MT — Magnetic/ Tape

Fig. 5.18 R-34 hardware (Bogdan Kasierski and Adam Urbanek)

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developed. It incorporated successive modifications of the virtual memory operating system to improve the performance of the IBM System /370. The IBM communications controller 2703 and the telecommunication access method were initially replaced by a 2703 emulator built on a PDP-11 minicomputer and the Parrot system on the IBM System 370 computer, which applied 2703 emulator solutions in the PDP-11 environment. This provided a better user interface than that available on the standard IBM System /370 computer, as well as much greater flexibility, reliability and efficiency. 200 terminals could be connected to the PDP-11 with a maximum of 80 active at one time, whereas only 20 user consoles could be connected to the original IBM System /360. The losses due to memory partitioning were reduced by using the spaces created in the main storage area by the completion of batch-processing tasks for processes associated with multiuser access in the telecommunication access method. A potential solution would be adding the Datum and Limit registers to the CPU. This would allow programs to be relocated when they finished running and eliminate memory partitioning. However, this potential solution was never implemented, so it is not known whether it would have worked in practice.

5.8 Conclusions This chapter has presented many of the computers, developed in Poland, particularly at Elwro in Wrocław before 1989. The initial development of computers was largely motivated by the impossibility of importing them from abroad due to the embargoes and a recognition of their value in economic development. This resulted in considerable ingenuity to find solutions to get round the lack of availability of state-of-the-art components. Relaxation of the embargoes allowed more advanced computers to be developed as components became available, but still required ingenuity to make up for components that were not available. The increase in trade between the eastern and western blocs enabled Elwro to obtain licences to produce the Odra 1300 series computers compatible with the ICL 1900 series computers. This had the significant advantage of making the rich software of the ICL 1900 series computers available to the Odra 1300 computers. However, shortcuts can also have disadvantages. Some designers unhappy with the change in work from designing and developing computers to adapting existing computers and documentation left Elwro. This loss of personnel together with the move away from computer design and development to adaptation may have also resulted in a loss of computer design and development skills. Subsequent developments involved the development of IBM System /360 and System /370 analogs in parallel with the production of analogs in the Soviet Union and other Comecom countries. Although the two IBM machines were popular, both of them and particularly the System /360 had a number of design faults, which were transmitted to the analog. The move from developing its own computers to developing analogs of existing computers was probably also damaging to the Polish ICT industry. In practice, it

5.8 Conclusions

139

removed the motivation for the development of a Polish software industry and was a strong contributory factor in it never developing. It also reduced the incentives for original hardware design. However, further computer development would have required Elwro or another firm to move from main frame development to personal computers and subsequently to mobile and wearable devices. Acknowledgments We would like to thank Dr John O’Donnell for providing advice on the use of terminology. We would further like to thank the following people for providing for useful and important information without which we would not have been able to write this chapter. We have organised the list of contributions by the chapter sections rather than author names to make it easier to determine who we obtained particular sections of information from 5.2.1 Mathematical Machine: Elwro Student Project A. Kuberska: design criteria 5.2.3 UMC-1 Computer B. Kasierski and A. Skorupski: Elwro’s first serially produced computer. 5.3.1 Odra 1003 Computer T. Kamburelis, P. Kremienowski, E. Bilski, and W. Komorowsk: use of transistors improving performance compared to electronic valves. 5.6 Odra 1300 Series Computers T. Kamburelis, P. Kremienowsk and A. Urbanek: problem of provision by ICL of a large number of complex diagrams. 5.6.2 Odra 1305 T. Kamburelis 2015, A. Urbanek 2018, Piotr Kremienowski 2018: development of Odra 1305 to take advantage of the availability of Texas Instruments Transistor–Transistor Logic (TTL) integrated circuits 5.6.2 Odra 1305 A. Urbanek 2016: use in simple two-computer arrangements, e.g. at Schoenefeld Airport. 5.6.3 Odra 1325 Computer W. Czygrinow: connection of industrial process control devices. 5.6.5 SKOK A. Urbanek: all the information in this section and the photo We would like to thank the following for the technical drawings: . • Alicja Kuberska for Fig. 5.1 Schematic diagram of ‘mathematical machine’ developed in student project; • Bogdan Kasierski for Fig. 5.2 Schematic diagram of UMC-1 hardware; • Piotr Kremienowski and Fabian Klejn for Fig. 5.3 Schematic diagram of the Odra 1003 computer; • Fabian Klejn for Fig. 5.4 Odra 1003 program loading and execution; • Adam Urbanek for Fig. 5.6 Schematic diagram of the Odra 1013 computer, Fig. 5.11 Odra 1304 hardware and Fig. 5.13 Schematic diagram of Odra 1305 hardware; • Piotr Kociatkiewicz and Adam Urbanek for Fig. 5.7 Schematic diagram of the Odra 1103 computer; • Adam Urbanek and Ryszard Fudala for Fig. 5.10 Odra 1204 hardware; • Stanisław Olejnik for Fig. 5.15 Block diagram of Automation Module System;

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• Adam Urbanek and Jozef Muszy´nski for Fig. 5.16 Odra 1325 hardware; • Bogdan Kasierski and Adam Urbanek for Fig. 5.17 R-32 hardware and Fig. 5.18 R-34 hardware Finally, we would like to gratefully acknowledge the following for allowing us to use photographs: • Tadeusz Broniewski and Stefan Arczynski for Fig. 5.5 Odra 1003 • Piotr Kociatkiewicz for Fig. 5.8 Odra 1103; • Adam Urbanek for Fig. 5.9 Odra 1204 and some of its peripherals, Fig. 5.12 Part of the memory of the Odra 1305 and Fig. 5.14 Two Odra 1305 computers in the Wrocław Brochow station.

Appendix 5.1: Technical Terms Assembly or assembler language: it is converted into machine code by a program called an assembler. Each assembler has its own assembly language. Instructions in assembly language correspond strongly to the machine code instructions. Bit: binary digit, i.e. a 1 or 0 is the smallest unit of measurement of computer data. Byte: a group of eight bits, frequently used to represent an alphanumeric character. Central processing unit (CPU): the unit that carries out most of the processing in a computer. Channel: path between two computers or devices. Compiler: translates computer into a different programming language. It is generally used to translate from a higher-level language used to write programs to a lower-level language so that the program can be executed by the computer. Core: computer memory used before the development of random-access memory (RAM). Data buffer: an area of physical data storage used to temporarily store data while it is being moved, for instance, between two computer processes or an input and output device. Emulator: software (programs) or hardware that enables one computer system to behave like a different one, for instance, to use programs designed for the second one. Ferrite: a ceramic material consisting mainly of an oxide of iron. It is easily magnetised. Fixed point: a type of computer data with a fixed number of digits before and after the decimal point. This limits the range of values than can be represented. Floating point: a type of computer data, which is used in most modern computers, as it can represent a wide range of numbers precisely. It uses scientific notation

Appendix 5.1: Technical Terms

141

(one digit before the decimal point and an unlimited number of digits) afterwards multiplied by a power of 10. Integrated circuit (IC): a set of electronic circuits on a small flat piece or chip of semiconductor material, generally silicon. Line printer: printer which prints a complete line of text at a time. Logic gate: produces a single binary output from one or more binary inputs. Rules, sometimes expressed in the form of a table give the output from given inputs. Machine code: computer program written in machine language which is a numerical language. It provides instructions which the CPU can execute directly. Each instruction relates to a specific task. Mainframe computer: used primarily by large organisations for critical applications; bulk data processing, resource planning; and transaction processing. They are larger and have more processing power than minicomputers, servers, workstations and personal computers. The name comes from the large cabinets that housed the main memory and central processing unit of early computers. Memory partitioning: dividing computer memory into different storage areas or partitions to use the computer most effectively. Microprogramming: writing low-level code called microcode which defines how a microprocessor should execute machine code instructions. Generally, there are several microcode instructions for each machine code instruction. Multiplexer: selects between several input signals using a control input and forwards them to a single output line. It is used to increase data transmission. Operating system: program that manages computer programs, hardware and resources and provides common services for computer programs. Paper tape: data storage consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched. Parallel processing: performs several task at the same time. Patch cable: electrical cable used to connect one device to another, generally stranded for flexibility. Peripheral: external device which provides input to or receives output from the computer. Printed circuit board (PCB): board used to connect electronic components together to support the design of electronic devices. Processor register: a location that the computer CPU can access quickly. Data is generally moved from memory to registers to carry out arithmetic and other operations. Punched card deck: used to store programs in early computers.

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Random-access memory (RAM): physical hardware in a computer that temporarily stores data and serves as a computer’s working memory. More RAM allows more information to be stored and significantly improve performance. Static random-access memory (SRAM): type of random-access memory which does not need to be periodically refreshed, unlike dynamic random-access memory. This makes it faster and more expensive. Transistor: semiconductor, e.g. silicon device for amplifying, controlling and generating electrical signals. Three-valued logic: each digit can take one of three possible values, e.g. −1, 0, +1. Two’s complement: used to give a binary representation of signed numbers. Vacuum tube technology: a glass tube emptied of air to create a vacuum. Vacuum tubes containing electrodes to control electron flow were used in early computers as a switch or an amplifier. They are Larger than transistors. Visual display unit VDU: a device used to display characters or images representing data in the computer memory. Word: the unit of data used in a particular processor design. The number of bits in a word is the word length and an important feature of the processor design or computer architecture.

Appendix 5.2: Polish Abbreviations ARAL: Analizator Równa´n Ró˙zniczkowych (Differential Equation Analyser) BMC: Bezadresowa Maszyna Cyfrowa (Digital Machine without Addresses) Elwro: Wrocławskie Zakłady Elektroniczne (Wrocław Electronic Works) UMC-1: Uniwersalna Maszyna Cyfrowa (Universal Digital Machine)

Appendix 5.3: Elwro Computers Odra 1003 Early computer (serial, magnetic drum working memory Odra 1013 Early computer (serial, magnetic core and drum working memory) Odra 1204 First modern Elwro computer (interrupt-driven, multiuser, ferrite core memory) Odra 1300 Elwro computer for tabulating machinery applications Odra 1304 Compatible with ICL 1904 computers Odra 1305 Compatible with ICL 1904a computers (integrated circuit technology)

Appendix 5.4: Other Computers and Software

Odra 1325 R-32 R-34 UMC-1

143

Compatible with ICL 1302a computers Elwro version of IBM System /360 computers Elwro version of IBM System /370 computers First computer produced by Polish industry (vacuum tube technology, serial)

Appendix 5.4: Other Computers and Software IBM System /360: family of mainframe computers delivered between 1965 and 1978. It was the first family of computers to cover the full range of applications. IBM System /370: family of mainframe computers announced in 1970 as the successor to the /360 with which it had backward compatibility and improved performance. ICL 1900 (originally ICT 1900): series of mainframe computers from International Computers and Tabulators (ICT), later International Computers Limited (ICL) in the 1960s and 70s. It was very successful in European and Commonwealth countries and one of the few non-US competitors to the IBM System /360. ICL 1900 A, S and T Series: from the A series, which was introduced in 1969, the ICL 1900 used transistor–transistor logic (TTL) integrated circuits. The S Series, announced in 1971, used semiconductor memory in most of the range and very fast nickel-plated wire memory for the top of the range 1906S rather than the core store of earlier machines. T Series, introduced in 1973 and 1974, were based on the next higher model of the S Series, e.g. 1903 T on 1904S. This was intended to improve competitiveness. PDP-11: series of 16-bit minicomputers sold from 1970 into the 1990s. About 600,000 were sold, and it is sometimes considered the most popular minicomputers ever. It had innovative features in its instruction set and additional general-purpose registers compared to earlier PDP models. Pop-2: computer language developed in about 1970 from an earlier version. It had an incremental compiler which only recompiled the parts of a program that had been modified. It allowed new functions to be defined or modified while programs were running. Parrot: program interface between the PDP-11 minicomputer and the IBM system /360 or /370 computer. Telecommunications access method: access method in the operating systems of IBM’s Series /360 and successor computers. It provided access to terminal units in a teleprocessing network.

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References Anon. (2009). The history of computer development. http://wikieducator.org/History_of_Comp uter_Development. Accessed July 4, 2017. Anon. (2015a) Von Neumann architecture. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Von_Neu mann_architecture Anon. (2015b). PDP-11 architecture. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-11_architect ure#Interrupts Anon. (2016a). ICT 1900 series. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ICT_1900_Series (in Polish). Anon. (2016b). Odra 1304. Available https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odra_1304 (in Polish). Anon. (2016c). Odra 1305. Available https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odra_1305 (in Polish) Anon. (2016d). List of 7400 series integrated circuits. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ List_of_7400_Series_integrated_circuits Anon. (2016e). IBM system/360. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/360 Anon. (2016f). System/360 model 50. Available https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/mai nframe/mainframe_PP2050.html Anon. (2016g). OS/360 and successors. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/360_and_suc cessors Anon. (2016h). IBM system/370. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IBM_System/370 Anon. (2016i). OS/VT. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OS/VS Anon. (2016j). Phoenix (computer). Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phoenix_(computer) Anon. (2020a). Mainframe computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainframe_computer. Accessed May 27, 2020. Anon. (2020b). Odra (computer). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Odra_%28computer%29. Accessed July 2, 2020. Anon. (2023). Stored program computer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Storedprogram_computer Accessed 15 May 2023. Anon. (undated). Generations of computer. https://www.geeksforgeeks.org/generations-of-com puter/. Accessed May 27, 2020. Encyclopaedia Britanica. (2017). IBM OS/360 operating system. Available https://www.britannica. com/technology/IBM-OS-360 IBM. (2005). Partitioning implementation for IBM@server p5 servers. Available www.redbooks. ibm.com/redbooks/pdfs/sg247039.pdf IBM. (2018). System/360 announcement. Available https://www-03.ibm.com/ibm/history/exhibits/ mainframe/mainframe_PR360.html Kharpal, A. (2016). Mobile game revenue to pass console, PC for first time. https://www.cnbc.com/ 2016/04/22/mobile-game-revenue-to-pass-console-pc-for-first-time.html. Accessed February 19, 2018. Lewoc J. B., Rozent M., & Saczuk I. (1992). The computing power and the computer systems for the power industry in Poland. MICC (IFAC). Licoppe, C., & Smoreda, Z. (2005). Are social networks technologically embedded?: How networks are changing today with changes in communication technology. Social Networks, 27(4), 317– 335. Livingstone, S., & Helsper, E. (2007). Gradations in digital inclusion: Children, young people and the digital divide. New Media & Society, 9(4), 671–696. Van Dijk, J. A. (2006). Digital divide research, achievements and shortcomings. Poetics, 34(4–5), 221–235. Von Neumarrn, J. (1945). First Draft of a Report on the EDVAC (PDF), archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-03-14. Retrieved August 24, 2011.

Chapter 6

ICT Software and Applications

6.1 Introduction The initial focus of computer development was on developing computer hardware that worked. This was true of both the first computer, the electronic numerical integrator and computer (ENIAC) and the first Polish computers. However, computer developers and users in both Poland and the rest of the world soon realised that hardware on its own was insufficient. There was a need for software (computer programs) to make the best use of computers. This led to the development of software to both support a wide range of computer functionality and with a wide range of different applications. UMC-1, Odra 1003 and subsequent computers were operated using software, unlike ENIAC and other early computers which were operated using hardware, such as switches and patch cables. The specifications of the computer hardware determine the types of software that can be run on it. Therefore, as Elwro computers developed and became faster and more flexible, the potential for developing software for a wide range of applications also increased. At the same time, their need for a greater variety and number of programs to enable the computer to run effectively and faster also increased. Unfortunately, a computer programming industry never developed in Poland. This would probably have required the establishment of a software production firm analogously to the setting up of Elwro to produce computer hardware, as Elwro was unable to diversify into developing software. Therefore, for instance, high-level programming languages, such as Fortran and Pascal, which could be used on different computers, were not developed in Poland. Instead, software was developed to be used on particular computers or for specific applications. Elwro was able to develop the software required by its earlier computers. In the case of the Odra 1204, it developed a version Algol 1204 of the programming language Algol 60 rather than developing a new language. By the time Elwro was ready to produce its next series of computers, the embargoes had relaxed to the extent that Elwro was able to obtain a licence for the International Computers Ltd (ICL) series 1900 computers and software and develop a series of computers which were © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_6

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6 ICT Software and Applications

compatible with them. Much of the attraction of doing this was the very rich software available for these computers and which the compatible Odra 1304, 1305 and 1325 were able to use. However, this approach also had significant disadvantages, as it reduced the need to develop software in Poland and consequently the motivation for a Polish software industry. The chapter discusses three main different types of software. The main programs used on the various Elwro computers discussed in the previous chapter are presented in Sect. 6.2. Software for power industry and other applications is presented in Sects. 6.3 and 6.4, respectively. A glossary of technical terms is provided in Appendix 6.1 and of abbreviations and names of software and organisations in Appendix 6.2. Acknowledgements to the many people, including early Polish leading designers and programmers, who provided information are given before the references. This section also provides details of the information they provided.

6.2 Software Used on Elwro Computers This section will discuss some of the software used by the various computers discussed in the previous chapter. It is summarised in Table 6.1. As the table indicates, the available software was becoming both more complex and more varied as the hardware developed. The earliest Elwro computer used three-valued logic and had two subassemblers which operated on microinstructions. The next computers Odra 1003 and 1013 had two symbolic languages as well as assemblers. The subsequent computer Odra 1103 had two programming languages and was the first Elwro computer to have applications programs, in this case for use with tabulating machines. The next computer, Odra 1204, was the first Elwro computer to have an operating system, in fact two. It had both a high level and an assembler language. The subsequent 1300 series computers had access to the ICL library of computer programs. The Odra 1325 in particular used several programs designed for industrial control applications.

6.2.1 UMC-1 Software The programming languages W18 and W20 were developed to facilitate programming the UMC-1 computer. They used microprogramming principles, including in computer control. Programs were transferred to the program memory when they were needed, frequently from the last cache memory. This is high-speed static memory that the central processing unit (CPU) can access faster than regular random-access memory. Thus, the UMC-1 W18 and W20 languages could be considered subassemblers, as they were able to compile programs from microinstructions (Ma´ckowiak et al., 2017) (Table 6.2).

6.2 Software Used on Elwro Computers

147

Table 6.1 Elwro computer software No.

Computer type

Section of this chapter

Short description

Notes

1

UMC-1

6.2.1

W18 & W20 were subassemblers The computer was able to compile programs of full designed in as well as microprogramming three-valued logic instructions

2

Odra 1003 and 1013

6.2.2

JAS and JAS F symbolic languages

Program execution speed up procedures Odra 1013 was the fastest Comecon computer at that time

3

Odra 1103

6.2.3

Programming languages: PJN—numerical, PAS—alphanumerical, applications: material turn over, payroll, transport, program evaluation review

Developed for tabulating machines

3

Odra 1204

6.2.4

Simple operating systems: SOW and MASON; assembler language JAS. High-level language: Algol 1204

Algol 1204 was recognised as the best Algol 60 realisation at that time

4

Odra 1300

6.2.5

ICL Executives (EX2M, EX4M) for the Elwro 1300 Series, EX2P—for Odra 1325 for process control Able to use complete ICL libraries delivered by ICL

ICL did not develop process control executives

Table 6.2 Details of UMC-1 software Name

Type of software

Memory requirements

Speed

Applications

Notes

W-20

Subassembler operating on microinstructions

16 KW

100 additions/s

Earth sciences, numerical calculations

Three-valued logic

W-20

Subassembler operating on microinstructions

16 KW

N.A

Earth sciences, numerical calculations

Three-valued logic

6.2.2 Odra 1003 and 1013 Software The Odra 1003 used a drum for its basic memory and improved its computing speed by using a two-address system which allowed the next program to be located at a specific location on the drum. This approach was also improved in the Odra 1013

148 Table 6.3 Odra 1003 and 1013 software

6 ICT Software and Applications Name

Computer

Type of software

MOST I

Odra 1003 and 1013

Autocode

MOST

Odra 1003

Operating system

MOST F

Odra 1013

Operating system

JAS and JAS F

Odra 1003 and 1013

Symbolic address language

by the use of an algorithm for computer-assisted program location on the drum. It also had a sector of ferrite core memory which it made the maximum possible use of. This resulted in the Odra 1013 being evaluated as the fastest Comecon computer of the time (Macminik, 2015; Shamot, 2018). The Odra 1003 and 1013 computers were provided with a small number of operational and applications programs. As Table 6.3 shows both the operating systems and autocodes [early computing languages used on the Odra 1003 and 1013 were called MOST (bridge in Polish)]. The MOST automatic coding system was developed to facilitate programming in internal Odra 1003 machine code. It allowed programmers to write their programs in a high-level language similar to Algol or Fortran, which Odra 1003 did not otherwise have the memory and other requirements to support. The sequential instructions were located every seven memory locations, as the drum rotated through seven locations to execute each instruction. This significantly reduced program execution time and considerably reduced the programming effort compared to machine code programming. The initial version of MOST for the Odra 1003 was updated to MOST F for the Odra 1013. The Odra 1003 and 1013 also had the autocode or early programming language MOST I and symbolic address languages JAS and JAS F (Ma´ckowiak et al., 2017). JAS was similar to contemporary assemblers which translate programs in assembly language into machine code which can be executed by the computer. Similarly to assemblers, these programs support the use of symbolic addresses, frequently in the form of names, for memory locations to replace the binary strings used in machine code. This made writing programs easier and faster, as it avoided the need to repeatedly calculate memory locations from strings of binary code.

6.2.3 Odra 1103 Software The Odra 1103 was developed to be used in tabulating machine applications. There were two basic machine types (Anon, 2015): tabulators for information processing (summarising and accounting), and reproduction machines for copying complete or partial data on punched card decks (the data medium used by the tabulating machines) onto other card decks. The Odra 1103 therefore required programs which could be used in this context. It had two programming languages: PJN and PAS, for numerical

6.2 Software Used on Elwro Computers

149

Table 6.4 Details of Odra 1103 software Name

Type of software Memory requirements

Speed

Applications used in

Alphanumeric assembler PAS

Alphanumeric computing

32 kwords

5000 additions/s

Tabulating machines

Numerical assembler

Numerical computing

32 kwords

5000 additions/s

Tabulating machines

Payroll

Payroll computing

32 kwords

5000 additions/s

Tabulating machines

Program evaluation and review

Program evaluation and review calculations

32 kwords

5000 additions/s

Tabulating machines

and alphanumerical programming, respectively. The use of letters as well as numbers made alphanumerical programming easier and more efficient for operators. The Odra 1103 was also provided with programs developed by Elwro to be used in turnover calculation, payroll, transportation and program evaluation and review (Ma´ckowiak et al., 2017; Macminik, 2015) (Table 6.4).

6.2.4 Odra 1204 Software Odra 1204 had a more complex architecture than earlier Elwro computers. This meant it required an operating system to manage computer hardware, software and resources and enable the computer to communicate with and run computer programs. The first operating system to be developed was System Operacyjno-wykonawczy (SOW, operational-executive system). The steps in program compilation and execution are shown in Fig. 6.1. The SOW system was input from paper tape. The first check was whether there was a program to run, with termination if not, and the second check of the type of program. If the program was not already in the form of machine code, the required complier was read and used to produce machine code. The machine code program was then run and debugged to remove errors. The resulting error-free machine code program was punched on paper tape, and the results were printed, usually on a line printer. In theory, SOW was a two-program system, which made use of Odra 1204’s multiprogramming features. In practice, it could generally only be used as a single program system. However, it was a step towards multiprogram operation, particularly for the two program case of programs of higher and lower priority. Some time after the launch of Odra 1204 in 1967 a second operating system, minimally active operating/supervisory system (MASON) was developed. Its architecture was similar to that of SOW (see Fig. 6.1), but it was smaller, more powerful and better suited to running programs in Algol 1204.

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6 ICT Software and Applications

ENTRY FROM PT

READ IN SOW 1 N IS THERE A PROGRAM?

EXIT

N OBJECT PROGRAM?

READ IN A TRANSLATOR

TRANSLATION OF A PROGRAM

Y START THE PROGRAM?

EXECUTING PROGRAM

Y Y ERRORS?

ERROR SIGNALLING

1

N OBJECT PROGRAM? Y PROGRAM PERFORATING

RESULT OUTPUT

PT - paper tape Fig. 6.1 SOW operating system procedures (Fabian Klejn)

1

6.2 Software Used on Elwro Computers

151

Table 6.5 Details of Odra 1204 software Name

Type of software

Memory requirements

Speed

Applications used in

Notes

SOW A4

Operating system

32 K(24-bit) words

Memory cycle 6 µs

Numerical computing

Measured operating life 20 years

Steel-rod mill

Complete software

32 K(24-bit) words

Memory cycle 6 µs

Computer control system

Pioneering Polish computer control system

Algol 1204

Very fast compiler

32 K(24-bit) Words

Memory cycle 6 µs

Algol 60 domain

Algol 1204 was a realisation of Algol 60, a high-level programming language adapted to the needs of program analysts (designers) and programmers working in the area of numerical data processing. It was specifically developed for the Odra 1204 which it was intended to be used on. Programs in Algol 1204 were directly compiled in the internal code of the Odra 1204. This reduced run time for these programs. Source programs were compiled as though they had been written on a virtual computer, resulting in a more compact object code and a faster run time than other versions of Algol 60. Consequently, many Algol 1204 users considered it the best Algol 60 realisation then available. The fast run time had particular benefits in the production of music, which required a very high computer speed (for that time). Previously, computer generated music was considered an amusing toy, whereas the music produced by fast Algol 1204 object codes run under MASON was enjoyable to listen to (Jerzykiewicz & Szczepkowicz, 1973), and commissioning engineers even organised concerts of Algol 1204 music. See Table 6.5 for an overview of Odra 1204 software. Other programs used on the Odra 1204 included the assembler language JAS (see Sect. 6.2.2). It was used successfully throughout the history of the Odra 1204.

6.2.5 Odra 1300 Software The Odra 1300 Series computers were based on the ICL 1900 Series computers (Sect. 5.6). However, the ICL 1900 operating system was not suitable for process control software. Therefore, Elwro decided to modify the standard ICL operating system or executive EX2M for the earlier ICL 1900 Series computers for process control applications. This gave the modified executive EX2P. A typical software architecture that could be run on Odra 1325 computers is shown in Fig. 6.2. EX2P had two components: the EX2M executive (basic operating system) and the EX2P main component. The latter was written specially for Odra 1325. It included modifications to allow it to support the automatic module system. This was developed to enable the Odra to be used for industrial control applications (see Sect. 5.6.3), as the ICL

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6 ICT Software and Applications

series 1900 computers did not have anything similar. See Table 6.6 for a summary of Odra 1300 software. Two types of user programs could be run under EX2P, so-called trusted and normal programs or programs under control (PUC). Trusted programs had up to three components or subprograms and had higher authority than normal programs. For instance, they could modify the contents of the lowest (Datum) and highest (Limit) addresses of a user program. This enabled trusted programs to provide an application-oriented operating system, for instance, for power industry applications (see Sect. 6.4). The Odra 1325 was used in a variety of applications, including the Institute for Power Systems Automation (IASE) power industry applications. In this case, the EX2M

N AMS ?

Y

EX2P PROPER EX2P PGE

SUB PROGRAM 0

SUB PROGRAM 1

SUB PROGRAM 2

Y

N AMS ?

Y N AMS ? TRUSTED PROGRAM PGE PUC WS

IRS PERIPHERALS

PUC LIBRARY (DISCS, CORE MEMORY)

Key: AMS - automation module system PUC - program under control

IRS - interrupt request signal

Fig. 6.2 Typical software flow diagram under EX2P Executive (Jozef Muszynski)

6.2 Software Used on Elwro Computers

153

Table 6.6 Details of Odra 1300 software Name

Type of software

Memory requirements

Speed

Applications used in

Notes

Executives EX2M, E6RM

Numerical and data processing; ICL processing software

32 K (24 bit) words

1,000,000 additions/s

Numerical and ICL 1900 data processing series compatible

Operating system George

Remote processing systems

32 K (24 bit) words

1,000,000 additions/s

Numerical and ICL 1900 data processing series compatible

Executive EX2P

Computer control system

32 K (24 bit) words

1,000,000 additions/s

Numerical and ICL data processing 1902a/03a series compatible

Operating systems for automatic information processing system & training simulator

Computer control system

32 K (24 bit) words

1,000,000 additions/s

Numerical and ICL data processing 1902a/03a series compatible

trusted program functions were divided between three subprograms. Subprogram 0 provided the PUC scheduler and handler. Subprogram 1 coordinated the trusted subprograms and provided data interchange with the drivers of the communication devices (teletypes and semi-graphical visual displays). Subprogram 2 implemented the drivers of the industrial control peripherals. The trusted program enabled several PUC programs to be run sequentially with two options for program priority: preemptive and non-preemptive. Preemptive scheduling allows higher-priority tasks to interrupt lower-priority ones so that it is always the highest priority process that is running. Non-preemptive scheduling does not allow interruptions, so that once started a process is completed even if there are higher-priority processes waiting. For instance, the regional power control centres (see Sect. 6.3.1) used nonpreemptive PUC scheduling, and the power industry training simulator (see Sect. 6.3.4) preemptive PUC scheduling). Thus, scheduling in the regional power control centres did not use interrupts, and each program had equal priority, whereas programs could be interrupted by those of higher priority in the simulator. The simulator included both programs with long execution times and coordinating programs that had to respond fast to interrupt requests from trainer or trainee actions. In the power control centres, the urgent interrupt requests were received and served by the operating system for automatic information processing systems developed specifically for the regional power control centres (see Sects. 3.6.1) and there was no need

154

6 ICT Software and Applications

for preemptive scheduling at the PUC level. The PUC programs could be stored in external and/or internal memory. User programs could use program generated events to call the EX2M Executive, the EX2P and the automation module system. These events included peripheral instructions, datum or limit violations. Requests generated by automation module system devices were directed to the EX2P proper and all others to the EX2M Executive (Bosnjak, 1980; Ma´ckowiak et al., 2017; Parsquali, 1996).

6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects This section will discuss several applications and projects in the power industry, several of which were used in the regional power control centres. These applications and projects are summarised in Table 6.7.

6.3.1 Regional Power Control Centre Project The Polish power network was divided into six regions. Successful control of the network required control engineers to monitor over 100,000 digital variables and several thousand analog ones. Despite this, for much of the time, the engineers had little to do. However, when there were problems, for instance, due to a failure in the power network, significant data changes occurred rapidly. The engineers then had to work very fast to rectify the fault before it led to a disruptive and expensive network failure. The need for computer tools to support power network control engineers was a global issue rather than a specifically Polish problem. However, a Polish system, involving an automatic information processing system for the regional power control centres, was developed and was very successful. Its hardware architecture is shown in Fig. 6.3. Table 6.7 Overview of regional power control centre applications and projects Project or application

Hardware

Software

Date

Notes

Regional power control centres

Odra 1325 + automation module system

EX2M, EX2P, Operating systems for automatic information processing system and training simulator

1970 onwards

More than 90% of Polish control network engineers trained on the training simulator Benefits worth billion EUR at present prices

6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects

DISK UNIT

BASIC PERIPHERALS

CLOCK & TIMERS

155

SVDU 1 CCU

… SVDU S ODRA 1325 CPU

ARU

AMS CONTROL UNIT AMS BUS

DI

AI

Telecommunications INTERFACE 1

…

Telecommunications INTERFACE T

CE KBRD INTERFACE

SR INTERFACE

CE COMPUTER SYSTEM REGION UNDER CONTROL

CE KBRDS POWER NETWORK REGION Key CCU - Cluster Control Unit SGDU 1-S - Semigraphical Visual Display Unit 1 … S CPU - Central Processing Unit AMS - Automation Module System DI - Digital Imputs AI - Analog Inputs

SR

CONTROL ENGINEER ROOM

ODM - Regional Power Distribution Centre ARU - Automatic Restart Unit T - Number of telecommunications interfaces CE KBRD - Control Engineer Keyboard CC - Control Centre SR - Schematic Representation

Fig. 6.3 Hardware architecture of automatic data processing system for power industry control centres

The processing system was run on the Odra 1325, as it was the only Polish computer that supported industrial control systems. Its keyboard interfaces could be used to access the automatic information processing system.

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6 ICT Software and Applications

6.3.2 Operating System for the Automatic Information Processing Systems Used in the Regional Power Control Centres The automatic information processing system software used in various applications was broadly similar, but there were some differences in the details in different regions of the power network. Power application programmers were generally power industry specialists rather than professional programmers. Each power network region generally had to use several different versions of the software. This meant that these programmers required a support system to enable them to do their jobs more easily and effectively. The hardware architecture for the automatic data processing system is shown in Fig. 6.3. An applications-oriented operating system for the automatic information processing system software was designed and developed to be run on the Odra 1325 (see Sect. 5.6.3). It removed the need for the application programmers to carry out highly specialised computer programming and made it easier to transfer programs between different regions of the power network. The operating system architecture is shown in Fig. 6.4. It operated under the EX2M executive. This was the basic ICL 1900 series operating system which was compatible with Odra 1325. It enabled automation module system (see Sect. 5.6.3) devices to connect the CPU and the power network under control. This operating system was a trusted program (see Sect. 6.2.5) that was able to modify some other programs or data, e.g. the lowest and highest address registers, enabling it to operate other programs. Most of its applications programs were cyclically initiated by its clock and timer modules. It consisted of three subprograms 0, 1 and 2, which operated at the lowest, middle and highest preemptive priority levels, respectively. The centralised subprogram activation system (via subprogram 1) made it much easier to investigate and control the operating system than a distributed activation system would have. Subprogram 1 also executed the process image dump for the automatic restart facility and set the “system on” switch. If the switch had not previously been set, the automatic restart initialised the CPU and operating system and restored the process image from the dump. Subprograms 0 and 1 also operated various CPU peripherals, releasing the application programmers from this task. Subprogram 2 released the application programmers from direct contact with the process control devices. It organised data transmission from and to automatic module system devices, updated the process image for individual operations and called the required PUCs via subprogram 1. This operating system was very successful and supported software development and operation for various power system software applications. The operating system could initiate PUCs using two types of requests: initiate PUC and end of program. The preemptive resume priority function was used to facilitate effective use of computing resources and avoid unnecessary delays. After an initiate PUC request, the PUC scheduler, subprogram 0 (see Sect. 6.2.5), added the item to the relevant queue. If the queue was empty, the PUC was shifted to the work station for execution to avoid delays. The end of PUC request shifted the relevant queue and

6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects

EX2M EXECUTIVE

157

CLOCK & TIMERS

PUC SCHEDULER

OSAIPS COORDINATOR

AMS DRIVER

PUC WORKING STATION

DUMP PROCESS IMAGE

INITIATE AMS READ

RESUME PUC LIBRARY DISCS

SUB-PROGRAM 0

1

UPDATE PROCESS IMAGE

SET SYSTEM ON

RESUME RESUME

SUB-PROGRAM 1

SUB-PROGRAM 2

1 SYSTEM ON? N RECOVER PROCESS IMAGE

Y

RESET SYSTEM ON RESUME

INITIALISE OSAIPS RESUME

Key: PUC – Program Under Control AMS – Automation Module System OSAIPS - Operating System for Automatic Information Processing System Fig. 6.4 Operating system for automatic data processing system for power industry control centres (Mierczyslaw Rozent)

158

6 ICT Software and Applications

executed the item at the head of a non-empty queue, followed by the pre-emptive resume priority function. Availability of the operating system supported the successful use of automatic information processing systems in regional power control centres in four power regions and one power area. The automatic information processing systems were used to control more than half of the electric power generated in Poland and had an average life span of about 20 years. Their availability exceeded 92%, with normal maintenance being recorded as not being available. Their value to the Polish economy has been subsequently (under)estimated as 7% of the value of the electric power generated, several billion euros at current prices (Lewoc & Rozent, 1979; Lewoc et al., 1992).

6.3.3 Power Industry Visual Display Unit Project The automatic information processing systems in the regional power control centres originally used alphanumeric visual display units (AVDUs) connected to the cluster control unit as AVDUs were the only visual display units available at the time. They worked well, were very reliable and had high-speed data exchange (for the time). However, they were only able to display text and not graphics. They were therefore unsuitable for power systems applications, as they were unable to display the power system network schematics required by the engineers. They were converted to semi-graphical VDUs through the addition of a semigraphical character set written into an electrically programmable read-only memory and two small changes in the AVDU electronics. This involved a collaboration between IASE and ICL leading designers. It provided a solution for the automatic information processing systems used in the regional power control centres. However, the resulting display was too expensive to be used in the wide range of auxiliary power industry applications, such as test configurations and training simulators. Therefore, a cheaper visual display system able to present schematics was required. The chosen visual display system was based on the Momik minicomputer (Anon, 2016) which used integrated circuit technology which by then was available in Poland. The system could involve multiple display units. When the CPU was turned on, the system was initiated by resetting the control settings. The program was run cyclically, starting with the first and ending with the last display unit. Operator messages were assembled in the memory of the cluster control unit for the visual display unit and then transferred to the CPU buffer of the main computer. From there, they were moved to the main computer CPU. After the message was transmitted to the main CPU, Momik updated the message queue and initiated the next transfer to the main CPU if the control signal received was a CPU transfer request. Since the Odra 1325 was an extended equivalent of the ICL 1902A/1903A (see Sect. 5.6.3), its CPU was able to use the ICL EX2M operating system without modification (see Fig. 6.5).

6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects

VDU 1

…

159

VDU V

MOMIK CPU

VDS HARDWARE VDS SOFTWARE

START

VDS INITIALISATION

v:=(v+1) modulo V Y

READ FROM Vth VDU

Y

TRANSFER TO CPU

CPU EOT ? N

Y

UPDATE CPU QUEUE

CPU TR ?

Y

INITIATE NEXT TRANSFER TO CPU

Vth RR ? N Vth RE ? N

N EOO ?

N

Y END

Key: VDU - Visual Display Unit V - VDU index RR - VDU Read Request RE - VDU Read End

CPU - Central Processing Unit EOT - End of Transfer TR - Transfer Request VDS - Visual Display System

Fig. 6.5 Visual display unit hardware schematic and software flow diagram

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6 ICT Software and Applications

The Momik 8b–Odra 1325 arrangement was the first successful Polish dualcomputer configuration. It enabled the development of several important power industry control applications, including the power network training simulator discussed in the next section (Bieleninik et al., 1987; Błach et al., 1990), a powergenerating-unit test monitor (Lewoc et al., 2008) and the IASE power industry computer control system laboratories.

6.3.4 Power Network Training Simulator Power network control engineers required training to enable them to carry out complex operations at high speed, particularly in the case of emergencies. IASE was commissioned to develop a power network simulator on which they could be trained. Its architecture is shown in Fig. 6.6. It is based on the proven power industry automatic data processing system architecture (see Fig. 6.3) and uses the operating system developed for this data processing system (see Sect. 6.3.2). The training simulator had two types of application programs, and operating system subprogram 0 was redesigned to enable it to operate these programs at different priority levels. They were: (i) low-priority programs which developed and executed simulation models of the power plant network and (ii) high-priority programs which modified and coordinated these models. There was considerable interest around the world in computer-based training, including training simulators, in the 1980s. However, most of the projects failed. Investigation indicated that the simulators did not have enough computing power to simulate the complex objects required, generally greater than one million instructions per second. The training simulator was estimated to require five times greater computing power than the Odra 1325 for online computation of current flows in the network, and this was only one of the tasks requiring significant computing power. The simulator was redesigned with the help of a very experienced trainer who also had considerable experience in power network control. The problem of insufficient computing power was resolved by defining and recording the responses to individual control engineer actions in the simulator. This saved considerable computing power by not requiring these actions to be calculated. This enabled the simulator to be applied successfully in the Polish power industry training centre. During its approximately 12 years of operation, more than 90% of Polish power system control engineers were trained on it.

6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects

161

SOFTWARE FLOW DIAGRAM

OSAIPS

EOP PUC SCHELDULER

INITIATE PUC STORE OSAIPS DATA

COORDINATOR ?

Y

N

EXIT N

N

INITIATE MODEL ? Y

Y

ADD ITEM TO MODEL QUEUE

1

ADD ITEM TO COORDINATOR QUEUE 1

Y

PUC IN SERVICE ? N 3

MODEL → WORKSTATION START MODEL

MOVE AND MOVE AND PUSH PUSH COORDINATOR MODEL QUEUE QUEUE

INITIATE COORDINATOR ?

Y

1 Y

COORDINATOR IN SERVICE ?

N

EMPTY ? N 3

2

COORDINATOR → WORKSTATION START COO

N 2

EMPTY ? Y RESUME MODEL

1

Key: C00 - Coordinator OSAIPS - Operating System for Automatic Information Processing System

EOP - End of PUC PUC - Program Under Control

Fig. 6.6 Training simulator hardware schematic and software flow diagram (Mierczyslaw Rozent)

6.3.5 Microprocessor-Based Power Automatic Data Processing Systems The initial automatic information processing system used in the regional power control centres (see Sect. 6.3.1) had magnetic disc or drum memories and required air-conditioned rooms. However, air conditioning was expensive and not provided

162

6 ICT Software and Applications

in the rooms used by the engineers controlling lower levels of the power distribution system. Fortunately, fewer variables needed to be controlled at these lower levels so data processing systems without magnetic discs or drums could be used. This led to the design and development of a simplified switched measurement display. As sometimes still happens, greater attention was probably given to the climate control needs of the technology than the engineers working with it. However, it should be noted that good building and ventilation to prevent overheating is generally a better solution than air conditioning for people and the environment. The simplified display used the Intel 8080, an eight-bit microprocessor which had just become available in Poland. Its general architecture is shown in Fig. 6.7. A set of input/output modules was connected to the Intel 8080 microprocessor via the display bus. A number of modules connected to the dispatch board provided input from the distant interfaces and output commands to them. They were also able to communicate with a variety of other remote digital and analogue stations. The subsequent modules communicated with the specialised power industry peripherals located in the control engineers’ room. The design and development team was composed of several hardware and software designers who needed to understand each other’s work (Kuberska et al., 1987). Therefore, care was taken to ensure that all the designers were aware of the processes and assumptions used, for instance, by taking notes of the initial design and circulating them to all the designers involved.

6.3.6 Power Plant Database Project The power plant database project was intended to support the development of a 6.36 GW fossil fuel power plant in Poland. In this period, particularly in Poland, there was considerably less concern about the environment and the negative impacts of this type of plant than there is today. The aim was to provide a complete information and control system for the power station. Due to the size and importance of the plant, significant financial resources were made available for the ICT systems. A large design and development team was set up for the database computer-integrated manufacturing and management system which covered both power generation and power plant management (Lewoc et al., 1989b). Its architecture is shown in Fig. 6.8. The power plant computers were assembled at computer centres in the power station and networked using the Attached Resource Computer NETwork (ARCNET) local area network (Anon, 2019). The main power plant host was the power plant database which communicated with the power plant control processor operating the power plant console. It was connected to the six power generation units (PGUs) and a virtual environmental protection PGU computer system. The latter included two computers at the operator level, namely control and presentation processors which carried out data processing and data presentation functions, respectively. These two computers also worked together with the process-level computers responsible for sequential control and data acquisition functions. Each presentation processor

6.3 Power Industry Computer System Applications and Projects Key: SMD - Switched Measure Display Telecoms - telecommunications T - Number of telecommunications stations M - Number of telecommunications modules

163

CE - Control Engineer SVDU - Semigraphical Visual Display Unit KBRD - Keyboard

MICROPROCESSOR INTEL 8080 KWP BUS

I/O MODULE 1

…

I/O MODULE T

I/O MODULE T+1

…

I/O MODULE M

SMD MICROCOMPUTER

TELECOMMS

… TELECOMMS

INTERFACE 1

INTERFACE 1

CE KBRD

CE MOCKUP

CE SVDU KBRD

POWER NETWORK CB POWER NETWORK UNDER CONTROL TELECOMMS STATION 1

… TELECOMMS STATION T

…

…

Fig. 6.7 Switched measurement display (Jan Biniewski and Tadeusz Lorenc)

served a particular PGU operator console, equipped with a colour graphical visual display unit and alphanumerical and special purpose keyboards for PGU operators (see Fig. 6.9). The project work was divided into several phases, only the first of which was successfully completed by Elwro. This involved work on the hardware and software for the control engineers’ computers for the power generating unit. These computers were the control processor, which acquired and processed the data from the PGU, and the presentation processor which organised the data displayed to operators. The combination of these two computers was referred to as the PGU operator-level system. All the database designers participated in the design of the PGU operatorlevel system. Generally, more than 50 designers attended the weekly design meetings

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Fig. 6.8 Hardware schematic of the power plant database (Antonina Kieleczawa)

and were involved in drawing up the database specifications. Flow diagrams were used to present an overview of solutions and then converted into detailed diagrams and programs. The first phase was successfully completed, and the PGU operator-level system was commissioned and tested in the IASE computer system testing laboratory. However, at this time there was a significant down turn in the Polish economy, leading to a significant reduction in the demand for electric power. The power plant development process was halted for several years. When work resumed the IASE director

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Fig. 6.9 Power generating unit (Halina Strzelecka)

had lost interest in the database project, and other companies were commissioned to carry it out. A few years later, work was started by IASE on the design and development of the operator-level system PowerSter, which was intended to provide a major subset of the database functions. Many of the designers and programmers who had worked previously on the database PGU operator-level system were involved, and IBMcompatible personal computers were used. Many of the designers and programmers had been involved in developing programs for the database control and presentation

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processor computers and could therefore draw on this experience in the design and development of PowerSter. Therefore, the PowerSter team modified these programs to be used on IBM-compatible computers. PowerSter was successfully implemented in about 200 power and heat and power plants, with a value of a few billion euros to the Polish economy (Kuberska et al., 1987; Lewoc et al., 1989a, 1989b).

6.4 Other Applications and Projects This chapter discusses briefly four applications of ICT outside the power industry: in a steel mill, radio astronomy, an inter-university communication network and television (TV) solidarity.

6.4.1 Steel Mill Control Project and Metal Cutting Device Computer production in Wroclaw was largely motivated by the need for Polish tools to support the complex control of industrial processes (Zuber, 2008). The first Polish application of this type was a steel mill control system (Fig. 6.10) designed by Elwro in the late sixties. It was used in the Lenin steel mill in Nova Huta near Kraków. This was the largest steel mill in Poland. The control system was able to monitor and control the movement of steel billets through the system and the production and technical characteristics of the resulting steel bars, and also carry out some process coordination functions. Despite the system complexity, only two engineers were involved in its design. The cold raw material in the form of billets (blocks of material) was loaded at the start of the production line. The billets were then conveyed under control by the input operator to the furnaces where they were heated to the required temperature of about 1000 °C. They were then unloaded onto a roller table leading to coarse and fine rolling mills where they were converted into bars. The hot bars were much longer than the original billets and had to be cut into the lengths specified by customers. The cut bars were weighed and directed to either the hot exit station for further processing in the metallurgical plant or the cold exit station to be sent to users. The bar mill was modern by the standards of the time and had a high output of bars of noble steels. Consequently, production lots were frequently short, and the production process required frequent operator intervention. Therefore, the operators required computer support tools to considerably speed up the production process. The Odra 1204 was available, but lacked industrial control modules. A set of industrial control modules was designed and developed. This included a digital input module to detect the direction of billet movement to support the local operator moving hot billets which had fallen out of the furnaces onto the roller table. The modules transmitted information from the sensors (photo-relays, thermometers/pyrometers, scales and operator boxes) to the CPU.

6.4 Other Applications and Projects PRODUCTION LINE

ENTRY ROLLERS

COMPUTER HARDWARE

SENSORS

DATA BOXES 1

FURNACES

THERMOMETERS

ROLLING MILLS

BM SENSORS

SCALES

167

PAPER TAPE READER &PUNCH MODULES

INTERRUPT INPUTS

DIGITAL INPUTS

BM SENSORS

SYSTEM OUTPUTS

CPU ODRA 1204

TELETYPE MODULES

DIGITAL OUTPUTS

PAPER TAPE READR-PUNCH

TELETYPES

DISPLAY PANELS

WEIGHT SENSORS EXIT STATION

1

ANALOG INPUTS

Key BM = billet movement Fig. 6.10 Steel mill control system (Willy Wojsznis)

Despite some problems, the commissioning run was carried out successfully, and the system was use in the Nowa Huta steel mill. It showed that complex computer control systems could be designed, developed, launched and operated by Polish engineers using locally developed ICT tools. Another steel mill application involved an electronic device to set the cutting shears to minimise the amount of metal wasted. The device used information about the current and desired sheet metal profile, including the length prior to milling and the desired output length. It was used in the Nowa Huta steel mill over a period of about ten years.

6.4.2 Radio Astronomy Centre Control System Amongst the other celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Nikolas Copernicus’ birth in Toru´n (now part of Poland, then under Prussia) in 1473, the Polish government set up research projects in optical astronomy and radio astronomy. The radio astronomy project involved 25 metres parabolic dishes able to travel along tracks. By superimposing signals received from various locations, the relatively small diameter movable dishes were able to provide resolution equivalent to a much larger telescope

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with diameter equal to the length of the track. This approach resulted in considerable cost savings compared to constructing the larger dish. Radio astronomers with experience of radio astronomy computers from the Netherlands, the UK and some other countries shared data with Polish radio astronomers to support developing of a Polish radio astronomy centre. This included developing a Michelson interferometer (Anon, 2020a) to improve observations from different locations. Some problems were experienced due to the incompatibility of Polish and western computers. However, western radio astronomers considered that the Polish radio astronomers would still be able to make good use of this data. Simulation runs showed that adding software to support event-driven simulation to the radio astronomy computer would better meet the radio astronomers’ performance requirements. See Fig. 6.11 for schematic diagram of radio astronomy computer. Unfortunately, the project was cancelled, allegedly because of mismanagement, with heavy financial losses of the unrelated optical astronomy project.

Fig. 6.11 Schematic diagram of radio astronomy computer (Krystyna Woyczynska)

6.4 Other Applications and Projects

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6.4.3 Inter-University Communication Network Project There was a movement for developing heterogeneous computer networks (linking computers of different types) in the 1970s and 80s, particularly in academic circles and in Europe. It indicated a protest by potential computer network users against pressure from big hardware firms, more concerned about their profit than user needs, for all users to use the firms’ hardware in their networks. Many universities around the world had established their own computer network design and development teams to devise and test their own networking solutions. This movement was accompanied by the exchange of technical information to support the successful interconnection of individual networking solutions into larger networks and the development of networking standards by the International Telegraph and Telephone Consultative Committee, currently the Telecommunication Standardisation Sector of the International Telegraph Union. A Polish network project was set up with both practical and scientific aims. Its practical aim was the design, investigation, development and implementation of an inter-university network of the type described by Bieleninik et al. (1985) which could link users with different types of hardware, analogously to the current Internet. Its scientific goal was the development of appropriate methods and procedures for future computer networks using state-of-the-art technologies. This project was considerably more complex than any previous ICT networking project in Poland, and therefore there was a lack of specialists with appropriate expertise in complex computer systems. The first phase of the project involved networking three important Polish academic centres: Warsaw (node 1), Wroclaw (node 2) and Gliwice (node 3) using Odra 1305 host computers in each location (see Sect. 5.6.2) and a R32 computer (equivalent to the IBM System/360) (see Sect. 5.7.1) in Wrocław. The architecture (see Fig. 6.12) had a central component representing the three nodes. Before the start of the project, the Wrocław Technical University purchased several Russian SM-3 computers for it. These computers were based on PDP-11/20 minicomputers (Anon, 2020b) and provided with communication adapters. They could be used to develop communication network nodes. A communication node operating system (see Fig. 6.13) was developed to support the definition of appropriate inter-program interfaces. Its kernel governed the operation of the node software. The PDP-11/20 processor offered eight preemptive priority levels for programs running on the computer, of which the operating system used five. This enabled higher-priority programs to interrupt lower priority ones. The highest level 5, was assigned to the node initialisation routine so that it could not be interrupted and to the communication adapters. The available adapters did not have communication buffers or direct memory access. Therefore, they generated an interrupt request signal to be received and read by the communication service routine (driver) for each 8-bit

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ODRA 1305

NODE 1

. . .

ODRA 1305

NODE 2 R-32

ODRA 1305 NODE 3

. . .

. . .

Fig. 6.12 Inter-university computer network (Eugeniusz Bilski)

character received or transmitted. Although transmission rates did not exceed 10 kilobits per second, data transmission put significant demands on node performance. The disc drives used in the communication network nodes had a number of disadvantages. In particular, disc transmission slowed down node operation and introduced unacceptable delays. Therefore, the programs using data transfer via the node were installed in the core memory. However, the network did not develop a mechanism to archive information and overwrite programs, i.e. to transfer data, including a block of program code, to internal memory to replace or overwrite data already stored there. Therefore, it could not use programs which were larger than the main computer memory. Priority level 3 was assigned to the drivers of the basic peripherals, such as the paper reader, paper punch and printer, to enable the node operator to operate the node easily. The basic node transmission programs were run at priority level 2. The communication drivers initiated an input job on detection of the end of a frame (the basic data unit transferred via communication links). When a frame was transmitted to the node, a series of tasks was initiated. They included executing the general node organisational functions, transmitting frames via relevant links and packets of data via the computer network and testing network interconnection and performance. In addition, they involved executing node output transmission completion requests, which governed the node output processes. Priority level 1 was intended for auxiliary routines, which were not involved in the basic node transmission functions, e.g. the node—operator interface.

6.4 Other Applications and Projects

INITIALISATION

171

COMMUNICATION LEVEL 5

DISC DRIVES LEVEL 4

BASIC PERIPHERALS

COORDINATOR

LEVEL 3 INPUT JOB

INPUT TASK LINK LEVEL NETWORK LEVEL

OUTPUT TASKS

CLOCK AND OTHER TASKS

OPERATING SYSTEM UTILITIES (NETWORKING SUBROUTINES)

TESTING TASK

LEVEL 2 TASKS LEVEL 2

OPERATOR INTERFACE TASKS

PERFORMANCE MEASURING TASKS

LEVEL 1 UTILITIES

PACKET GENERATOR

PACKET PROCESSING

LEVEL 1

Fig. 6.13 Communication node operating system for the inter-university computer network (Wieslaw Czajkowski, Wojciech Strzalkowk and Marek Slugocki)

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Soon after the assembly of the communication network node software, it was discovered that the operating system used almost all the 28 kiloword memory available to PDP 11/20 programs. The remaining memory was insufficient for transmission requirements, particularly at high traffic intensities, leading to a slowing down of node operation. A PDP-11/20 hardware engineer from the University of Cambridge Computer Laboratory, who was visiting the Wrocław University of Technology, suggested a solution. This involved connecting a PDP11/20 processor with a 32 kiloword memory and reducing the reserved memory area from four to two kilowords. This made two additional kilowords of memory area available for program use without causing any computer programming or operation problems. This was achieved by changing a single wire connection, which was carried out under the supervision of the visiting hardware engineer. Other important modifications to the operating system involved adding more than twenty additional data buffers. This was very successful and enabled the limited 32 kiloword memory of the PDP-11/12 to be used effectively. Complete node software versions were uploaded on the three SM-3 node computers and thoroughly tested at the Wroclaw University of Technology. Following the tests, two node computers were sent to Warsaw and Gliwice, and the inter-university network started operating. During this period, additional computers, including Odra 1305 at the Wroclaw University of Economics, were connected to the network. See Fig. 6.14 for the Wroclaw node. It was eventually phased out after several years when new generation computer equipment, connected to the Internet, was installed at the Wroclaw University of Technology. The previous experience with computer networks obtained on the inter-university computer network enabled the new network to be set up very quickly. The current Wroclaw academic computer network is linked to the Polish academic network PIONEER and the European network GEANT (Lewoc et al., 1989a).

6.4.4 TV Solidarity Project Martial law was introduced in Poland in December 1981 with the main aim of stopping the growth of the Solidarity Trade Union movement. Many Solidarity activists were interned, including the Solidarity Leader, Lech Walesa. Solidarity supporters who remained at liberty set up the Solidarity Underground to continue to circulate their ideas and to work for the release of their comrades. As an illegal organisation fighting the Polish establishment before the advent of the Internet and social media, it lacked access to both official and unofficial media to publish its ideas. This led to the creative proposal of broadcasting Solidarity information on the national government-owned television. This required the development of a device to add a local TV signal modulated with Solidarity information to the official TV signal. This would enable Solidarity information to be superimposed on the official TV image on the screens of viewers in a particular city or district.

6.4 Other Applications and Projects

173

Fig. 6.14 Wroclaw node of inter-university communication network

A Solidarity TV device was designed fairly soon after martial law was established. However, the radio astronomer involved was arrested and sent to prison. Unfortunately, he had not left detailed blueprints, so a redesign was required (see Fig. 6.15). The device processed the signal from the receiving and transmitting antennae. This involved retrieving the synchronised signals from the complex TV signal, filtering these signals and inputting them to the TV message. The signals were input to the

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R/TA = receiving and transmitting

TV SIGNAL RECEIVER

SYNCHRONISER

&

ADDED TEXT PROM

SIGNAL SERIALIZER

&

SIGNAL TRANSMITTER

ADDED TEXT CONTROL

CONTROL KEY PAD Fig. 6.15 Schematic diagram of Solidarity TV (Zbigniew Kochel)

synchroniser operating the left hand gate of the signal serialiser where the Solidarity message recorded on programmable read-only memory was added. The resulting signal was serialised by the signal serialiser and fed to the right hand gate, which was operated by a combination of the signals from the synchroniser and the signal serialiser. This enabled the transmission of an additional text line containing the Solidarity message to a location on the TV screen determined by the Solidarity TV operators using the control key pad. The TV signal, modulated with the added text, was amplified by the signal transmitter and fed to the receiving and transmitting antennae.

6.5 Conclusions The chapter has presented the main software developed for and used by the different Elwro computers and a selection of power industry and other projects and applications. Successive computers developed by Elwro were more complex and provided greater capabilities. This meant both a need for additional software to run successive computers and provided a much greater potential for use in applications. For

6.5 Conclusions

175

instance, the Odra 1325 was the first Polish computer able to be used in industrial control applications. However, Poland did not develop a software industry to complement its computer hardware industry. A software firm was not set up and Elwro was unable to diversify to produce advanced software. Elwro was able to produce sufficient software for its early computers, but found this more difficult as computer capacity, requirements and potential increased. For instance, it modified Algol 60 for the Odra 1204 rather than developing its own high-level languages which could be used on a variety of computers. When restrictions on access to computers from abroad were lifted, Elwro produced versions of ICL 1900 series computers to gain access to their rich software. While these developments had advantages, they did not stimulate the development of Polish software and hardware. The chapter also discusses applications and projects in the power and other industries. In particular, it shows the ability of Polish engineers, designers and developers to develop effective solutions to improve the effectiveness of process management and industrial control in power distribution. This had very significant benefits to the Polish economy. In some cases, particular ingenuity was shown in the design, for instance, of a training simulator for power network control engineers by defining and recording responses to control engineer actions in the simulator rather than requiring them to be calculated. This is in line with some modern approaches which model the performance of experts. However, external factors sometimes affected the ability to complete or implement power plant and other industrial technology projects. For instance, the power plant database project (Sect. 6.3.6) was cancelled due to a significant downturn in the Polish economy and the radio astronomy project (Sect. 6.4.2) was ended, allegedly due to mismanagement of an unrelated optical astronomy project. Of the other projects the inter-university networking project (Sect. 6.4.3) was particularly interesting as a precursor of modern networking and the Internet. The Solidarity TV project (Sect. 6.4.4) can be considered an early precursor of modern technologies which, for instance, allow audio descriptions for blind people to be transmitted in a separate signal. Acknowledgements We would like to thank the following people providing for useful and important information without which we would not have been able to write this chapter. We have organised the list of contributions by the chapter sections rather than author names to make it easier to determine who we obtained particular sections of information from. 6.2.2 Odra 1003 and 1013 Software L. Zajchowska and F. Klejn: MOST automatic coding system. 6.2.5 Odra 1300 Software Józef Muszy´nski: Elwro modification of ICL executive. 6.3.2 Operating System for the Regional Power Control Centre Automatic Information Processing System M. Rozent and J. Patkiewicz: design and development of application-oriented operating system to be run on Odra 1325.

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6.3.4 Power Network Training Simulator M. Rozent: Commissioning of IASE to develop a power network training simulator M. Rozent and E. Weksej: Computing power required to simulate training objects. T. A. Bicz, E. Bieleninik, M. Rozent and E. Weksej: percentage of engineers trained on the simulator. 6.3.5 Microprocessor-Based Power Automatic Data Processing Systems J. Biniewski, and T. Lorenc: Display architecture. A. Kuberska: importance of hardware and software designers understanding each other’s work in microprocessor-based system design. 6.4.1 Steel-Mill Production Control Project and Metal Cutting Device R. Kolek, W. Suszynski, ´ W. Wojsznis: Details of Metal Cutting Device W. Wojsznis: First Polish tool for complex control of industrial processes. 6.4.4 Inter-University Communication Network Project Dudziak: Purchase of SM-3 computers and use of communication adaptors to develop communication notes. Ch. Cheney: Solution for insufficient memory. 6.4.5 TV Solidarity Project Z. Kochel, S. Olejnik, A. Kuberska, M. Tuła: Lack of blueprint for original design A. Kuberska: processing of TV signal. We would like to thank the following for the technical drawings: • Fabian Klejn: Fig. 6.1 SOW operating system procedures • Jozef Muszynski: Fig. 6.2 Typical software flow diagram under EX2P Executive • Mierczysław Rozent: Fig. 6.4 Operating system for automatic data processing system for power industry control centres; and Fig. 6.6 Training simulator hardware schematic and software flow diagram • Jan Biniewski and Tadeusz Lorenc: Fig. 6.7 Switched measurement display • Antonina Kieleczawa: Fig. 6.8 Hardware schematic of the power plant database • Halina Strzelecka: Fig. 6.9 Power generating unit • Willy Wojsznis: Fig. 6.10 Steel mill control system • Krystyna Woyczynska: Fig. 6.11 Schematic diagram of radio astronomy computer • Eugeniusz Bilski: Fig. 6.12 Inter-university computer network • Wieslaw Czajkowski, Wojciech Strzalkowk and Marek Slugocki: Fig. 6.13 Communication node operating system for inter-university computer network • Peter McKenna for modifying Figs. 6.8, 6.9, 6.11 and 6.14. • Zbigniew Kochel: Fig. 6.15 Schematic diagram of Solidarity TV

Appendix 6.1: Technical Terms Attached Resource Computer NETwork (ARCNET): communications protocol (standard which provides a set of rules and procedures) for local area networks. It was the first widely available microcomputer networking system and was popular in the 1980s for office automation. It is now very rarely used.

Appendix 6.1: Technical Terms

177

Assembly or assembler language: it is converted into machine code by a program called an assembler. Each assembler has its own assembly language. Instructions in assembly language correspond strongly to the machine code instructions. Billet: a solid block of material with its size dependent on the size of the desired part. Binary code: representation of data such as computer programs using a two symbol system, e.g. 0s and 1 s. Bit: binary digit, i.e. a 1 or 0, is the smallest unit of measurement of computer data. Buffer pool: an area of main memory used as a data cache. Cache memory: memory that is nearest the CPU and where recent instructions are stored. Central processing unit (CPU): the unit that carries out most of the processing in a computer. Compiler: translates computer code into a different programming language. It is generally used to translate from a higher-level language used to write programs to a lower-level language so that the program can be executed by the computer. Computer architecture: specifies how a computer system is designed and what technologies it is compatible with. Core: computer memory used before the development of random-access memory (RAM) Database: a collection of data, or information that is organised to facilitate the storage, rapid search, retrieval, modification, and deletion of data by a computer. Data buffer: an area of physical data storage used to temporarily store data while it is being moved from one location to another, for instance between two computer processes or between input and output devices. Dispatch board: central location from which the status of activities can be viewed. Driver: a program that enables a hardware device to communicate with the computer operating system and operates and controls the devices, for instance, sending print requests and data to be printed to be sent to a printer. Emulator: software (programs) or hardware that enables one computer system to behave like a different one, for instance to use programs designed for the second one. Execution time or run time: the time when the computer is executing the machine code. Fixed point: a type of computer data with a fixed number of digits before and after the decimal point. This limits the range of values than can be represented.

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Floating point: a type of computer data, which is used in most modern computers, as it can represent a wide range of numbers precisely. It uses scientific notation (one digit before the decimal point and an unlimited number of digits) afterwards multiplied by a power of 10. Flow diagram or chart: used to structure complex systems by representing the flow of information. Frame: data transmission unit in computer networking and telecommunications. High-level programming language: programming language that is easier to write, read and maintain and closer to human language than low-level languages. A program in a high-level language needs to be compiled to machine code to be run by a computer. Integrated circuit (IC): a set of electronic circuits on a small flat piece or chip of semiconductor material, generally silicon. Interrupt: a signal to the operating system to stop work on one process and start work on another. Kernel: the central component of most computer operating systems which provides and manages computer resources and allows other programs to access them, and communicates between hardware and software. Local area network: connects computers in a limited area. Line printer: printer which prints a complete line of text at a time. Machine code: computer program written in machine language which is a numerical language. It provides instructions which the CPU can execute directly. Each instruction relates to a specific task. Memory: where data and programs are stored on a computer. It can be volatile or non-volatile with information stored in volatile memory lost when the computer is turned off or otherwise loses power. Memory address: a memory location used by hardware and software and specified by a fixed length sequence of digits. Michelson interferometer: precision instrument that splits a beam of light into two and recombines the beams after they have travelled different optical paths. The resulting pattern of interference of the two light beams is generally directed to a camera or other detector. Microinstruction: a very low-level instruction for a CPU to perform a very small task or one of a series of basic instructions which make up a high-level machine instruction. Microprocessor: a computer processor with the functions of a CPU on a single or up to eight integrated circuits.

Appendix 6.1: Technical Terms

179

Microprogramming: writing low-level code called microcode which defines how a microprocessor should execute machine code instructions. Generally there are several microcode instructions for each machine code instruction. Network node: a device or computer in a network. Object code: produced when a compiler translates source code of a higher-level language computer instructions into machine code to be executed by the computer. Operating system: program that manages computer programs, hardware and resources and provides common services for computer programs. Paper tape: data storage consisting of a long strip of paper in which holes are punched. Parallel processing: performs several task at the same time. Patch cable: electrical cable used to connect one device to another, generally divided into strands for flexibility. Peripheral: external device which provides input to or receives output from the computer. Preemptive scheduling: allows higher priority tasks to interrupt lower priority tasks, which are resumed after the higher priority task has finished. In non-preemptive scheduling running tasks cannot be interrupted and need to be completed before starting a new task. Process image: copy of the process state at a particular point in time. Processor register: a location that the computer CPU can access quickly. Data is generally moved from memory to registers to carry out arithmetic and other operations. Punched card deck: used to store programs in early computers. Reserved memory area: part of the CPU memory that cannot be used for general processing tasks. Serialisation: converting data structures or state information into a format such as binary or text that can be stored, e.g. in a file or memory buffer or transmitted, e.g. across a network. Serial processing: performing one task at a time. Source program: original program written by a programmer which needs to be converted into machine code by a compiler to be executed by a computer. Symbolic address: reference to a memory location by a convenient symbol or word which frequently has some relevance to the data stored at that address. Symbolic language: a programming language which uses symbols convenient to people rather than strings of numbers.

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Teletype: an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages. Transmission rate or bit rate: the number of bits that are transmitted or processed per unit of time. Three-valued logic: each digit can take one of three possible values, e.g. − 1, 0, + 1. Virtual computer: a computer file that behaves like a computer, creating a computer within a computer. Visual display unit VDU: a device used to display characters or images representing data in the computer memory. Word: the unit of data used in a particular processor design. The number of bits in a word is the word length and an important feature of the processor design or computer architecture.

Appendix 6.2: Software, Computers and Organisations Cluster control unit: ICL display unit controller. ICL: International Computers Ltd, large UK computer firm that operated 1968–2002. Jas: J˛ezyk Adresów Symbolicznych (symbolic address language). Mason: Mało Aktywny System Operacyjno-Nadzorczy (minimally active operational-supervisory System). Momik: minicomputer with an 8 kilobyte memory. MOST: Bridge–term used for Odra 1003 and 1013 software. PAS: Podstawowy Algorytmiczny System programowania (basic algorithmic programming system). PDP11: Series of 16-bit minicomputers sold between the 1970s and the 1990s. It has a number of innovative features that made it easier to program than earlier PDP models. It may have been the most popular minicomputer ever. The PDP11/20 was the first PDP11 which had the Unibus as its principal bus. The Unibus was the earliest bus design used with PDP11 minicomputers. It was used both as a system bus for the CPU-main memory communication and as a peripheral bus for peripherals to send and receive data. PJN: Podstawowy Numeryczny J˛ezyk Numeryczny programowania (basic numerical programming language). SOW: System Operacyjno-Wykonawczy (operational-executive system).

References

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References Anon. (2015). Tabulating machines. Available https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tabulating_machine Anon. (2016). Momik 8b. Available https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/MOMIK_8b (in Polish). Anon. (2019). ARCNET. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARCNET Anon. (2020a). Michelson interferometer. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelson_interferometer Anon. (2020b). PDP-11. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PDP-11 Bieleninik, E., et al. (1985). Communication network of the inter-university computer network. Informatyka 11–12 (in Polish). Bieleninik, E., Lewoc, J. B., & Stanisz, A. (1987). Recommendations and requirements for collective use as means of laboratory basis organisation. In Computing technology of COMECON countries (In Russian). Błach, L. K., Lewoc, J. B., & Ruszkowska, A. (1990). Prediction of influence of OSI and X.25 on communication network. PNP. Bosnjak, R. (1980). Mladost. In History with computers. Jerzykiewicz, K., & Szczepkowicz, J. (1973). Algol 1204: Odra 1204 computer programming system. PWN Warszawa (in Polish). Kuberska, A., Lewoc, J. B., & Misiura, L. Z. (1968). A semigraphical visual display for power dispatching purposes. Work with Display Units. Kuberska, A., Tuła J. M., & Lewoc, J. B. (1987). Power dispatching oriented microcomputer data presentation system. RELCOMEX. Ksi˛az˙ Castle. Lewoc, J., & Rozent, M. (1979). Effects of automatic restart on availability of some real-time computer systems. RELCOMEX’ 79. Ksi˛az˙ Castle. Lewoc, J. B., Misiura, L. Z., & Sołdek, J. K. (1989a). A case study: Performance evaluation for IKSAIP terminal network. RELCOMEX ’89. Ksi˛az˙ Castle. ´ Lewoc, J. B., & Slusarska, E., & Tomczyk, A. (1989b). A distributed data base for real-time control/monitoring of power plants. In E. Knuth & M. G. Rodd (Eds.), Distributed databases in real-time control (IFAC/IFIP) (p. 6). Pergamon Press. Lewoc, J. B., Rozent, M., & Saczuk, I. (1992). The computing power and the computer systems for the power industry in Poland. MICC (IFAC). Lewoc, J. B., Izworski, A., Skowronski, S., & Kieleczawa, A. (2008). A case study: history of Polish computer applications in power system control. In History of Computing and Education 3 (HCE3) IFIP 20 the World Computer Congress, Proceedings of the Third IFIP Conference on the History of Computing and Education WG 9.7/TC9, History of Computing, September 7–10, 2008, Milan, Italy(pp. 23–36). Springer US. Macminik. (2015). Good programs. Elwro. Part 4—Odra 1013 and 1103—we improve what we have (in Polish). Ma´ckowiak, B., Myszkier, A., & Safader, B. (2017). Polish computers were Borne in ELWRO. In Wrocław (Ed.), Trzaskowska G. Publication within the framework of the editorial cycle “Lower Silesia Yesterday and Today” (in Polish). Parsquali, V. (Ed.). (1996). The ICT/ICL 1900 range. Shamot, G. (2018). History of computers. In Polish computers—Odra 1103, Odra 1204 (in Polish). Zuber, R. (2008). My memories of Elwro. Available: http://www.elwrowcy.republika.pl/strona11. html (in Polish)

Part IV

Case Studies of Ethics and Human Behaviour

Chapter 7

Case Studies of Ethical and Human Behaviour Issues in ICT and Application Development Projects

7.1 Introduction Technology development raises a number of ethical issues, as well as issues related to behaviour. This chapter discusses some of the issues that arose in the information and communications technology (ICT) and automation industries in Poland using seven case studies of real situations and the ethics and behaviour framework presented in Chap. 2. The issues discussed are typical of some of the problems that can occur. Though the details are specific to Poland, the underlying issues are wider and could occur elsewhere. The following chapter will apply the framework to case studies from outside Poland. For ease of reference, the ethics and behaviour analysis framework is presented in the appendix to the chapter. The topics covered, years in which they occur and sections in which they are presented, are as follows: 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 7.6 7.7 7.8

Exclusion from design work, 1980s and 1991 Radio astronomy centre cancellation, 1969 TV Solidarity, an illegal project to release political prisoners, 1982–84 Project implementation bonuses, 1975 and early 1980s Technology transfer, 1970s and 1990s Designer responsibilities in a safety critical context, 1975 Privatisation and liquidation of Elwro, 1993 and 2000.

7.2 Exclusion from Design Work The leading designers of the hardware of the Odra 1204 computer (Sect. 5.5.1) and a steel mill system (Sect. 6.4.1) were promoted to managerial positions after the successful launch and commissioning run, respectively, rather than being given further design and development work. The Odra designer, who was considered the best Elwro computer leading designer, soon resigned, whereas the steel mill designer © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_7

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was forced out by the politically appointed manager. They both subsequently had very successful careers outside Poland. The KON-10 was an application-oriented computer with simpler hardware and software than the Odra 1325. A concerted campaign of bullying, including false accusations of poor work and missed deadlines, was directed against its leading hardware designer by the politically appointed manager. This forced him to resign in the early seventies before the start of KON-10 production. Consequently, the KON-10 computers were never produced. The leading designer eventually obtained employment in a private company and became a hardware designer of small-scale computer peripherals, a post which did not make full use of his experience and expertise.

7.2.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework In terms of deontological ethics, managers have duties to both the staff and projects and/or organisations they manage, though these duties may be slightly different in different countries and cultures. However, we would suggest that good practice duties to staff include duties of care, encouraging staff to use and develop their interests and skills and supporting career development, as well as fair treatment without favouritism. These duties are not in conflict with duties to the project and organisation, as generally treating people well and taking account of their abilities, interests and needs enables them to work more effectively with benefits to the project and organisation. The managers’ actions in removing the three leading designers were counter to these duties. There is no evidence that they considered either the needs of the designers to use and develop their skills or the needs of these and future projects for the designers’ involvement. Even the forced promotions were counter to the designers’ wishes and did not benefit them. In terms of positive utilitarianism the limited benefits were all to the managers, mainly unearned bonuses and other payments and prestige from successfully managing an important project. They were considerably outweighed by the costs and risks. In the case of the KON-10 designer, they included non-production of the computer and the associated wasted effort and loss of the economic and other benefits that might have resulted from its production. The future benefits of the designers’ work, including in training subsequent designers and their tacit knowledge, were also lost. This may have had a negative impact on the development of the computer industry in Poland. Another risk related to further entrenching bad practices, including bullying. The three managers did nothing to mitigate the risks and costs. In terms of virtue ethics, bullying, forcing someone out of their job or even promoting them out of it against their wishes are not the types of behaviour which develop good character or are typical of a virtuous person. This is particularly true in the bullying case, which is likely to have had a very negative impact on character.

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As already discussed, the managers’ actions were neither beneficent nor nonmaleficent, as they caused harms and were only beneficial to themselves and at a cost to others. Their actions did not respect the autonomy of the leading designers to carry out their work and to work in the areas most suited to their talents, abilities and interests. Justice was particularly lacking in the cases of the KON-10 and steel mill designers, as they were bullied or otherwise forced out of their jobs. In terms of the ethics of care, the managers did not consider the impact of removing the leading designers on relationships between them and their colleagues and the team as a whole. Campaigns of bullying generally have particularly negative impacts in the workplace and cause suspicion and mistrust. Removing the leading designers from their chosen careers also showed a lack of concern for their needs, wishes and interests. The managers did not try to obtain ‘consent’ from the leading designers counter to the ethics of social experimentation. They also paid no attention to interactions and long-term consequences, for instance of the loss of important expertise to Poland, counter to eco-centred ethics. In summary, the discussion shows that the three managers’ behaviour was unethical under all the theories. In particular, their focus was on short-term benefits to themselves, and they did not consider short and longer-term costs to others, counter to both deontological and utilitarian ethics or the impact on project teams counter to the ethics of care. This narrow egocentric perspective, which ignored the needs of others, is also not typical of a virtuous person and so counter to virtue ethics.

7.2.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework At the time influential managerial posts were generally filled by political appointees and were sought after as a way of increasing prestige and wealth and gaining other opportunities while doing minimal work to earn them. These political appointees were generally in a powerful position with limited oversight of their activities, though they were expected to support the regime. They purported to serve the interests of the population as a whole, but frequently focused on advancing their own interests. Thus, the treatment of the three leading designers could be considered examples of habitual self-serving behaviour, carried out without consideration of the wider consequences or even whether it would be effective in promoting the managers’ interests. In terms of the Existence, relatedness and growth (ERG) theory, existence and particularly material needs related to increasing material wealth seem to have been the most relevant to the managers. Authority/power and the need to lead, be influential and in control were the most important of the three motivating needs. Their behaviour was probably motivated by a desire to obtain credit and material benefits from other people’s hard work rather than to develop and achieve things themselves. The central values of the managers seem to have largely related to selfpromotion, meeting their own needs and a belief in their own entitlements, with self-transcendence values lacking. Their values may have also involved some selfdeception and a belief that what was good for them was also good for society as a

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whole. The prevailing managerial culture seems to have had at least tacit acceptance of some corruption and taking advantage of others’ hard work, while portraying what they were doing as serving the people of Poland. However, a culture which encourages corruption does not absolve individuals from responsibility for behaving ethically themselves. The risks to an ethical manager of acting to change the culture in their firm would depend on the extent to which other managers felt threatened by this. However, even without challenging the prevailing culture, the three managers could have acted ethically by leaving the leading designers in their positions and not trying to misappropriate the rewards due for their work. The managers’ main goals seem to have been gain ones of maintaining and significantly improving their resources and hedonic ones of doing this as soon as possible. They seem to have had minimal interest in acting appropriately or achieving positive change. Acting against the somewhat corrupt managerial culture was more difficult than acting in accordance with it. However, all that was required in the cases discussed here was for the managers to take no action. While this may have required resisting the ‘opportunities’ offered by a corrupt system, it should not have required great self-efficacy. There do not seem to have been any real pressures on the three managers to behave ethically. However, the corrupt managerial culture may have led to tacit expectations of some degree of unethical behaviour on occasion. It seems likely that the three managers were conformists and would not have taken action to remove the leading designers in a context which did not encourage corruption. Fear probably influenced much of the population in Poland to some extent at that time. It was probably not the strongest influence on the managers, though it is likely they were concerned about doing anything that could put their comfortable life style at risk. This would make them highly unwilling to challenge the prevailing ethos. In summary, the discussion indicates that the three managers were probably relatively weak-willed people without strong moral principles, who desired material wealth and prestige, but lacked the willingness or ability to try to earn them. They saw opportunities to advance themselves at the expense of others and took advantage of them without considering the costs of their actions and their impact on other people’s lives. It is possible that one or more of them engaged in self-deception that they were acting in the public interest or that they really were entitled to rewards obtained from other people’s work. They probably lacked a strong ability to engage in independent thought and challenge generally accepted practices, or even to consider whether or not they were ethical.

7.3 Radio Astronomy Centre Cancellation The celebrations of the 500th anniversary of Nikolas Copernicus’ birth included research projects and centres in optical and radio astronomy (Sect. 6.4.2). Work on the radio astronomy centre was started in 1962 and continued until 1969 when it was cancelled by the First Secretary of the Polish Communist Party, Wladyslaw

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Golmulka. The officially stated reason was the mismanagement with heavy financial losses of the unrelated optical astronomy project. As discussed in Sect. 3.2.3, this was a difficult period for Poland with poor living standards, food shortages and the repeal of the liberalising reforms Gomulka introduced earlier.

7.3.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework In terms of deontological ethics, Gomulka as first secretary had diverse duties, particularly to the people of Poland, with by no means all of them relevant to this discussion. They included taking measures to improve living standards and human rights and promote education and research, both for their value in themselves and for their applications. He also had an obligation to seek qualified advisers and make decisions based on full information, and to be honest or at the minimum not to lie to the people of Poland. Cancelling a project based on the failure of an unrelated project does not show evidence of promoting science or making informed decisions. If this was a pretext and Gomulka had other reasons for the cancellation, then he was being dishonest to the Polish people. There was clearly a need to improve living standards and ensure that adequate good quality food was available to everyone. This would probably require improving the economy. There is some evidence that public spending on education, health, research and development and innovation can stimulate economic growth and reduce poverty (Chemingui, 2007; Conte et al., 2009). Projects celebrating important anniversaries, such as Copernicus’ half century can increase confidence in the economy and motivation, whereas cancelling them can have the opposite effect. Cancellation after seven years meant that the money that had already been spent on it was wasted without the savings being significant in the context of the Polish economy. Therefore, the cancellation may have damaged the economy and possibly also had a negative impact on national confidence. Other risks and harms included possibly significant damage to the development of astronomy in Poland and a negative effect on the motivation and careers of stakeholders, i.e. everyone involved in developing the centre and Polish astronomers, particularly those intending to use the centre. Thus the costs and risks considerably outweighed the potential benefits and no attempts were made to mitigate the harms. In terms of virtue ethics both cancelling a project due to the failure of another project and misrepresenting the reasons for cancellation are not typical of a virtuous person and unlikely to develop good character. A person of good moral character would be expected to make decisions on relevant facts, be sure of their facts before making decisions and to show moral courage in defending projects of intrinsic value. Cancellation at a late stage could also indicate a lack of decisiveness. Proceeding with the project would have had significant benefits to the development of astronomy in Poland and professional and amateur astronomers and enabled to pursue their legitimate interests. Cancelling it did the opposite and was therefore not beneficent. Harm resulted from lost opportunities and actual and potential damage to

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stakeholders’ careers, so the cancellation was not non-maleficent. The decision was not just, as it was based on the performance of a totally unrelated project. Cancelling the centre without consultation reduced the stakeholders’ ability to act autonomously. Therefore, the decision was not ethical in terms of the four normative principles. In terms of the ethics of care cancellation did not take account of stakeholders’ needs, wishes and interests. It also ignored the probably disruptive effect on relationships. There was no consultation with those involved in the development and potential users, as required by the ethics of social experimentation. The decision was purely short term with no consideration of long term and indirect consequences or connections and interactions, so the cancellation was counter to eco-centred ethics. It is possible that changes should have been made to the way in which the centre was constructed or managed to reduce environmental impacts, but this was not considered. The discussion using the ethical framework has shown that the decision to cancel the project was counter to all the ethical theories. The cancellation had minimal benefits and significant costs. Whether or not the pretext of non-performance of an unrelated project was the real reason, it was counter to obligations and not typical of a virtuous person.

7.3.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework Like many politicians, Gomulka had authority/power needs (three motivating needs), in particular the need to remain in power and to some extent affiliation motivation needs (three motivating needs) to be popular. He experienced a further need to be approved of by Moscow and therefore difficulties in balancing the need for popularity through liberalising measures with the need to be approved of by Moscow. During the period in which the centre was cancelled, the need for Moscow’s approval seems to have won out, and he introduced more repressive measures. This difficult balancing act may have resulted in him making poor decisions on at least some occasions. Gomulka’s values seem to have included a genuine commitment to workers’ rights, union organisation and social issues, as shown by his early activism. He was also committed to Poland and its people, opposed agrarian reform and unfortunately antisemitic. His values included some degree of self-direction, as he was able to stand up to Moscow on forced collectivisation (Anon, 2020a; Bromke, undated). There is also the unpleasant possibility that Gomulka’s actions were influenced by antisemitism, particularly if, for some reason, he considered it a ‘Jewish’ project or that there were ‘too many’ Jews involved in the centre. Gomulka seems to have had a mixture of gain, normative, achievement and positive change goals, as a result of the balancing act he was engaged in. A genuine desire to improve the conditions of the Polish people was modified by the need for approval from Moscow. While senior figures, such as first secretaries, would be expected to have a high level of self-efficacy, Gomulka experienced imprisonment and periods of persecution on Stalin’s orders (Anon, 2020a; Bromke, undated). This is likely to have reduced his confidence and on some occasions made him more cautious than

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he would have been otherwise. In his cancellation of the radio astronomy project, he showed a lack of self-efficacy. The discussion using the ethics framework is conclusive that the decision to cancel the radio astronomy telescope project was not ethical. However, the discussion in this section is much less clear about the real reasons for this. The failure of an unrelated project was probably a pretext. The most likely explanation is that it was an ill-conceived response to the difficult economic situation in Poland and increasing pressure from Moscow. Another possible and unpleasant explanation is antisemitism.

7.4 TV Solidarity, an Illegal Project to Release Political Prisoners Martial law was introduced in Poland in December 1981 with the main aim of halting the growth of the Solidarity Trade Union movement. Many Solidarity activists were interned, including the Solidarity Leader, Lech Walesa. Most of the imprisoned Solidarity activists had been arrested to prevent the organisation of a mass demonstration (see Sect. 3.2.3). This was counter to articles 9 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR, 1948) on freedom from arbitrary detention and freedom of assembly and association. Solidarity supporters who remained at liberty set up the Solidarity Underground to continue to circulate their ideas and to work for the release of their imprisoned comrades. As this was before the advent of the Internet and social media, they needed a cheap way of obtaining large-scale publicity. They came up with the creative idea of using Television (TV) Solidarity to add a signal with Solidarity information to a popular programme on the national government-owned television (Sect. 6.4.4). This project and the Solidarity Underground were illegal. The first TV Solidarity system was developed in 1982, but the project developer was unfortunately arrested before it could be used and did not leave any blueprints. A new leading designer and three other designers were brought together to carry out the project in 1984. Two applications were developed and tested, and everything was in place to implement them when the majority of the political prisoners were released. The project was therefore wound down.

7.4.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework One of the main ethical issues raised is the conflict between law and morality and the conditions under which it is acceptable or even required to break the law in the interests of ethics. Members of organisations have a duty to support other members arrested for membership of the organisation or in connection with its activities, as well as to promote and act in defence of the principles of human rights. This is clearly relevant in this case, particularly since the arrests violated UDHR articles 9 and 20.

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They also have a duty to obey the law. Imprisoning people for being a member of a trade union and to prevent a mass demonstration is against the principles of human rights and reduces their autonomy through loss of liberty and being prevented from organising. Action to free these activists was based on duty and obligation to them. There were probably few legal actions that could have been taken which would have had a chance of success. The benefits were the possibility of freeing their imprisoned comrades and weakening an unjust regime. The risks and costs were the possibility of further Solidarity activists being arrested, further repression, the Solidarity movement being weakened if the action was unsuccessful and the fact the action was illegal. The Solidarity activists presumably considered the benefits to outweigh the risks. It is also reasonable for activists to take risks while working for positive change, as otherwise they would do very little. Whether and in what circumstances it is justifiable to break the law is largely a matter of values. However, many sets of values would support or at least not oppose non-violent illegal action aimed at obtaining the release of unjustly imprisoned political prisoners. In terms of virtue ethics, standing up against (perceived) injustice and acting in support of imprisoned comrades at possible risk to oneself can be considered to be typical of a virtuous person and to build good character. In terms of normative principles, as already discussed, the activists’ actions were beneficent. Although overall benefits outweighed harms, their actions were not without harms, including the possibility of further arrests and other repression and the harms involved in acting illegally. The TV Solidarity aims of liberating political prisoners were just, as they had been imprisoned unfairly and to prevent them organising a demonstration. Being freed would also significantly increase the autonomy of the political prisoners. With regard to the ethics of care the project originated in the relationships between Solidarity members and concern for those imprisoned. There was also awareness of wider social relationships and the impact of the imprisonment of the Solidarity members and the issues leading to this on society as a whole. However, there was very little concern for the impact on the workers producing the targeted programme. In summary, the discussion shows that many ethical theories upheld the illegal project. While value judgements are required about whether other benefits outweighed the illegality of the action, many sets of values would recognise that the context justified illegal action. The analysis has considered whether the use of illegal action was justified. However, it has not considered, but could have been used to do this, whether the regime was so unjust that action was required to overturn it.

7.4.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework The need for justice is not covered by either the ERG theory or that of the three motivational needs. In terms of these theories, the main needs were relatedness (ERG) and affiliation (three motivational needs), since the focus was on the needs of imprisoned colleagues. There was also interest in authority/power needs in terms of having an impact and achieving change.

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The activists’ values included benevolence and universalism, as they wanted to both liberate their imprisoned comrades (benevolence) and improve the situation of the people of Poland (universalism). They also valued action over waiting for things to happen and self-direction, including with regard to action and justice. These values all encouraged them to take action to put pressure on the authorities for the release of the imprisoned activists. The Solidarity culture was in line with these values. The activists’ goals involved implementing their values and positive change. There were both technical difficulties and practical difficulties, including the risk of arrest, in carrying out the project. However, the activists did not seem discouraged by the difficulties. When, for instance, the original project developer was arrested and did not leave any blueprints, the activists found a new leading designer and restarted the project from scratch. Thus, the activists had high self-efficacy, as they were not discouraged by the difficulties. At the time, as discussed in Sect. 3.2.3, there was considerable support for Solidarity and opposition to the regime. There was also recognition of the possibility of both arbitrary arrests and arrests for engagement in political protests and therefore support for political prisoners. Thus, social pressures were in support of action to free Solidarity prisoners, rather than opposed to it. There was a climate of fear at the time, but the activists were able to resist it to take the action they considered necessary. In summary, the discussion of behaviour shows activists motivated by concerns about imprisoned comrades and values of positive change, benevolence and universalism. They were able to overcome difficulties and their focus was positive, with little attention given to possible risks and negative outcomes. The discussion indicates why the Solidarity activists considered (illegal) action to release their imprisoned comrades necessary, but not why they chose the particular form of action.

7.5 Project Implementation Bonuses Two related examples, illustrating the way in which benefits were assigned and sometimes misappropriated, will be presented. At the time it was common practice for bonuses to be awarded to the teams involved in the successful completion of projects. In the case of large and important projects this could amount to very significant sums, for instance about 100 million euros to be shared between 30 to 40 members of the project teams. The first case involved a Polish inter-university computer network which was set up in the early 1980s (Sect. 6.4.3). The design and development work involved several experienced teams. However, counter to common practice, none of the teams or their leaders involved in this work received recognition of any kind. They subsequently learnt by chance that a gift coupon for a small Polish car had been given for this work to a researcher in another city who had no involvement in the project. Very low car ownership in Poland at the time made this a much more valuable benefit than it would be now.

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The PowerSter software used in control applications in the power industry was implemented in more than 200 power and combined heat and power plants (Sect. 6.3.6). Many of the PowerSter designers were underpaid. The bonus for this work would have been about 100 million euros to be shared between the few dozen members of the design and implementation teams. However, they received nothing and this large sum of money seems to have disappeared without a trace. Subsequent meetings between leading designers and project managers failed to determine what had happened and naturally gave rise to suspicions that the bonus had been misappropriated in some way.

7.5.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework This example raises a number of ethical issues related to implementation bonuses, including whether they should be paid at all and, if so, their size, and who should receive them. The discussion will first consider the ethics of paying implementation bonuses in the early ICT and automation industry in Poland and subsequently their payment to people not associated with the project. In terms of deontological ethics, employers have duties to workers, including the provision of adequate payment. Thus, the underpayment of some of the PowerSter workers was counter to deontological ethics. The payment of bonuses benefited recipients by providing a financial reward and additional recognition for their work. However, as in the PowerSter case, bonuses could be used to justify lower salaries and underpayment. Further risks of (high) bonuses include reducing the funding available for other projects, possibly preventing some good projects from being funded and favouritism or discrimination in awarding bonuses. Since the benefits were to individuals, whereas the risks and harms had a much wider impact on research and development, including available funding for other projects, I would suggest that the costs and harms outweighed the benefits, particularly for high value bonuses. There was no evidence of measures having been taken to mitigate against the possible harms. Thus, implementation bonuses were counter to positive and negative utilitarianism. The availability of bonuses is probably more likely to discourage then encourage virtue, as they provided temptations to choose projects based on their bonuses rather than for their intrinsic value. As already discussed, there are harms associated with implementation bonuses, and they have limited benefits, rather than generally benefiting others and removing harms. The use of bonuses can reduce autonomy by having an inappropriate impact on project choices and reducing the available funding and possibly also available employment on some projects. In addition to the risks of unfair bonus allocation, external factors, such as project cancellation before completion, could affect the receipt of bonuses. Thus, the payment of implementation bonuses is counter to the four normative principles, particularly when the bonuses are large. Bonuses received by the whole project team and divided equally among members could strengthen relationships and support team building. However, they could be

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divisive and lead to a breakdown of relationships where only some team members received them or received greater bonuses than others, or there were (significant) differences in the bonuses for different projects. Thus, the use of bonuses did not consider everyone’s needs and did not meet the ethics of care. The use of large implementation bonuses could have had negative long term impacts, including reducing the availability of research and development funding. In summary, the discussion shows that the payment of particularly large implementation bonuses raises various ethical issues and was likely to be unethical under all the theories, as the benefits were to individual teams, whereas the costs and harms were much wider and could affect research as a whole. The ethics of awarding implementation bonuses to someone not involved in the project will now be discussed. In terms of deontological ethics, there are obligations to allocate bonuses fairly. This should exclude payments to people who have not been involved in the project. With regard to utilitarianism, payment of bonuses to those who have not earned them has few benefits and considerable risks. The latter include discouraging effort by the recipients and possibly making them consider themselves entitled to unearned rewards, as well as making team members who have earned bonuses but not received them feel slighted and undervalued. Thus, the costs and risks were greater than the benefits, particularly since these were received by someone who was not entitled to them. In terms of virtue ethics, systems of allocating reward to those who have not earned them are highly unlikely to develop virtue and virtuous people are unlikely to accept them. The payment of bonuses to people not involved, and non-payment to team members is clearly against the principle of justice. It is likely to reduce autonomy, as it enables some people to obtain rewards they have not earned. It is directly counter to helping people pursue their legitimate interests, so is not beneficent. As discussed in the previous paragraph, it also causes a variety of harms. Therefore, paying bonuses to those who have not earned them is neither beneficent nor nonmaleficent. It can disrupt relationships and lead to feelings of grievance. It does not consider the situation in its full complexity or show sensitivity to the wishes and interests of project team members. Therefore, it is counter to the ethics of care. Thus, in summary, as would be expected, the ethical theories show that allocating implementation benefits to people not involved in the project is clearly unethical.

7.5.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework Payment of implementation bonuses was standard practice in Poland at the time and therefore part of habitual behaviour. These bonuses mainly met existence needs (ERG), as they are a material benefit. However, they could be considered a sign of recognition and achievement and therefore to some extent also met achievement and authority/power needs (three motivating needs). Availability of bonuses was compatible with achievement and power values and benevolence rather than universalism, as they benefited some people, but not everyone.

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The associated goals were gain, normative and achievement ones, since they were intended to encourage both project achievement and appropriate behaviour. Team members who challenged the system may have had bonuses reduced, regardless of project performance. Although correct bonuses were not paid in the two examples being considered, paying correct bonuses is not something that should be expected to be particularly difficult and so self-efficacy should not have been relevant. With regard to conformity, there were probably both pressures for fair allocation of bonuses and expectations of favouritism. In the first of the two examples, the expectations of favouritism seem to have won out, as a bonus was paid to a researcher not involved in the project, whereas the project team did not receive anything. In summary, the payment of bonuses was general practice and thus a habitual behaviour. It was also supported by existence and to some extent achievement and authority/power needs and gain, normative and achievement goals. The behaviour of the researcher outside the project who received the small car and the ‘donor’ responsible for organising this will now be discussed. Existence, particularly material, needs (ERG) and to some extent authority/power (three motivational needs) were probably the main relevant needs for the researcher. The unearned benefit provided them an opportunity to benefit materially and possibly also to improve their status. The donor is likely to have been influenced by authority/power and affiliation needs (three motivating needs). Being in a position to decide on bonus recipients would have increased their influence. Their motivation could have been to create dependency and a client-type relationship, to put the researcher in the position of owing them a favour or to do a favour for a friend of family member (if this was their relationship to the researcher). Researchers generally value significant research achievement, achieving leadership and frequently using their research to achieve positive change and also have some material values. It is possible that the behaviour was not typical for the researcher or the donor and that one or other or both of them succumbed to temptation, for instance to benefit a friend or family member or gain influence in the case of the donor, and did not have strong enough values to resist it. The managerial organisational culture, as discussed in the first case study, to some extent accepted and even promoted corruption. This is likely to have had an influence on both the researcher and the donor. However, the researcher would have also been influenced by research culture, which stresses the importance of properly accrediting work and not claiming credit for others’ work. They may therefore have experienced a conflict between the demands of these two different cultures. The goals of both the researcher and donor probably included gain and authority/power goals. The donor’s actions were not incompatible with a very limited perspective on ‘positive change’ goals, for instance arranging a bonus for a researcher they considered had missed out on other bonuses. It is possible that the researcher would have preferred not to accept the car, but did not know how to refuse or return it. They may therefore have had low self-efficacy and this lack of belief in their ability to return the car prevented them trying to do so. With regard to conformity, the researcher, but possibly not the donor, would have experienced social pressures to carry out research ethically and behave professionally,

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including through not accepting unearned benefits. These pressures did not have any effect on the researcher’s behaviour, though may have had an emotional effect. Fear is more likely to have affected the researcher than the donor, due to a degree of pervasive corruption. The researcher may have been afraid of being identified with possibly significant negative consequences in the research community, though this does not seem to have affected their behaviour. They may have also been afraid of the consequences of not accepting the car or returning it due to the identity and relative power of the donor. In summary, the discussion indicates that the donor was probably influenced by authority/power and affiliation needs, including the development of a client relationship. It is also possible that they were tempted by the opportunity to benefit a friend or family member. The researcher may have been basically honest, but did not have strong enough values to resist temptation or was fearful of refusing or returning the car due to the donor’s power and influence. Another possibility is that they prioritised existence over other types of needs.

7.6 Technology Transfer The relaxation in the embargoes in the 1970s enabled Elwro to obtain a licence to produce computers compatible with the International Computers Limited (ICL) 1900 series and to use the ICL 1900 software on these computers. A complete technology transfer process seems to have been carried out, including the associated documentation (see Sect. 6.2.5). However, the large volume of resulting documentation was not easy to manage. A number of large ICT firms were set up in Wroclaw after 1989. This gave rise to the potential for further technology transfer and knowledge exchange in both directions between Elwro and other existing ICT firms and the new ones. Unfortunately, this did not always happen. For instance, four large western firms did not employ any of the local pioneers despite their considerable experience and expertise. They were also unsuccessful and had to withdraw from Wroclaw. There are some indications that firms which made an effort to work with local experts were more successful. However, research would be required to determine whether there was a causal relationship.

7.6.1 Analysis Using Ethical Framework The discussion here considers solely the technology transfer behaviour of different firms and not other aspects of their operations. Thus, any conclusions about ethical or unethical behaviour relate solely to technology transfer and do not imply that the particular firm was ethical or unethical in general.

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Principles drawn up for multicultural research and research with indigenous people (AIATSIS, 2000; Bradby, 2002; Pollard, 1992, 2002; Smith, 2008; Tapp et al., 1974) can be extended to cover technology transfer and working in other countries. They include respect, recognition and involvement, avoiding harm and ensuring benefits to the host community and fostering the skills of host community professionals and, as far as possible, enabling their contribution. This would imply the involvement of local experts, transfer of know-how as well as technology and operating in ways that benefit and contribute to the development of local communities. This was complied with in the ICL 1900 transfer process, but not by the four large firms discussed in the introduction to this section. As indicated in the brief discussion of principles, involving local experts is more likely to result in benefits to local communities and could also increase the firm’s chances of success. The potential risks and harms resulting from not involving local experts include their possible loss of employment and/or downgrading of their expertise and potential damage to local economies. Further, risks include developing unsuitable products and alienating the local community, both of which could affect sales locally, as well as failing to fully develop the firm’s expertise and losing the skills of good local experts to competitors. No measures were taken by the firms that did not involve local experts to reduce or prevent these negative consequences. Respecting and involving local experts is both more likely to develop good character and more typical of people with good character than not doing this. As already indicated, the involvement of local experts is generally beneficent, whereas their non-involvement could be damaging to the development of local expertise and local technology industries, as well as to the particular experts who were not included and to the firm that did not involve them. Involving local experts is also in accordance with principles of justice and autonomy, as it supports the development of local expertise and local communities. Not involving local experts is also inconsistent with the ethics of care, as it does not value them or consider the needs of all stakeholders. In terms of eco-centred ethics, it may increase the likelihood of overseas firms acting in ways that destroy local resources and economies in order to make a quick profit. The involvement of local experts may increase the likelihood of long-term and indirect consequences being considered, particularly as they affect the area in which the technology transfer is taking place. In summary, the discussion has shown that technology transfer which does not involve local experts is unethical under all the theories. In particular, it does not take account of duties to the local community and relationships, and harms are greater than benefits. Involving local experts in ways that are respectful of them is ethical under all the theories.

7.6.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework Habitual behaviours with regard to working practices may be relevant, with some firms habitually recognising the value of diversity and treating everyone respectfully

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and others more likely to behave disrespectfully to particular groups of people. Existence needs (ERG) are relevant to all firms. Relatedness needs (ERG) and affiliation motivations (three motivating needs) are also important, as encouraging positive feelings and loyalty towards the product and firm is one of the mechanisms by which firms develop and maintain their customer base. Many firms, particularly larger ones, also have authority/power needs as they want to become leaders in the field and their products to be seen to be significant. Meeting these needs is, in principle, possible both through involving and through not involving local experts. There is some evidence of the value of (cultural) diversity in enhancing creativity and improving competitive advantage (Raatikainen, 2002). Thus, being able to draw on more diverse expertise may increase the chances of becoming a leader in the field. ICL’s main markets were in the UK public sector, including government, local authorities and nationalised industries. It was also set up and operated at least part of the time under a reasonably left wing government. This and debates at the time about inclusion and diversity probably positively affected ICL’s values and led to a respect for diversity and inclusion. These values may have influenced ICL’s treatment of Elwro in the technology transfer process and the full transfer of information. The four large firms’ values seem to have been based on gain, the profit motive and a colonialist mentality which did not take diversity and inclusion seriously. This led to a poor technology transfer process and lack of engagement with local experts. As discussed above, ICL was probably influenced by debates of the time to take account of diversity and inclusion. However, it is unlikely that ICL or any of the other firms would have experienced pressures to behave in a particular way in Poland. While there was considerable interest in the fall of the Berlin Wall and the Eastern Bloc, this did not extend in a significant way to industrial practice. In summary, ICL’s values and culture were probably influenced by the debates in the UK at the time on diversity and inclusion and having been set up by a reasonably left wing government. This probably made it relatively open to working with and valuing local experts. The four large firms did not experience influences of this type, and this probably resulted in a business culture which prioritised profit and did not understand the value of diversity and inclusion.

7.7 Designer Responsibilities in a Safety Critical Context ˙ Construction of the Zarnowiec nuclear power plant in the village of Kartoszyno in the north of Poland, about 50 km north-west of Gdansk, started in 1982, and all the village inhabitants were relocated. Completion of the first reactor block was originally planned for 1989 and subsequently postponed to December 1990. The disaster at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant in the Ukraine in 1986 led to a wave of protests and forced the government to hold a referendum. This was postponed from 1987 until after the 1990 local elections. The result was very strongly (86.1%) against the reactor, but participation was too low for it to be legally binding. Opposition intensified and the project was finally cancelled in September 1990 on the pretext of

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a lack of a need for it and possible safety issues. The real reasons were the public opposition and desire to build support for the new government (Anon, 2020b). One of the pioneers was invited to join the project working on developing automation systems for the power plant. However, he became aware that the design teams included incompetent as well as competent designers and that the design approach was unsatisfactory. While competent designers and appropriate design are always important, the designer recognised that they are crucial in safety critical applications such as nuclear power plants and that their lack could have very serious negative consequences. The designer therefore withdrew from the project in 1975, well before construction started. However, he did not engage in any whistleblowing or other activities to draw attention to the potentially unsafe design and lack of competence of some of the designers to ensure that changes were made to significantly reduce risks and improve safety. Equally, the designer did not express any concerns about nuclear power. Since this was well before the Chernobyl disaster and associated publicity about the risks associated with nuclear power, he may not have been aware of them. The ethics and behaviour analysis will focus on the designer’s behaviour in withdrawing from the project without whistleblowing or otherwise trying to improve safety of the nuclear plant. It will not discuss the wider ethical issues raised by nuclear power.

7.7.1 Analysis Using Ethical Framework In terms of deontological ethics, designers have a variety of professional obligations. As expressed for instance in engineering and computer science professional codes, there is general agreement about the obligations to carry out their work professionally and with due attention to safety and the existence of wider duties to the general public (Oldenquist & Slowter, 1979). While there is some recognition of the primacy of duties to the public over duties to employers, professional codes frequently did not give clear guidance on what to do in the case of conflicting obligations (Oldenquist & Slowter, 1979). Many firms now have whistleblowing policies and whistleblowing hotlines to support anonymous whistleblowing. Unfortunately, this was not the case at the time and whistleblowing could have significant costs (Hersh, 2002). However, we would suggest that in a potentially safety critical environment there is a duty to take action to prevent unsafe practices as part of the wider duty to society and the environment. Thus, the designer’s actions did not fully meet his obligations. Withdrawing from the project was a principled action that ensured the designer did not contribute to developing or benefiting from the development of potentially unsafe systems in a safety critical context. However, he did nothing to prevent the development of a potentially unsafe system. Thus, the benefits were purely negative, and the costs could have been significant, so his actions did not comply with positive and negative utilitarian ethics.

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In terms of virtue ethics, not participating in a project with a potentially dangerous design is the action of a virtuous person and contributes to building good character. However, not taking any action to prevent the implementation of a possibly dangerous design is the opposite. Withdrawal from the project was intended to be beneficent, but was insufficient to avoid harm, so was not non-maleficent. Other people (and the environment) could be harmed by the potentially dangerous design, thereby reducing their autonomy and being counter to justice. In terms of the ethics of care, there was insufficient attention to the situation in all its complexity and a lack of consideration of everyone’s needs. This included the needs of workers at the plant and people in the surrounding area who could be injured as the result of an accident, though the people in the village had already been relocated. In terms of eco-centred ethics not taking action to prevent the unsafe design being implemented could have had serious consequences, including in the long term. In summary, the discussion has indicated that withdrawing from participation without taking further action to prevent an unsafe design being used and ensure, as far as possible, designer competence, was not ethical. However, the analysis does show the ethical value of withdrawing from the project.

7.7.2 Analysis Using Behavioural Framework (Leading) designers and other technical personnel in this period in Poland probably encountered potentially unsafe designs and other unsatisfactory practices with depressing frequency. Thus, withdrawing from such projects without whistleblowing or further action could be, but is not necessarily, a habitual response. Meeting achievement needs (three motivating needs) was probably the most relevant of the different needs, as it relates to challenging, but realistic goals and therefore includes good professional practice. Authority/power seems not to have been relevant, as the designer took no action to show leadership by countering the threat of a potentially unsafe design. Relatedness and affiliation motivation needs may have had an impact in the negative context of avoiding association with people who behaved unprofessionally and whose work was a potential source of danger. The designer’s values included achievement, security, benevolence and, to some extent, universalism and power. However, stronger universalism or power values would have led to further action to reduce the risk from the potentially unsafe design and incompetent designers. The designer’s goals included achievement, positive change and normative/appropriate action goals, as well as behaving professionally, showing competence and avoiding association with unprofessional, including dangerous, practices. His actions in withdrawing from the project ensured that he was not complicit in carrying out an unsafe project, but did not go further to meet his other goals, including of positive change.

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The designer had high self-efficacy with regard to overcoming technical challenges to carry out projects successfully, but low self-efficacy with regard to challenging the ways in which projects were carried out. This confidence in his technical competence, but lack of confidence in being able to change the way the project was carried out, for instance through whistleblowing, probably contributed to the choice to take no further action. Technical professionals generally work best together in a collegial atmosphere which encourages the sharing of ideas and good practice. Thus, the most immediate pressures on the leading design were to behave professionally, which was not difficult for him. Unfortunately, the oppressive political climate of the period generated fear. This may have led technical professionals to keep their heads down and do their jobs to the best of their ability, but avoid taking action to draw attention to problems in their organisations. This probably had a significant role in the designer’s decision to withdraw from the project, but not to take any action to correct the potentially dangerous practices. In summary, a number of factors, including professionalism and his values and goals, contributed to the leading designer’s decision to withdraw from the project. The factors which led him not to take any further action to prevent an unsafe project being carried out probably included the oppressive political climate which encouraged people to keep quiet for fear of retaliation and a lack of belief in his ability to effectively challenge and change the way the project was being carried out.

7.8 Privatisation and Liquidation of Elwro Elwro was an electronics firm set up in Wroclaw in 1959 by the Polish government. It was intended to produce computers as part of the development of an independent Polish computer industry and as a way of countering the western embargoes on advanced electronics. It was very successful and at its height employed 6000 people. In 1993 80% of Elwro’s assets were sold to Siemens and 20% to the workers. Siemens wound down production. In 2000 what was left, including the workers’ 20%, was sold to Telect without consulting the workers. They received relatively high redundancy payments, but none of the proceeds from the sale (Sect. 3.8). The ethics and behavioural analysis will focus on the ethical responsibility and actions of the Polish government, the owners of Elwro.

7.8.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework In terms of deontological ethics, the Polish government as the owner of Elwro had duties to manage Elwro in the interests of the people of Poland as well as all the duties of an employer to the workers, including fair treatment, terms and conditions, and ensuring there were jobs available to them. It clearly failed in these duties, as

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the workers eventually lost their jobs (though they did receive good redundancy payments) and the profits from the sale were not used to benefit the Polish people. With regard to utilitarian ethics, the sale had few benefits to the Polish people or the workers. The government presumably obtained the proceeds, but there is little evidence of them being used to benefit the Polish people. Siemens and Telect presumably also benefited, but it is unlikely that the sale benefited their workers. There were very significant costs, in particular the loss of the main Polish computer manufacturer, the loss of the workers’ jobs and the ending of computer manufacture in Poland. This probably had a negative impact on the Polish economy, though subsequent events countered it. The government does not seem to have taken any measures to mitigate the harms, for instance by putting conditions on the sale which required Elwro’s continued existence as a computer manufacturer and prevented ‘downsizing’ at least for a reasonable period. In terms of virtue ethics, the responsible Polish ministers seem to have done what was easiest for them rather than what was best for the Polish people. Taking the easiest option is not typical of virtuous people and does not build good character. As already indicated, there were limited benefits and significant harms, so the sale was not beneficent or non-maleficent. The sale was not particularly fair to the workers or the Polish people. It did not take account of the autonomy of the workers, who ended up losing their jobs. Therefore, this action did not meet the four normative principles. With regard to the ethics of social experimentation, the workers were not provided with full information about the likely consequences of different options to enable them to give informed consent. In terms of the ethics of care, little attention was given to the full complexity of the situation and the needs of all parties, including the workers and the people of Poland for a viable computer industry. Some attention was given to the workers’ needs through permitting them to purchase 20% of the firm. However, this was insufficient to prevent the running down and eventual liquidation of Elwro, counter to the workers’ interests, since they lost their jobs. In addition, this broke up many existing relationships. With regard to eco-centred ethics, the focus was very much short term, and little attention was given to the likely negative medium and long-term consequences of the sale. In summary, the discussion shows that the sale of Elwro was unethical on all the criteria. It did not meet the government’s obligation to the people, benefits were minimal and harms significant and it disrupted relationships.

7.8.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework The sale of Elwro took place only a few years after the major political upheaval in 1989 at a time when the role of government was still developing in Poland. There was probably also excessive influence from free market philosophies, which may have been inadequately understood, leaving the Polish government unable to take action to reduce the impacts of the associated problems.

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All governments have existence (ERG) and authority/power and affiliation motivations (three motivational needs). They need to maintain themselves in power. Excluding governments maintained in power by armed or other force (which is not particularly ethical) this generally requires them to be liked or at least have the support of some sections of the population. The Polish government of the time probably felt a strong need to imitate western governments, including through the introduction of free market economics, but without necessarily understanding them. In the sale of Elwro, the perceived need to imitate western free market economies probably had a significant impact. The central values of the government of the time were based on centre right politics, free market values and a rejection of the values of the previous regime as expressed in its rhetoric. This made privatisation and selling off the assets of firms seem a good idea. It discouraged investigation of potential disadvantages and whether it was possible and, if so, how, to use the sale to benefit the people of Poland. The government’s goals were largely based on implementation of these values, in addition to the goals of most governments of remaining in power and being perceived to do good and act in the interests of the people. The government of the time probably had relatively low self-efficacy, though it would have been unlikely to admit this publicly. It was unable to manage the sale so as to minimise the resulting disadvantages. Governments experience a range of different pressures. However, it seems unlikely that there were particularly strong pressures to sell off Elwro, and any such pressures were probably countered by pride in having a Polish computer industry and pressures to maintain it. In summary, the sale of Elwro took place at a time when the concept of government was evolving in Poland. The desire to emulate western free market economies was strong, but without a full understanding of how they worked and their disadvantages. This led to pressures to sell off government-owned firms, such as Elwro, without recognising that this was almost certainly counter to the interests of the Polish people and could lead to workers losing their jobs.

7.9 Conclusions The chapter has presented seven different case studies of real situations involving ICT and automation in Poland and applied the ethics and behaviour analysis framework to them. The framework has been used to discuss actual behaviour in the situation, but the ethics component of the framework could also be used to determine what behaviours would be ethical in the given situation. In most cases, the analysis reached conclusions on whether or not the behaviour was ethical. In some cases, this was relatively easy and did not require much recourse to value judgements. These cases included the three examples of leading designers being excluded from design work to allow their politically appointed managers to profit (Sect. 7.2), and the payment of implementation bonuses to someone not involved in the project (Sect. 7.5). In other cases, such as project withdrawal due to

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safety concerns without whistleblowing (Sect. 7.7), the analysis had to make value judgements in order to reach conclusions. The behavioural analysis discussed and provided indicative explanations for the reasons for particular behaviours. However, the lack of information and ability to interview participants makes them suggestions rather than definitive. Although the particular situations took place in Poland, they are more widely relevant. For instance, technology transfer (Sect. 7.6) is still an important issue and frequently involves more powerful countries with better developed ICT and other industries and less powerful ones. As the discussion indicates, it is both more ethical and more likely to be beneficial to both parties to involve local experts and treat them respectfully, as well as ensure that knowledge exchange takes place in both directions. Although large implementation bonuses of the type discussed here (Sect. 3.5) are not common, formal and informal rewards of different types are. There are also associated risks of favouritism and discrimination. Unfortunately, as in Sect. 7.7, technical professionals still find themselves in situations where inappropriate and dangerous decisions have been made and/or other colleagues may not be totally competent. They have a professional and ethical responsibility to try to rectify the situation to avoid possibly serious harms, but would be advised to take action with the support of colleagues to avoid victimisation from whistleblowing on their own (Hersh, 2002). Governments are still selling off nationally owned firms (Sect. 7.8). Despite their apparently greater understanding of the ways in which the process works, it is still not uncommon for the people not to receive any benefits from the profits. Although the examples discussed have wider relevance, there are aspects of the context which affect how people behave in them. The context of many of these examples was one of pervasive low-level fear and some degree of corruption. As illustrated in the exclusion from design work example (Sect. 7.2), people who would not do say in a different context may be encouraged to behave unethically in ways that disadvantage others in a context that encourages corruption. Being in an unethical culture can increase temptations or otherwise make it more difficult to behave ethically. However, it does not remove individual responsibility. The example also shows the importance of developing organisational and other cultures that encourage ethical behaviour.

Appendix 7.1: Ethics and Human Behaviour Analysis Framework Ethics Framework 1. Process and consequences 1.1 Deontological ethics: considers duties and obligations. 1.2 Positive utilitarianism: assesses benefits against risks and costs.

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1.3 Negative utilitarianism: offsetting or mitigating present or future harms. 2. Character, rights and principles 2.1 Virtue ethics: supports actions which build good character and considers the impact of behaviour on character. 2.2 Normative ethics: beneficence—promoting acts that benefit others and removing/preventing harm; non-maleficence—avoiding harms; justice— fairness including need for distributive justice, what is due and autonomy— define and determine needs and have them met. 3. Consent, relationships and consequences 3.1 The ethics of social experimentation: informed consent. 3.2 The ethics of care: full complexity of situation; sensitivity to others’ wishes and interests; nurturing and preserving network of relationships; taking account of everyone’s needs including your own and response to need and showing caring. 3.3 Eco-centred ethics: connections and interactions, including long-term and indirect consequences. Human Behaviour Framework 1. Habitual behaviours: the default state. 2. Needs: 2.1 The ERG theory: existence (material and physiological); relatedness (with other people); and growth (personal development, using existing abilities and new ones). 2.2 The three motivating needs: achievement (realistic, but challenging goals); authority/power (need to lead and have impact) and affiliation motivations (friendly relations and being liked). 3. Values and culture: 3.1 Central values: stimulation, self-direction, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, benevolence, universalism, hedonism. 3.2 Organisational culture: prevailing perceptions of typical organisational practices and procedures that have ethical content; a number of common values. 4. Goals and ability to implement them 4.1 Goals: hedonic (feeling better now); gain (maintaining and improving resources); normative (acting appropriately); achievement (overcoming challenges, accomplishing things); positive change (overcoming threats and negative treatment of others, benefiting others/society or the planet) 4.2 Self-efficacy: perceived ability to carry out behaviour necessary to achieve particular types of outcomes.

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5. External influences: 5.1 Conformity: sticking to principles, ignoring/non-conformity, compliance, internalisation, integration. 5.2 Responses to fear: cover-ups, accepting or participating in bad practice, overcoming it.

References AIATSIS. (2000). Guidelines for ethical research in indigenous studies. In Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. http://www.aiatsis.au/research/docs/ethics.pdf. Cited August 9, 2010. Anon. (2020a). Władysław Gomułka. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/W%C5%82adys%C5% 82aw_Gomu%C5%82ka. Accessed May 13, 2020. ˙ Anon. (2020b). Zarnowiec nuclear power plant. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C5%BBarno wiec_Nuclear_Power_Plant. Accessed May 14, 2020. Bradby, H. (2002). Translating culture and language: A research note on multilingual settings. Sociology of Health and Illness, 24(6), 842–855. Bromke, A. (undated). Władysław Gomułka. https://www.britannica.com/biography/WladyslawGomulka. Accessed May 13, 2020. Chemingui, M. A. (2007). Public spending and poverty reduction in an oil-based economy: The case of Yemen (No. 589-2016-39789). Conte, A., Schweizer, P., Dierx, A., & Ilzkovitz, F. (2009). An analysis of the efficiency of public spending and national policies in the area of R&D. Hersh, M. A. (2002). Whistleblowers—Heroes or traitors?: Individual and collective responsibility for ethical behaviour. Annual Reviews in Control, 26(2), 243–262. Oldenquist, G., & Slowter, E. E. (1979). Proposed: A single code of ethics for all engineers. Professional Engineer, 49(5), 8–11. Pollard, R. Q., Jr. (1992). Cross-cultural ethics in the conduct of deafness research. Rehabilitation Psychology, 37(2), 87–101. Pollard, R. Q., Jr. (2002). Ethical conduct in research involving deaf people. In V. A. Gutman (Ed.), Ethics in mental health and deafness (pp. 162–178). Gallaudet UP. Raatikainen, P. (2002). Contributions of multiculturalism to the competitive advantage of an organisation (commentary). Singapore Management Review, 24(1), 81–89. Smith, L. T. (2008). On tricky ground: Researching the native. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The landscape of qualitative research, 3rd ed. (pp. 113–143). Sage. Tapp, J. L., et al. (1974). Continuing concerns in cross-cultural ethics: A report. International Journal of Psychology, 9(3), 231–249. UDHR. (1948). Universal declaration of human rights. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declar ation-human-rights/index.html. Accessed May 13, 2020

Chapter 8

Case Studies of Ethical Issues and Human Behaviour in Technology Development and Use

8.1 Introduction The previous chapter presented and applied the ethics and behaviour framework to a number of case studies taken from the experiences of development of information and communication technologies (ICT) and automation in Poland, particularly in Wroclaw. This chapter presents and applies this framework to seven case studies from China, Germany, India, the UK and USA. Four of the case studies are related to ICT, two cover other issues, related to car testing and genome modified babies. The remaining case study on the Bhopal chemical plant disaster includes elements of ICT, but it is not the main topic. The period covered, 1984–2019, is slightly later than that in the previous chapter. The topics, countries, years and sections are as follows: 8.2 The use of cadavers in car safety testing, Germany, 1993 8.3 Responsibility for suppliers’ treatment of workers, USA with links to Indonesia and China, 2014 8.4 Privacy and security, USA, 2015 8.5 Fire at Manchester airport, England, 1985 8.6 Two crashes involving Boeing Max aircraft, USA (Ethiopia and Indonesia), 2018–2019 8.7 Bhopal, India and USA, 1984 8.8 Withdrawal from research project proposal, Scotland, 2015 8.9 Genome-edited babies, China, 2018 For ease of reference, the ethics and behaviour analysis framework is presented in an appendix to the chapter.

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8.2 The Use of Cadavers in Car Safety Testing In 1993, it became public knowledge that Heidelberg University in Germany had used 200 cadavers, including those of eight children, in car safety testing. This led to considerable public outcry related to concerns about appropriate treatment of dead bodies and maintaining their dignity. It was subsequently revealed that similar tests were being carried out at Wayne State University in the USA. The arguments put by the universities and some US officials were that research obtained results that could not be obtained using life-size human figures (dummies). Heidelberg University claimed that the family members had given permission and were aware of the type of tests being carried out. The tests involved bodies strapped into cars that were driven into other cars, walls and other barriers. Cameras and electronic sensors were used to measure the impact on the bodies (Associated Press, 1993a, 1993b; Carlson, 2020). Cadavers are still used in car safety testing, but to a very limited extent. Their use tends not to be publicised due to very negative public reactions (Hyde, 2010). Most of the available bodies are of elderly people with more easily fractured bones than the average driver. However, this could lead to more rigorous requirements and increase safety. There are significant differences between both cadavers and dummies and live people which could affect the test results. Therefore, human volunteers are occasionally used in slow speed crash tests (McGrath, 2010). This also raises ethical issues, but they will not be considered in the subsequent discussion using the ethics and behaviour framework. Mathematical simulations involving human models, frequently based on finite elements, are increasingly being used (Vezin & Verriest, 2005). Simulations can be carried out thousands of times to model (small) changes in the details of the situation or for instance, seat belt parameters, which is not possible with dummies and cadavers. However, though the models are being improved, simulation also has limitations. It has been suggested that the use of both dummies and cadavers in testing have saved significant numbers of lives (Hyde, 2010; Nice, 2020). However, even with an in-depth analysis of all the literature and unpublished test results, it would be difficult to separate out the role of each approach and determine whether it would have been possible to obtain the same improvements without cadavers.

8.2.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework In terms of deontological ethics there were two main possibly conflicting duties, respecting dead bodies and making car safety testing as effective as possible. Using a mixture of approaches, including cadavers, may be the most effective, so these duties could be in conflict. Other duties included informed consent, from both the family and the deceased in the case of tests involving cadavers. In terms of positive utilitarianism, the benefits of carrying out the tests were the possibility of obtaining better safety data and greater improvements in safety features, such as seat belts

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and air bags, from this data than could have been obtained using dummies alone. However, this is by no means definite. In some cases, a further benefit was the family obtaining some consolation from the fact that the tests could possibly save others’ lives or reduce injury to them. The risks were related to the possibility of disrespectful treatment of dead bodies, causing public upset, and distracting attention from developing other less controversial and more effective approaches to testing. The associated uncertainties make it difficult to offset benefits against risks and costs. If the likelihood of lives being saved and injuries reduced was significantly greater when cadavers were used, then the benefits would outweigh the risks and costs. However, this was not necessarily the case. In terms of virtue ethics, it can be argued that a virtuous person would not use cadavers in testing and would instead try to find other equally or more effective means of testing. It could equally be argued that a virtuous person who believed in the greater efficacy of testing with cadavers would not be discouraged from doing this. It can also be argued that both taking into account other people’s beliefs and sensitivities and not giving in to external pressures can contribute to developing character. There is evidence that the use of cadavers in car testing improved safety and saved lives, though it is unclear whether the same could have been achieved without their use. However, there were harms to members of the public concerned about the treatment of and respect given to cadavers. There was also the potential risk of the use of cadavers unnecessarily when other approaches would have been more effective and reducing attempts to find other approaches. Thus, the use of cadavers was beneficent, but not non-maleficent. The approach took account of the autonomy of the families of the deceased, as their permission was obtained. However, it is unclear whether the deceased provided permissions that covered this type of testing in advance of their deaths. In terms of justice, the approach prioritised the needs of those who might be involved in car accidents over the needs of those concerned about the treatment of dead bodies. Whether this is considered fair, depends on both value judgements and evaluation of the evidence as to whether improvements in car safety would be possible without using cadavers in testing. In terms of the ethics of care, the focus was on the needs of people involved in car accidents rather than wider needs, and there was no attempt to consider the situation in its full complexity. The approach could have been disruptive of relationships, particularly when close family disagreed about the deceased’s wishes or themselves had differing views. A family decision to allow the cadaver of a deceased member to be used in testing could also be difficult for close friends, who would not have been consulted about this. The focus was on the short rather than long-term issues, and longer-term consequences were not considered. In summary, the discussion using the ethical analysis framework has shown that the use of cadavers in testing was beneficent, but not non-maleficent and probably did not meet the ethics of care. It has clarified the different dimensions of the problem and factors to be considered, rather than indicated what the ‘ethical decision’ should be. The main factors are whether it is feasible to carry out testing equally effectively without the use of cadavers and the value judgements about the relative importance

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of respect for cadavers and sensibilities about this and being able to use cadavers in testing if testing is (significantly) more effective with their use.

8.2.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework Research groups frequently develop a preferred methodology (or methodologies) and do not necessarily regularly evaluate it to see whether it is still the most appropriate method. This can be a form of habitual behaviour and may have played a role in the research group’s preference for continuing to use cadavers in testing. Research by definition is about overcoming challenges to achieve goals, making achievement needs (Existence, relatedness and growth (ERG) theory) important. Researchers also generally want or are encouraged to take a lead in their field, be influential and have an impact, in line with authority/power needs (three motivating needs). Using and developing abilities also plays a role in line with growth needs (ERG). However, these needs could have been achieved by other approaches to testing. Therefore, it is most likely that the use of cadavers in testing was purely a means to achieve these needs, as considered the best way of carrying out this research, rather than an aim in itself. Research groups generally have a commitment to carrying out high quality research and values which include achievement and benevolence, some degree of self-direction, stimulation and power and sometimes universalism. It is likely that the Heidelberg group considered self-direction important and were not committed to conformity and tradition. They probably also prioritised actions which had some possibility of saving life over other factors, such as the treatment of dead bodies. The values of self-direction and prioritising saving life are the ones most likely to have influenced their decision to start and continue using cadavers in testing. The selfdirection value would have facilitated resisting social pressures and using the testing approach the research group considered most effective (or had become accustomed to using). Research groups generally have achievement goals, since the aim of research is obtaining and implementing new knowledge, often through overcoming challenges. The Heidelberg group’s achievement goals were probably advancing knowledge on damage to humans resulting from collusions and using this knowledge to improve car design. It probably also had a positive change goal related to using its research to make cars safer and reduce injuries and death when collisions occurred. Gain goals are also not uncommon, related to both the resources required to carry out the research and becoming research leaders in the field. All these goals could be achieved with a variety of different testing approaches. However, the group probably considered the use of cadavers in testing more effective than other approaches and therefore a better way to reach its achievement goals. It probably also had hedonic goals in terms of wanting to achieve results quickly and may have considered this easier using cadavers than dummies or other approaches or working to improve methods of testing. All research has difficulties, but in this case they were probably not specifically related to the use of cadavers in testing. In terms of self-efficacy, the research group

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seems to have been confident about its ability to carry out cadaver testing effectively. Significant concerns had been expressed about the use of cadavers, but the research group did not seem to have affected by them. A belief in the rightness of what using cadavers in testing and strong self-direction values, as discussed above, enabled the group to ignore these pressures to change their approach. In summary, the discussion has shown a confident research group which had decided that the use of cadavers in car safety testing was the best approach. It was not particularly concerned that the use of cadavers was controversial. The research group was probably influenced by self-direction values and hedonic goals and able to ignore pressures for conformity. There was probably also an element of habitual behaviour, with the research group having adopted the use of cadavers in testing and subsequently not examined whether it was still the best approach.

8.3 Responsibility for Suppliers’ Treatment of Workers The particular example is about Apple, but the issues discussed here are relevant to many other organisations. Even when an organisation itself behaves (reasonably) ethically, there are still ethical issues related to the extent and nature of its responsibilities for the behaviour of its suppliers. During the 2014 holiday season, Apple sold 74.5 million iPhones, leading to about $52 billion profits in 2015. Tin is a major component in Apple’s products and much of it comes from Indonesia. About 70% of the tin used in electronic devices, including Apple products, comes from small-scale mines which are dangerous (Atkinson, undated). Many of the workers are children. They often work in difficult and dangerous conditions, including digging tin by hand in mines with frequent landslides which could bury them alive. A 12-year old working at the bottom of a 21.3 m high cliff of sand told a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) investigation ‘I worry about landslides. The earth slipping from up there to the bottom. It could happen’ (Bilton, 2014). Apple has stated that it has chosen to stay engaged with these suppliers to try to improve their practices rather than unilaterally refuse tin from Indonesian mines. Apple is also releasing annual reports on their work with suppliers and labour practices. While there have been some improvements in working conditions, there are still serious problems. An analogous situation holds for workers in Chinese factories making Apple products. 14 workers committed suicide in 2010 at Apple’s biggest supplier Foxconn. This led to Apple producing standards for the treatment of workers and moving some of its production. However, an investigation for a UK television documentary found that these standards were routinely ignored. Working hours were excessive with workers falling asleep at the end of 12 h shifts. There was compulsory unpaid attendance at meetings before and after work and few days off. Living conditions were often bad, with one undercover reporter housed in a cramped room with 12 other workers. Overtime was supposed to be voluntary, but none of the reporters was

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given a choice. Apple declined to be interviewed, but said it was doing more than other companies to improve standards (Bilton, 2014). Apple is producing annual reports on the practices of its suppliers which cover increasing numbers of workers. The 2015 report covered 1.6 million workers. This is considerably less than the at least 2.3 million workers Apple claimed to have educated on their rights in 2014. The reports indicate that there were 4500 bonded labourers (in effect slaves) in 2014. Apple forced suppliers to directly reimburse them and paid out $3.96 million for this (Vincent, 2015). However, this sum is very small compared to the $1.8 billion it spent on advertising in 2015 (Basulto, 2018).

8.3.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework Apple has ethical duties and obligations to ensure all aspects of its operations are ethical. This extends to the sourcing of materials and the treatment of workers by its suppliers. It is trying, but failing to meet this obligation, though there has been some improvement over time. It has a further ethical obligation to transparency about its practices. To a large extent Apple is meeting this obligation, though its reports still do not cover all the workers at its suppliers. Apple’s enormous profits and role as a market leader make filling these responsibilities even more important, as it is likely other firms will be influenced by Apple. However, it is to a large extent failing to meet its obligations, though it is genuinely trying. Apple is taking action to try to change supplier behaviour, and this is having some benefits in terms of improving working conditions for many workers. However, it has not managed to fully mitigate the high costs of supplier practices, particularly the appalling working conditions that large numbers of workers in the Apple suppliers continue to experience. There are still child workers who are missing out on their education, though Apple is trying to remedy this. Serious risks to the workers in tin mines include the risk of being buried under landslides. Apple’s approach to reducing present and future harms with regard to the treatment of workers is having some, but insufficient effect, and these harms are continuing. More radical approaches might be more effective. These include inducements such as paying significantly higher prices to suppliers that meet requirements for the treatment of workers and their terms and conditions. Apple is certainly well able to afford to do this. They also include giving suppliers targets for improving the treatment of workers and deadlines to meet them and reducing their purchases from suppliers that do not meet these targets. Thus Apple is failing to meet the requirements of positive and negative utilitarianism. With regard to virtue ethics a virtuous person or organisation would take actions to improve supplier behaviour and treatment of workers and doing so builds good character. However, Apple’s actions in this regard have been limited. It could be argued that a virtuous organisation would continuously increase both the pressure on suppliers and inducements to them to improve, as discussed in the previous paragraph. Apple has taken action aimed at helping workers to obtain acceptable terms and conditions. These include payment and improved working conditions for bonded

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workers, access to education and guaranteed employment when it ends for child workers, and ending unsafe working practices. Apple’s efforts have had some effect, but it could do a lot more to improve rights and working conditions. Thus, Apple is probably meeting beneficence, but not non-maleficence through not doing enough to prevent harms. Again Apple is trying to promote justice and autonomy for workers employed by its suppliers, but making only limited progress and not doing everything it could. To some extent, Apple has tried to pay attention to everyone’s needs, including those of the workers at its suppliers. It has maintained relationships with the suppliers, but could probably do a lot more to develop relationships with workers’ representatives. These relationships could then be used to find out their priorities and more information about their situations. This could be useful in putting pressure on its suppliers. Apple could also take measures to support worker organisation and unionisation both for workers it employs directly and for workers employed by its suppliers. Unionisation in Apple stores started in 2011 in the USA and does not seem to have been supported and encouraged by Apple. Thus, Apple is not meeting the ethics of care. In terms of eco-centred ethics, Apple is to some extent aware of long-term impacts, but not doing enough to mitigate them. The discussion here has focussed on workers’ rights, but poor working conditions are likely to be accompanied by negative impacts on the environment. The discussion has shown that Apple’s behaviour has been lacking in ethical terms, despite leading to some improvements. Its actions have been benevolent, but Apple has failed the other ethics tests to a greater or lesser extent. This includes not supporting union organisation and developing relationships with workers’ representatives as required by the ethics of care and not preventing harms to workers as required by non-maleficence.

8.3.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework To some extent, the behaviour of organisations does become habitual. They develop ways of doing things and then continue to use them. In this case, Apple had developed approaches based on encouraging suppliers to improve their treatment of workers rather than using inducements such as higher payments or (threatening to) change suppliers when they did not improve sufficiently. It has also been producing regular reports on the treatment of workers by its suppliers. Existence needs, frequently including the need for growth and increasing profit, are important to all commercial organisations. In the case of Apple, this involved maintaining its leading market position and increasing profits. Authority/power and affiliation motivation are also important to Apple, which positions itself as a trend setter and market leader and uses positive attitudes to its products and the firm as part of its marketing strategy. Apple states that its core value is to ‘make the best products in the market and to focus on selected products so they can develop and innovate’ (Anon, 2017). Other core values are ‘to make great products that will change the world’, ‘focus on the

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few [products] that are truly important to us’ and ‘excellence in every group in the company’. Like all commercial organisations, Apple is also concerned with making and increasing its profits, and its core values state how it will do this. Unfortunately, Apple’s core values do not include anything about ethics or social and environmental responsibility. Thus, while Apple has shown concern for the conditions of workers, when choices have had to be made Apple’s values have encouraged it to focus on what was good for its products and market share rather than the conditions of workers at its suppliers. Apple also states on its website that it has a ‘very accepting culture’ based on ‘inclusion and diversity’ with ‘individuality … really valued’ ‘Because to create products that serve everyone, we believe in including everyone’ (Anon, undated). To some extent Apple’s culture of valuing diversity has affected its attitude to suppliers and their treatment of workers. It has shown some evidence of being concerned about the poor treatment of workers, wherever it occurs and whatever the workers’ background, and trying to promote basic workers’ rights. Recognition that workers with good terms and conditions are likely to produce better products may have also played a role. However, Apple’s concerns were not strong enough to offer strong inducements in the form of significantly higher payments to suppliers who met basic standards for workers’ treatment or have a stepped programme of improvements for suppliers, with removal if they did not make sufficient changes. Apple’s goals are stated in its values and involve producing the ‘best products in the market’ and focusing on selected products. Its behaviour shows that it also had goals related to making a positive difference through improving working conditions at its suppliers. However, these were secondary to its main goals, though there was not necessarily any conflict between them. As a large and successful firm, Apple clearly had significant resources to put pressure on suppliers, but did not apply sufficient pressure. It recognised and possibly overstated the difficulties involved due to the complexity of the supply process and difficulties in monitoring and regulating it. Thus, Apple apparently only had low to moderate self-efficacy in this situation, as it stated that it only had a limited amount of control of the situation. There is naturally the possibility that this was an excuse for its lack of success in changing suppliers’ behaviour. Apple might have been more effective if it had been willing to commit more of its resources. Although Apple received criticisms, it continued to be popular and sales to be high. Therefore, there was no real pressure on Apple to change its behaviour and look for more effective ways of ensuring good worker treatment by all its suppliers. As in the ethics discussion, the discussion of behaviour shows that Apple could have done more, particularly with regard to increasing pressure on suppliers and (as discussed in the ethics section) encouraging unionisation and meeting with workers’ representatives. Apple states that respect for diversity is a key feature of its culture and has behaved in accordance with this, at least to some extent, in taking the treatment of workers seriously wherever it occurs. However, as expressed in its core values, Apple’s focus is its products, not the conditions under which they are produced. It was willing to spend some resources on improving supplier behaviour, but only a very small amount compared to its expenditure on advertising.

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8.4 Privacy and Security In 2015 and 2016, Apple objected to or challenged at least 11 court orders under the 1789 All Writs Act to make data available from locked iPhones (Anon, 2020a). The best known was a February 2016 court order to create new software to enable the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to unlock the work iPhone of one of the shooters who killed 14 people and injured 22 in California in December 2015. The two attackers died in a shootout with police after destroying their personal phones. The phone was locked with a password and set to eliminate all data after ten failed attempts. Therefore, the FBI was unable to unlock it and asked Apple to write new software to bypass the phone’s security. Apple refused as it has policy to never undermine its products’ security features. The FBI obtained a court order under the All Writs Act to write the requested software to unlock the phone safely, but Apple was given time to respond (Anon, 2020a). The use of the All Writs Act in this way, if successful, could set a precedent to force the unlocking of any phone obtained from a suspect (Coutros, 2016). Apple objected to the court order and its chief executive officer challenged this in an open letter. He stated that forcing Apple to write code (which was considered legally protected speech) would violate free speech and create a back door which could threaten the privacy of all iPhone users. In addition, it would set a dangerous precedent, of requiring businesses to assist in criminal investigations, which would make them an agent of government. Various technology firms supported Apple, and there were pro-Apple protests outside many Apple stores (Anon, 2020a). A former director of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) said the CIA considered cyberattacks the greatest threat to US security and that preserving cybersecurity could be more important than law enforcement and even counter-terrorism (Limitone, 2016). The local police chief indicated in an interview that it was likely there was nothing useful on the phone, but was hoping for potential contacts to talk to (NPR, 2016). The local district attorney (chief prosecutor) stated that access to the iPhone was required to identify a possible third gunman and determine whether the county’s cyber infrastructure had been compromised. However, cybersecurity professionals considered this unlikely (Anon, 2020a). Arguments in support of the FBI included that there were constraints on government access to private information to prevent abuses, but that access to information was required to prevent and prosecute crimes, including terrorism, drug trafficking and child pornography. In addition, it was suggested that by cooperating Apple could maintain control of the ’backdoor’ access and keep it out of the hands of others. The National Sheriffs’ Association suggested Apple was ‘putting profit before safety’ and that its position had ‘nothing to do with privacy’ (Smythe et al., 2016). In the end, the FBI obtained access to the iPhone without assistance from Apple, probably by paying professional hackers (Nakashima, 2016). This approach stopped working after Apple updated the phones. It was reported two years later that the phone had not provided any useful information (Tanfani, 2018).

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The ethical and behaviour analysis in the following subsections will discuss Apple’s actions. However, it could have equally considered those of the FBI.

8.4.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework As indicated by the comments of the former CIA director, this example raises wider issues of the relative importance of civil liberties, privacy and cybersecurity and law enforcement and fighting violent crime. These wider issues also affected Apple’s duties. In addition to specific duties to maintain the privacy of its customers and act in accordance with the law (except where unjust), it also had wider duties to society. As a high-tech giant, it had a duty to defend privacy and cybersecurity in general, not just with regard to its own customers. There are questions of the extent to which it also had a duty to use its high-tech expertise to support law enforcement and the fight against violent crime. Apple fulfilled its duties to maintain the privacy of its customers and wider duties of defending privacy and acted within the law in challenging the court ruling. However, if it is considered that it had an obligation to support law enforcement, which is open to question, then it did not fulfil it. With regard to utilitarianism, Apple’s actions had the benefits of trying to protect the privacy of its customers and more widely defending civil liberties and the right to privacy. However, though it is most likely the phone did not contain any relevant information, there was a small possibility of violent attacks which could have been prevented by early access to the iPhone. However, there is no evidence that this happened. There was also a risk of increased unauthorised access to iPhones, as a result of the FBI gaining access. This raises the question as to whether Apple could have reduced the risks of unauthorised access by cooperating with the FBI and retaining control of any back doors created. In terms of mitigating current and future risks, Apple’s actions were aimed at reducing the risk of unauthorised access to iPhones and more widely to defend privacy and oppose back door access to all devices, but did nothing to reduce the risks of similar shootings. However, it was not unreasonable to assume that, after the shooters’ deaths and the FBI obtained one of their work phones, groups they were linked to would have changed their plans and contact details due to the risk of the security services and police having obtained them. This is probably particularly relevant for the alleged third shooter (assuming they existed), so that accessing the phone earlier would probably not have facilitated their capture. Using the iPhone information to support prosecution of the shooters was not relevant due to their deaths. Thus, negative utilitarianism was satisfied to some extent, as Apple’s actions reduced many of the relevant present and future harms. I would suggest that positive utilitarianism was largely met, due to the much greater certainty in the benefits than the harms. While value judgements are required of the relative values of maintaining privacy and the possible failure of reducing the risk of similar shootings, I would note the significance of possible privacy losses and any moves towards a total surveillance state.

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There are probably different perspectives on what a virtuous person would do in these circumstances and what builds character. It can certainly be strongly argued that defending the principles of privacy and free speech are typical of a virtuous person and build character. However, the argument could probably also be made that working with law enforcement agencies could also do this. Not assisting the FBI was beneficent in that it protected the rights to privacy of iPhone users and also supported wider privacy rights. It did not directly do any harm, but also prevented information from the shooter’s iPhone being used to prevent future harms, so was not fully non-maleficent. These actions maintained the autonomy of iPhone users. Apple behaved fairly and with regard to what is due to iPhone users and the wider community concerned about privacy and avoiding a surveillance state. Thus, Apple met the needs of justice with regard to these groups, but to some extent failed them with regard to people who could be harmed in similar shooting incidents. With regard to the duty of care Apple prioritised its relationships with iPhone users and the needs of these users over relationships with and the needs of the FBI. Apple was aware of long-term and indirect consequences with regard to privacy. With regard to preventing similar shootings, the impact of access to the iPhone would have been short rather than long term. The discussion shows that, though probably motivated by commercial considerations, Apple’s behaviour was generally ethical, though it failed on non-maleficence, as unable to mitigate all the harms. It also illustrates the role of value judgements and weighing up the probabilities of different events in evaluating ethics. In this case, different judgements of the ethics of Apple’s behaviour could be made depending on the value of privacy and the likelihood of early access to the phone data increasing security against similar shootings and the likely impacts on overall privacy resulting from the FBI accessing the iPhone.

8.4.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework Probably, the most important needs in determining Apple’s behaviour were existence (ERG), authority/power and affiliation motivations (three motivating needs). All commercial firms are concerned about existence and growth. As discussed in the previous section, Apple also positioned itself as a leader and considered popularity with its customers to be very important. Apple’s very public defence of the rights of privacy probably increased this popularity. As discussed in the previous section, Apple’s core values focused on its products. This is further developed in its chief executive officer’s open letter, which indicated a motivation based on defending the values of its customers’ rights to privacy and the right of business not to co-operate with state agencies. In addition, Apple’s behaviour indicates a higher prioritisation in its values of duty to its customers and its policy of not undermining product security features than to the state or crime prevention. Apple acted to defend the privacy of its customers and to increase its popularity by being seen to do so, even against some public pressure. This would have supported

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its longer-term goals of promoting its products. Thus, it had high self-efficacy, as it did not seem particularly concerned about any difficulties in defending customer privacy against court orders and the FBI. In terms of conformity, Apple also seemed to be more concerned about approval from standing up for its customers’ privacy than any disapproval from being seen not to support the FBI or not to take action which might reduce the risk of future shootings. In summary, the discussion shows that Apple’s behaviour was largely determined by its values and goals which prioritised its products and their security features and relationships with its customers over other issues. It also shows that as a powerful multinational corporation Apple was in a position to defend privacy and stand up against pressures to support the FBI.

8.5 Fire at Manchester Airport A British Airways Boeing 737–236 international passenger flight en route to Corfu International Airport in Greece caught fire before take-off at Manchester Airport, England in August 1985. There were 55 deaths, mainly as a result of smoke inhalation and 82 survivors. Take-off was aborted when a loud thump was heard and the captain ordered evacuation, as engine failure had caused a fire (Anon, 2020b; Fortune & Peters, 1995). The investigation found that a combustor can on the port engine had ruptured and that part of it had been ejected into the underwing fuel tank access panel. This panel fractured and fuel spilt onto hot combustion gases from the engine. The fire developed very fast due to the orientation of the fire and aircraft to the wind. Contributory factors to the disaster included the vulnerability of the wing tank access panels to impact and the aircraft hull to external fire, the lack of effective measures for fighting major fires in the aircraft cabin and highly toxic emissions from the burning materials. Previous cracks in the combustor can had been repaired, but the repair had not included the required solution, heat treatment. However, the investigation was inconclusive as to whether the repair had contributed to the accident (Anon, 2020b). Passenger evacuation was impeded by the swift movement of the fire into the fuselage and aircraft layout which caused bottlenecks in the forward galleys and some other areas. Of those unable to escape 48 died as a result of incapacitation and inhalation of toxic gas and smoke, some very close to the exits, six from burns and one subsequently in hospital. The Civil Aviation Authority was criticised for not implementing stringent safety regulations earlier. The accident and investigation led to industry-wide changes to the seating layout near emergency exits, fire-resistant seat covers, floor lighting, fire-resistant wall and ceiling panels, more fire extinguishers and clearer evacuation rules. Unfortunately, measures which could have avoided an accident or significantly reduced its impacts, were only implemented after it had taken place.

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8.5.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework In terms of deontological ethics, all parties, Boeing, British Airways and the Civil Aviation Authority, have a primary duty to the safety of air passengers, air and ground crew (and any bystanders) and they all failed on this. The Authority did not implement and monitor compliance with stringent safety regulations. Boeing did not pay enough attention to safety in the aircraft design. British Airways did not carry out the required repair when the combustor can was previously damaged. It may also have failed to pay sufficient attention to safety in its choice of aircraft and probably did not put pressure on the Authority to improve safety standards. The costs were 55 deaths, with no benefits that can be set against them. Subsequently action was taken to mitigate future harms in terms of industry-wide improvements to safety, so negative, but not positive utilitarianism was met, but only after the event. Neither beneficence nor non-maleficence were met, due to the considerable harms caused and lack of benefits. The lack of safety standards and appropriate design resulted in the autonomy of the passengers and crew not being respected and considerable unfairness and injustice to them. Thus, none of the four normative principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice were met. A virtuous person or organisation in a safety critical industry such as air travel would take all possible measures to maximise safety. In this case, appropriate safety standards were lacking and the aircraft cabin had not been designed to facilitate exit and slow down the spread of fire. With regard to the ethics of social experimentation, the passengers were not told about the risks of a fire and therefore not in a position to provide informed consent. The deaths presumably had a negative impact on all the dead passengers’ and crew’s family and friends. In addition, insufficient attention was given to the passengers’ need to travel safely and the crew’s need to work safely, so there was little evidence of the ethics of care. In terms of eco-centred ethics, there is no indication of attention to long-term and indirect consequences, including the impact of increasing air travel on the climate crisis, and safety measures were only taken after the fire. It is not surprising that the discussion shows that the actions of the Civil Aviation Authority, Boeing and British Airways were unethical. The only ethical criterion that is met to some extent is negative utilitarianism, since action was taken subsequently to improve safety and thereby mitigate against future harms. However, earlier action to improve design to slow down the spread of the fire and facilitate exit would have reduced the number of deaths, particularly as some of them occurred close to exits.

8.5.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework There was an element of habitual behaviour by all parties in terms of assuming that things were good enough as they were. This included the Civil Aviation Authority not

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regularly evaluating and updating standards and presumably also Boeing not regularly evaluating the safety of its aircraft designs. The weakness of the can indicates that safety checks and preventative maintenance by British Airways were insufficient. It is unlikely that British Airways carried out (training) exercises involving simulated accidents and evacuations. Some or all of these actions could have led to a recognition of the potential safety issues and stricter regulations and design changes to improve safety. In the case of British Airways in the longer term, this would probably have required aircraft to be replaced. However, in the shorter-term significant improvements could have been achieved by refurbishing cabin interiors with fire-resistant materials and removing some seating near exits. The Civil Aviation Authority should have been motivated by authority/power needs (three motivating needs) with regard to giving a lead in setting standards, but showed little evidence of this. While it is difficult to evaluate the motivation of Boeing and British Airways, most companies have material existence needs (ERG theory) with regard to making and increasing their profits. However, there is no evidence that the costs of safety measures were a factor in general, though they may have played a role in the required repair not being carried out. Boeing and British Airways were probably also motivated, to some extent, by authority/power needs, but not to the extent of taking a lead on safety issues. Unlike the recent Apple cases where information about the company values and culture is available from its website, this fire occurred 35 years ago. The Civil Aviation Authority should have had values related to proactively improving safety, though this does not seem to have influenced its behaviour. Like other commercial organisations, Boeing and British Airways clearly had values of maintaining and improving profits, but they do not show evidence of having had a safety culture. This is crucial for safety critical industries and its lack shows a major problem. If they had had a safety culture, they would have taken measures, including those already discussed, to reduce the likelihood of fire, minimise the extent and speed of its spread and facilitate evacuation. Organisational values generally influence organisational goals. The Authority’s goals should have highlighted setting, checking the sufficiency of and regularly updating standards which prioritised safety, particularly of passengers, air and ground crew (and bystanders). If it had had such a goal, it was not effectively implemented. The goals of Boeing and British Airways should have also prioritised taking measures to ensure safety and regularly evaluating and updating them. This seems not to have happened. Beliefs about the ability to improve safety were not relevant. The issue was rather lack of awareness of the potential safety issues and accidents waiting to happen and a lack of consideration of prevention and mitigation measures. There may have been limited public awareness of safety problems and consequently limited public pressure for improvements, so conformity was not particularly relevant. It is clearly difficult to discuss reasons for behaviour after this lapse of time. However, in summary, it seems there may have been a degree of complacency and the lack of a proactive approach to identifying and overcoming risks. In addition, the safety culture of crucial importance in safety critical industries was probably lacking and insufficient priority was given to safety in values and goals. It seems unlikely that cost saving was a significant motivating factor.

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8.6 Boeing 737 Max Crashes Boeing developed the 737 MAX quickly to compete with a new more fuel efficient Airbus aircraft (Anon, 2020c). It was based on a modification of the 46-year-old Boeing 737 to have larger engines further forward on the wings. The manoeuvring characteristics automation system (MCAS), first implemented in the Boeing KC46 air force tanker, was used to counter the resulting tendency to stall in some manoeuvres. It pulls the aircraft nose down in manual flight operation with flaps up at an elevated angle of attack to prevent stalling. On the MAX, the MCAS can be activated by data from only one off the two angle of attack sensors, so it is sensitive to single point of failure with error of failure of this single sensor affecting the whole system. The MCAS could be overridden on the KC-46, but not on the MAX (Anon, 2020c). Both the planes that crashed lacked safety features that could have provided safety information, including a warning light indicating a disagreement between the angle of attack sensors. They were among the features Boeing very profitably sold as options. Information about the MCAS was not provided to pilots or the Federal Aviation Authority (FAA). It was first publicly announced 12 days after the Indonesian crash (Anon, 2020c). Regulators determined that extensive retraining was not required on the Max (Hawkins, 2019), which saved Boeing a lot of money. The first crash involved a Lion Air flight from Jakarta, Indonesia to Indonesia’s Bangka Belitung Islands in October 2018. 12 min after take-off it crashed into the Java Sea killing all 189 passengers and crew. The second crash took place six minutes after take-off of an Ethiopian Airlines flight from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia to Nairobi, Kenya in March 2019. The crash killed all the 157 people on board. A further person died during the recovery operations (Hawkins, 2019). The link between the two crashes was established by satellite data tracking showing similar paths for both flights. Data from the voice recorders indicates the pilots were overwhelmed by the MCAS malfunctions and one of the Indonesian pilots scoured the manual for solutions as to why the plane was diving into the sea. A pilot considered it ‘unconscionable that a manufacturer, the FAA and the airlines would have pilots flying an aeroplane without adequately training, or even providing available documentation and sufficient resources to understand the highly complex systems that differentiate this aircraft from prior models’ (Hawkins, 2019). The evidence shows that problems with the MCAS, including faulty readings from the single angle of attack sensor activating it and repeatedly pitching the nose down, and the pilots’ lack of familiarity with it, were major factors in causing the accident (Anon, 2020c). Safety critical systems such as aircraft should not have single points of failure. However, pilots trained on the MCAS would have known what was happening and could have taken action which would have probably saved the planes and lives lost. Boeing admitted that the MCAS contributed to both accidents in April 2019. Boeing was also aware of problems, including the suppression of a safety message about disagreement between the angle of attack sensors a year before the first crash, but did not share this information (Anon, 2019a).

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The US Department of Transport is investigating the FAA approval of the Max. The approval process was rushed and FAA managers encouraged safety engineers to delegate safety assessments to Boeing and to approve the resulting analysis quickly. Retained work, such as reviewing Boeing technical documents, was rushed to meet certification dates (Hawkins, 2019). China and the European Union grounded the plane, but the FAA and President Trump initially did nothing until they were forced to by public pressure (Hawkins, 2019). Prior to the two crushes, the Max was very successful with billions of dollars of orders. The prolonged grounding had cost Boeing $18.6 billion by March 2020 and costs could increase, particularly if airlines reconsider orders (Anon, 2020a, 2020b, 2020c, 2020d). Boeing has set aside $100 million for the crash victims and their communities. The first of three recertification test flights has now taken place with various other procedures required before the Max can return to service (Slotnick, 2020).

8.6.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework As in the previous example in terms of deontological ethics, both Boeing and the FAA management failed in their primary duty of safety. Boeing used a design with a single point of failure rather than redundancy in a safety critical system and rushed safety procedures. It did not inform pilots about the MCAS until after the first crash and even then did not provide training on it. The FAA management seems to not have carried out the full required safety oversight. The most significant costs were 347 deaths. Other important costs were the additional stress to pilots from the lack of adequate training. There may also be a possibility of job losses if confidence in the Boeing Max is not restored. The benefits were purely to Boeing, as the curtailed safety assessment and lack of extensive training enabled Boeing to market the new aircraft quickly and successfully compete with the new Airbus aircraft. Boeing has subsequently had significant losses as a result of the crashes. These benefits clearly do not justify the heavy costs. Information about the MCAS was first made public after the first crash, but it was not until after the second one that the aircraft was grounded and measures were taken to rectify the fault. Therefore, negative, not positive utilitarianism was met to some extent, but only after the event. A virtuous person or organisation in a safety critical industry such as air travel would take all possible measures to maximise safety. In this case, Boeing’s priority was getting the Max to market as fast as possible, even at the expense of safety. A virtuous organisation would have also looked for ways to diversify out of aircraft without job losses in response to the climate crisis rather than developing a new one. The FAA offloaded too much of the responsibility for safety to Boeing. Neither beneficence nor non-maleficence were met, due to the considerable harms caused and lack of benefits other than financial ones to Boeing. The poor design with lack of failsafe measures for the MCAS and possibility of pilot override and lack of training

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for pilots on the MCAS significantly reduced the autonomy of the passengers and crew, particularly the pilots who were unable to take corrective action. It also resulted in great unfairness and injustice to them. Thus, none of the four normative principles of beneficence, non-maleficence, autonomy and justice were met. With regard to the ethics of social experimentation, no information was available to even the pilots, never mind the passengers or the rest of the crew, about the MCAS before the first crashed flight and no information about the risks before the second one, so they were not in a position to provide informed consent. The deaths presumably had a negative impact on all the dead passengers’ and crew’s family and friends, as well as their communities. In addition, insufficient attention was given to the passengers’ need to travel safely and the crew’s need to work safely, so there was little evidence of the ethics of care. In addition, the pilots probably suffered considerable mental agony while trying and failing to prevent the crashes. In terms of eco-centred ethics, the focus was very much on the short-term issue of getting the Max to market as soon as possible without any attention to the possible consequences of any shortcuts used to do this, or the wider consequences of the environmental impacts of air travel. It is unsurprising that the discussion shows Boeing and the FAA behaved unethically. The only ethical criterion met to some extent was negative utilitarianism due to the subsequent actions to improve safety in the form of grounding the Max, correcting all the design faults and strenuous testing. The discussion also demonstrates the importance of good design which maximises safety and takes account of human factors and user training on technical systems as ethical as well as technical issues, particularly in safety critical systems. In addition, insufficient attention to safety in design, subordinating it to other factors or lack of user training and information can have very serious consequences.

8.6.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework Consideration of these accidents together with the 1957 fire in the previous section raises questions as to whether Boeing habitually paid too little attention to safety or subordinated it to commercial considerations. Boeing was clearly motivated by material/existence needs (ERG) with regard to getting the Max to market as soon as possible and maximising profits. It also had authority/power needs (three motivating needs) with regard to becoming a market leader. Unfortunately, it subordinated safety requirements to making a large profit and increasing market share. While the FAA should have been motivated by authority/power needs in terms of leading and having an impact on safety, in practice its management seems to have focused on the need to take minimal action. According to the ‘Values’ section of Boeing’s website (Anon, 1995) ‘In everything we do and in all aspects of our business, we will make safety our top priority, strive for first-time quality, and hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards’ and ‘How we act Lead on safety, quality and integrity’. Unfortunately, these values seem to have had minimal if any impact on Boeing’s behaviour in the development of the

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Max. Safety and quality were subordinated to getting to market quickly and making a profit. Ethical standards were lacking. According to its mission statement (Anon, 2019b), the FAA’s values include ‘Safety is our passion. We work so all air and space travellers arrive safely at their destinations’, ‘Excellence is our promise’ and ‘Integrity is our touchstone’. These values again do not seem to have influenced FAA behaviour in evaluating the safety of the Max. Boeing’s goals were clearly gain ones of marketing the Max as quickly as possible, beating the Airbus competition and maximising profit. The FAA seems to have been lacking in goals. Neither self-efficacy nor conformity were particularly relevant. The values of both Boeing and the FAA show a belief in the ability to improve safety, but Boeing’s focus was profit, whereas the FAA management seems to have shown limited interest. They also exerted pressure on the safety engineers to speed up assessments. The engineers should have resisted this pressure and done so on a collective basis to avoid victimisation. Boeing did not even publicise the use of the MCAS until after the first accident. The discussion demonstrates that Boeing was clearly motivated by the desires to get the Max to market as quickly as possible and to make a large profit; Safety was subordinated to this. The importance of safety, integrity and quality or excellence in the values of Boeing and the FAA seem to have had limited impact on their behaviour. While the Max was initially very successful, in addition to the heavy cost in lives, the accidents have also had high financial costs to Boeing.

8.7 Bhopal On 3 December 1984, a leak in a storage tank in the Union Carbide (UC) plant in Bhopal, India, exploded, sending 40 metric tons of deadly gas into the air and killing 3800 people and injuring 200,000 others (New York Times, Sept. 12, 1990). Deaths and injuries continued and the health of the survivors deteriorated. The situation leading up to this leak will now be discussed briefly. By the late 1970s, plant operations had changed to producing chemical ingredients for pesticides. UC was aware of the hazards involved, but did not transfer all the safety mechanisms. For instance, its West Virginia plant used computerised systems to detect leaks, whereas Bhopal workers were expected to see or smell them (Hersh, 2006; Martin & Shinzinger, 2004). UC relinquished safety supervision in 1982 for financial reasons, but retained financial and technical control. A team of US engineers warned of many of the hazards that caused the disaster at the last safety inspection in 1982. There was a move from US safety standards to lower Indian ones. Many of the managers were not properly trained in appropriate operating procedures for a pesticides plant. Most employees had little technical education and limited training on health and safety issues. Although all the workers were Indian, as required by the Indian government, and many of them only spoke Hindi, all the signs about operating and safety procedures were in English (Meshkati, 1991). Rigid management approaches were largely

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responsible for the lack of effective measures to deal with the five major accidents between 1981 and 1984. Circumstantial factors together with a lack of safety checks meant that both the primary and secondary defences against gas leaks, a vent gas scrubber and flare tower to burn off any gas missed by the scrubber, were inoperable. Human factors were ignored in the design. For instance, the pressure gauge to indicate a build-up of chemicals around the relief valve was located away from the control room, meant to be monitored manually and lacked links to the control room or warning systems. As gas levels rose, the control room operators had to leave, as there were no oxygen masks. The number of deaths and injuries was greatly increased due to the thousands of poor migrant labourers squatting round the plant in the hope of obtaining a job or trying to use its water and electricity (Hersh, 2006; Martin and Shinzinger, 2004).

8.7.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework With regard to deontological ethics, UC had a duty of care to the workers in its Bhopal Plant. This included taking all possible measures to ensure their safety in this safety critical environment. It failed miserably on this. The ‘benefits’ were presumably the reduction in costs to the firm due to inadequate safety. There is no way they can be set against the deaths and injuries. Similarly, UC made no serious effort to prevent deaths and injuries, so it failed on positive and negative utilitarian ethics, as well deontological ethics. Ignoring safety standards and treating Indian workers worse than US ones can in no way be called virtuous and does not build good character. A virtuous organisation would have not only considered the needs of its Indian workers, but also made real efforts to improve the living standards of the people in the shanty town surrounding the plant. The lack of appropriate safety had no benefits to the workers and caused great harm in terms of large numbers of deaths and injuries. It removed the autonomy of the workers and others who were killed and injured and was clearly unjust to them. There was also considerable unfairness in the lower safety standards in the Bhopal than US plants. Thus, none of the principles of normative ethics were met. No information was provided to the workers and people in the shanty town around the plant about the risks of living there. Even if it had been, they would probably not have been in a position to make other choices, making informed consent meaningless. UC seems to have paid no attention to relationships with the Indian workers it employed and their needs or to those of the people in the shanty town. The low value UC put on its Indian workers is illustrated by the facts that it did not even provide safety information in Hindi and expected the Indian workers to smell gas leaks, whereas US workers were given computerised equipment to detect leaks. Thus, the ethics of care was not met. No attention was paid to long-term and indirect consequences, to either people or the environment. It is not unsurprising that the analysis shows that UC’s treatment of the Bhopal plant was unethical under all the criteria in the framework. Its behaviour was clearly

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unethical. The analysis gives a fuller picture by highlighting different aspects of the ways in which UC’s behaviour was unethical.

8.7.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework At that period, UC seems to have developed the bad practice of taking safety considerably less seriously in its Bhopal than US plants. This could be considered habitual behaviour. The only needs that seem to have been important to UC in the context of its Bhopal plant were existence, i.e. material needs (ERG theory), specifically to make a profit. It seems to have had minimal interest in relatedness needs, particularly with people in India. There was no real interest in achievement needs other than with regard to profit, and particularly not in terms of improving plant safety. Whatever the firm’s purported culture and values, its treatment of its Indian workers showed racism to them, as well as the lack of a safety culture, at least with regard to its Indian plant. This racism appears, for instance, in the lack of information in Hindi and the much lower safety standards in Bhopal than the US plants. This indicates that UC valued the health, safety and lives of Indians less than those of Americans. Its relinquishing of safety control in 1982 for financial reasons, while maintaining financial and technical control, indicates that UC prioritised profit over safety and accepted a reduction in safety standards to save money. Its values do not seem to have included a duty of care to its Indian workers or a sense of responsibility to the host country, India. In line with its values, UC’s goals for its Bhopal plant seem to have been solely to make a profit, regardless of safety issues or the needs of its workers. While operating a chemical plant in another country safely is by no means a trivial problem, UC had the resources to do this if it had applied them. However, the more salient point is not the ease or difficulty, but the fact that UC seemed to have had minimal interest in the safety of the Bhopal plant and its workers. Thus, self-efficacy is not particularly relevant. There seem to have been few, if any, pressures on the firm to change its behaviour. UC ignored the report by US engineers of many of the hazards that caused the disaster at the last safety inspection which took place in 1982. This report and the problems it highlighted unfortunately do not seem to have received much publicity. At the time social media and widespread Internet access were not available, so means of publicising this report or campaigning about it were very limited compared to what is available now. Therefore, prior to the disaster there was minimal publicly available information and awareness about conditions in UC’s Bhopal plant in the USA. UC unfortunately seems to have had minimal interest in public opinion in India. Thus, UC had been made aware of the problems, but there was no real pressure on it to make changes. In summary, the motivation for Union Carbide’s treatment of the Bhopal plant seems to have been a mixture of racism and a focus on maximising profits leading to a total lack of concern for the safety of its Indian workers. This combination of factors

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led to an abdication of responsibility, including giving up supervision of safety for financial reasons, and minimal and totally inadequate safety procedures.

8.8 Withdrawal from Research Project Proposal A Scottish researcher was part of a consortium drawing up a research proposal for a novel smart wheelchair to be submitted for a European Commission research grant. The researcher was very committed to the project and had made a significant contribution to writing the proposal. They believed that, if funded, the resulting wheelchair design could make a real difference to its users. The project consortium had been working together for some time and its members had got to know each other to some extent. There had been some discussion of inviting a large industrial partner. A few days before the deadline the project coordinator announced that they had invited a large industrial firm to join the project. The Scottish researcher expressed concerns, as it was clear that a considerable part of the large firm’s work was for the military and that it was also involved in a brutal occupation. There was some discussion of this between the researcher and the other consortium members. However, they did not share the researcher’s concerns and felt that the benefits the project could bring were the overriding factors. The coordinator would not agree to inform the large firm that there was not longer a place in the project consortium. The researcher felt quite upset by the situation that had developed. They discussed it with trusted colleagues and members of campaigning organisations they were involved in. In the end with great regret they resigned from the consortium. They did not want to be associated with the new partner, but regretted the impact on the project as a whole and the relationships with the other partners. They also felt that the project was not quite as well developed as it needed to be to have a real chance of obtaining funding.

8.8.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework In terms of deontological ethics researchers have a duty to advance knowledge, use their expertise to benefit humanity and the planet, behave professionally and ethically, and behave respectfully to colleagues. They also have wider duties to humanity. In this case the researcher experienced a conflict between their wider duties to humanity and their duties to colleagues and prioritised their duties to humanity. The benefits were the research partner acting in accordance with their beliefs and not contributing to normalising research participation by organisations involved in military work or with links to brutal occupations. The risks of the researcher’s withdrawal were reducing the quality of the proposal and its likelihood of obtaining funding. However, the researcher considered that its chances of receiving funding

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were already low. The risks were the loss of contact with the other consortium members and loss of possible future collaborations, as well as possible disadvantage to potential end-users of the wheelchair to be developed. The researcher focused on mitigating harms from the normalisation of the participation of organisations engaged in military research and occupation in research projects, but paid less attention to harms to their collaborators. They considered that the harms from reducing the likelihood of the project being funded were small, as they evaluated this as already being low. Thus positive and negative utilitarianism were probably met at least to some extent. However, the determination depends on value judgements and the relative importance given to the different factors. Acting in accordance with your values is typical of a virtuous person and builds good character, particularly when this requires doing so against the opinions of others. The researcher’s action were beneficial in reducing the harms resulting from the involvement of organisations involved in military research and with links to brutal occupation and in making the other partners question there assumptions about how research should be carried out. However, there were harms to the partners. The researcher considered the harms to potential beneficiaries of the research as minimal due to the low likelihood of funding. The other partners experienced to a small extent a lack of justice and reduction in autonomy. However, the researcher’s concerns were more for the justice to and the autonomy of those suffering under occupation and victims of the use of advanced military systems. Thus the researcher’s actions largely met the four principles of normative ethics, but with qualifications. The researcher tried to maintain relationships through discussion with the consortium members. While this was unsuccessful, they did show moral attention to the situation in all its complexity and sympathy with the other project members. They had no opportunity to engage with the new industrial partner, but it seems unlikely it would have modified its practices. The researcher paid attention to long-term and indirect consequences, particularly those resulting from not challenging military work and occupation, included the associated potential damage to the environment e.g. (Parkinson, 2020). The discussion shows that in general the researcher’s conduct was ethical, though it did cause some harms. There may have been other courses of action which were more ethical in the sense of avoiding these harms, while meeting the researcher’s concerns, but limited time made it impossible to investigate and identify them.

8.8.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework The researcher considered the project an opportunity to make a real difference to potential end-users of the proposed wheelchair, as well as to show leadership in design and working with this group of end-users. It was also important to them to show moral leadership. Thus, achievement and authority/power needs (three motivating needs) were important to them. Relatedness and affiliation motivation needs were significant in terms of maintaining relationships with and respecting the other project

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participants. To some extent, the project also met growth needs (ERG), as there was potential for learning new skills. The researcher’s values included honesty with themselves and others, respect for diversity, self-direction, fairness and responsibility to make a difference in the world, including through using their research to challenge oppression, militarisation and climate change. In this case, the researchers experienced conflict between the values of using expertise to make a difference and taking action against oppression and militarisation and the latter values won out. Their values made them concerned that working with partners involved in military work and occupation might convey a message to other researchers that they considered these activities acceptable. Their goals mainly related to achievement of their values. They also had career development goals, but assigned them a lower priority. However, continuing with the project, if funded, would have had a more positive impact on these goals than resigning from it. As in the case of their values, they again experienced a conflict between their goals of using their research to make a difference, in this case to the potential users of the project wheelchair, and their goals of taking action against oppression and militarisation and encouraging research with positive social and environmental impacts. The researcher had relatively high self-efficacy. They recognised the difficulties in trying to convince the other partners of their position, but considered it worth trying. Once it was clear this was not working, the researcher’s values of fairness and honesty meant they needed to inform their colleagues of their decision to resign as soon as possible. The researcher experienced some pressures from the other partners not to resign and to accept the involvement of the large industrial partner. However, they valued self-direction and did not find it difficult to stick to their principles. In summary, the researcher experienced a conflict between their commitment to using their research to benefit people (and the planet) and their wider values, including opposition to militarism and occupation. They also had some concerns about their relationships with the other researchers and how their involvement with a partner doing military work and with links to occupation would be perceived. In the end their wider values and concerns about being seen to support military work and occupation dominated, but they recognised that if more time had been available they might have been able to find a better solution.

8.9 Genome-Edited Babies The Chinese scientist, He Jiankui, claims to have created the world’s two first genome-edited babies, twin girls, as well as a ‘potential’ pregnancy involving genome editing (Cyranoski & Ledford, 2018a). He told a human genome editing conference that he had edited 31 embryos from seven couples where the men carried the human immune deficiency virus (HIV) using the Crispr-Cas9 genome editing tool to try to make the children resistant to the virus. The editing involved disabling a particular gene that produces a protein that allows HIV to enter cells. The embryos included

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those that produced the twins and the ‘potential’ pregnancy. The identity of the two babies will remain confidential. They would be monitored for the next 18 years, and He hoped they would consent to continue monitoring and support as adults. There has been considerable criticism of He’s work on both ethical and scientific grounds. A statement posted by 100 Chinese biomedical researchers condemned the move to human experiments and expressed concern about damage to the reputation of Chinese scientists carrying out ethical research, particularly those working in the area of biomedical research. Scientists have also noted that some HIV strains can use another protein to enter cells, so that He’s work may not be effective in preventing HIV transmission (Cyranoski & Ledford, 2018a, 2018b). HIV transmission from fathers to children is rare and does not seem to occur at conception (Rettner, 2018). In addition, scientists have suggested that there are already safe and effective ways to use genetics to protect against HIV. Consequently, the children were exposed to the risk of gene editing without any real benefits (Cyranoski & Ledford, 2018a, 2018b). There have been calls for the greater regulation of research on gene editing in humans and He’s gene editing trial is on hold. He’s work is being investigated by China’s National Health Commission. His institution, the Southern University of Science and Technology in Shenzhen claims that his work was conducted off campus and to not have been aware of it. People who are HIV positive can live long and healthy lives with average life expectancies which are approaching those of people from the same demographic. Modern antiretroviral therapy is now able to make the virus undetectable by tests and prevent transmission. Treatment continues to improve. HIV transmission from mothers to their children does occur, but can be prevented by HIV treatments which are considered safe to use in pregnancy. However, breast feeding should be avoided to prevent transmission to the child (Anon, 2020d).

8.9.1 Analysis Using Ethics Framework As a researcher, He had an obligation to advance knowledge, use his expertise to benefit humanity and the planet, behave professionally and ethically and be aware of the current state of knowledge in the field. He also had an obligation to take account of the precautionary principle (UNESCO, 2005), as this is relevant to new technologies. He was trying to use his knowledge to benefit humanity, but seemed to have totally ignored the precautionary principle and the need to full inform himself about the state of knowledge in the field before starting his own research. He also seemed to have paid little attention to existing knowledge about HIV, including the very low risk of HIV transmission from fathers to their children and that there are two genes that may be involved in transmission. His work was intended to reduce the risk of children inheriting HIV from their fathers, but this risk is already minimal. There are already safer, less invasive and less controversial ways of minimising the risk of mother–child HIV transmission using drugs. Therefore, the research had few benefits, but had possibly significant risks in terms of

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the potential negative impacts of changing the genome to both the babies and the human gene pool. Further, risks included possible negative impacts on other Chinese biomedical researchers, including their work being taken less seriously or having to make particularly strenuous efforts to demonstrate compliance with ethical research requirements. He also seems not to have considered the potential impact on the children of being monitored into adulthood and being ‘different’ from everyone else. He does not seem to have done anything to mitigate the various potential harms. He’s actions were not particularly virtuous, as they involved research with potentially significant negative long-term impacts for which there was no real need. They were intended to be beneficent, but in practice were not as they focused on countering a very minimal risk while leading to potentially serious harms, as discussed above. The genome modification and the subsequent monitoring did not respect the children’s autonomy and was not just to them, as it put them at risk without any corresponding benefits. Thus, He’s actions were counter to all of the four normative principles. The parents gave consent to the genome modification, but for obvious reasons the children could not. However, it is the children who would run the greatest risks. It is also likely that the parents were not fully informed, for instance of the minimal risk of HIV transmission from father to child. Thus, the ethics of social experimentation were not met. He considered some aspects of the situation, but not the situation in its full complexity. For instance, he ignored the low risk of HIV transmission from fathers to children and possible long-term impacts. He also failed to consider the potential impacts on the relationships of the children to their parents, peers and society, so did not meet the ethics of care. The lack of attention to the precautionary principle shows a failure under eco-centred ethics. This discussion shows that He’s research was unethical under all the ethical criteria. He ignored his obligations as a researcher to be fully informed about the field and take account of the precautionary principle. There was no real need or justification for the genome editing and consequently no real benefits from it, but the potential for significant harms, particularly in the long term.

8.9.2 Analysis Using Behaviour Framework He clearly wanted to use his research expertise in innovative ways which showed leadership and made a real difference to people. Consequently, achievement and authority/power needs (three motivating needs) were important to him. He also seemed to be genuinely concerned about the HIV positive men he worked with. This shows that he also valued affiliation motivations (three motivating needs) and relatedness (ERG). His values were probably in line with these needs. They presumably included achievement values related to doing significant research, power values involving

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showing leadership in the field, benevolence values related to benefiting individuals and making a difference, and self-direction values of making his own decisions. He’s goals seem to have involved carrying out innovative research that advanced the state of the art and using it to benefit people, as well becoming a research leader. He also seems to have had a degree of impatience in achieving his results. Unfortunately, his values and goals seem not to have included carrying out research in accordance with the best ethical and professional standards. This impatience for results may have been what led He to implement genome modification in babies with unknown risks, both to the children involved and to the human gene pool, without full investigation of the safety of the procedure or the need for it. He seems to have had considerable confidence in his ability to overcome the considerable difficulties involved and therefore high self-efficacy. Although he does not seem to have produced peer reviewed publications, there do not seem to be any particular reasons to doubt his claims. Overconfidence could have been one of the factors which led He to implement gene modifications without even checking there was a need for them. He was presumably aware when he started his research of the likelihood of controversy and criticism, but does not seem to have been affected by this. In summary, He seemed to be motivated by a real concern about HIV positive men and the desire to make a difference to them and their children using advanced genome technology, and to become a research leader. Unfortunately, he did not put in the effort to determine that there was no need for this, as the risk of HIV transmission from men to their children is very low. Combining the discussions using the ethical and behaviour frameworks, He behaved totally unethically, but with the best of intentions. This shows that good intentions are insufficient for ethical behaviour, but that knowledge and consideration of consequences, among other factors, are also required.

8.10 Conclusions The chapter has presented eight different case studies and discussed the application of the ethics and behaviour framework to them. All the case studies are of real situations. The case studies cover China, Germany, India, the UK and USA and the period 1984–2019. They also discussed topics outside ICT and automation, including using cadavers in car safety testing, human genome modifications and the Bhopal disaster. This shows that the ethics and behaviour analysis framework is not just relevant to the ICT pioneering period in Poland or ICT and automation, but can be applied to other countries, periods and topics as well. While not unexpected, it is useful to have practical confirmation. The responses to fear criterion was used in the behaviour analysis of several of the case studies in Chap. 7, but was not used in the analysis in this chapter. Where it was used in Chap. 7, it was found to be an important factor, particularly in situations of high threat due to the wider context, the culture of the particular organisation or

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other factors. This did not hold for the particular situations considered in this chapter. However, fear is unfortunately relevant in a variety of situations and contexts, not just in the former Comecon countries. Thus, responses to fear should continue to form part of the behaviour analysis while recognising both that in many circumstances it is not relevant, but where it is, it can have a significant impact. As in Chap. 7, the ethics analysis did not always conclude that behaviour was clearly ethical or unethical. Instead, in some cases it indicated the value judgements and/or further information required for ethical evaluation. However, in all cases it provided a clearer picture of the situation and the ways in which particular actions met or failed to meet specific ethical criteria. Several of the examples raised wider issues which were only touched on in a limited way in the analysis. The privacy and security example (Sect. 8.4) raises issues of the type of society we want to live in, the importance of privacy and whether universal surveillance and backdoors into all devices is acceptable as part of the fight against violent crime and other social problems. We would strongly suggest that this is not the type of society we want to live in. We do not want Big Brother constantly breathing down our necks and consider that approaches to fighting violent crime based on understanding their causes and transforming society to resolve them would be more effective. Unfortunately, this is likely to be more difficult and may be threatening to those in power. The Bhopal (Sect. 8.7) and suppliers’ treatment of workers (Sect. 8.3) case studies raise issues of the relationships of dominance and exploitation between the minority (’developed’) and majority (’developing’) countries. This can be considered an extreme example of a failing and totally unethical technology transfer process, which did not involve local people, as discussed in the technology transfer examples in Sect. 7.6. The supplier example further raises the question of the price other people pay so we can enjoy consumer electronics and other goodies. Pressures of various types can be applied to achieve changes in working conditions, including decisions on what products to use and consumer boycotts. This is something we should consider when buying new products. The Boeing Max crashes (Sect. 8.6) show the importance of multiple approaches to safety, particularly in safety critical systems. This is both a technical and an ethical issue. In particular, design should avoid single points of failure and include redundancy and appropriate user information and training can prepare users to deal with any problems that occur. It should also be noted that the discussion has focused on safety issues with little attention to the important wider issue of the impact of air travel on global climate change.

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Appendix 8.1: Ethics and Human Behaviour Analysis Framework Ethics Framework 1. Process and consequences 1.4 Deontological ethics: considers duties and obligations. 1.5 Positive utilitarianism: assesses benefits against risks and costs. 1.6 Negative utilitarianism: offsetting or mitigating present or future harms. 2. Character, rights and principles 2.3 Virtue ethics: supports actions which build good character and considers the impact of behaviour on character. 2.4 Normative ethics: beneficence—promoting acts that benefit others and removing/preventing harm; non-maleficence—avoiding harms; justice— fairness including need for distributive justice, what is due and autonomy— define and determine needs and have them met. 3. Consent, relationships and consequences 3.4 The ethics of social experimentation: informed consent. 3.5 The ethics of care: full complexity of situation; sensitivity to others’ wishes and interests; nurturing and preserving network of relationships; taking account of everyone’s needs including your own; and response to need and showing caring. 3.6 Eco-centred ethics: connections and interactions, including long-term and indirect consequences. Human Behaviour Framework 1. Habitual behaviours: the default state 2. Needs 2.1 The ERG theory: existence (material and physiological); relatedness (with other people); and growth (personal development, using existing abilities and new ones). 2.2 The three motivating needs: achievement (realistic, but challenging goals); authority/power (need to lead and have impact); and affiliation motivations (friendly relations and being liked). 3. Values and culture 3.1 Central values: stimulation, self-direction, achievement, power, security, conformity, tradition, benevolence, universalism, hedonism. 3.2 Organisational culture: prevailing perceptions of typical organisational practices and procedures that have ethical content; a number of common values.

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4. Goals and ability to implement them 4.1 Goals: hedonic (feeling better now); gain (maintaining and improving resources); normative (acting appropriately); achievement (overcoming challenges, accomplishing things); positive change (overcoming threats and negative treatment of others, benefiting others/society or the planet) 4.2 Self-efficacy: perceived ability to carry out behaviour necessary to achieve particular types of outcomes. 5. External influences 5.1 Conformity: sticking to principles, ignoring/non-conformity, compliance, internalisation, integration. 5.2 Responses to fear: cover-ups, accepting or participating in bad practice, overcoming it.

References Anon. (1995). Our values. https://www.boeing.com/principles/values.page. Accessed July 1, 2020. Anon. (2017). The 7 core values which made Apple the most valuable brand in the world. https://www.expandgh.com/7-core-values-which-made-apple-most-valuable-brand-inthe-world/. Accessed May 15, 2020. Anon. (2019a). Boeing knew about safety-alert problem for a year before telling FAA, airlines. https://www.wsj.com/articles/boeing-knew-about-safety-alert-problem-for-a-year-bef ore-telling-faa-airlines-11557087129. Accessed July 1, 2020. Anon. (2019b). Mission. https://www.faa.gov/about/mission/. Accessed July 1, 2020. Anon. (2020a). FBI—Apple encryption dispute. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FBI%E2%80%93A pple_encryption_dispute. Accessed May 15, 2020a. Anon. (2020b). British Airtours Flight 28M. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airtours_Flig ht_28M. Accessed April 26, 2020b. Anon. (2020c). Boeing 737 Max. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boeing_737_MAX. Accessed July 1, 2020c. Anon. (2020d). Preventing mother to child transmission of HIV. https://aidsinfo.nih.gov/unders tanding-hiv-aids/fact-sheets/20/50/preventing-mother-to-child-transmission-of-hiv. Accessed April 26, 2020d. Anon. (undated). Inclusion and diversity. https://www.apple.com/diversity/. Accessed April 26, 2020. Associated Press. (1993a). German university said to use corpses in auto crash tests. http://www.nytimes.com/1993a/11/24/world/german-university-said-to-use-corpses-inauto-crash-tests.html. Accessed April 23, 2020. Associated Press. (1993b). German university must prove families OK’d tests on Cadavers. http://www.deseretnews.com/article/322514/GERMAN-UNIVERSITY-MUST-PROVE-FAM ILIES-OKD-TESTS-ON-CADAVERS.html?pg=al. Accessed April 23, 2020 Atkinson, L. (undated). Apple suppliers and labour practices. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/ case-study/apple-suppliers-labor-practices. Accessed April 23, 2020. Basulto, J. (2018). Why Apple spends $1.8 billion on advertising. https://medium.com/seedxdigital-marketing-guru/why-apple-spends-1-8-billion-on-advertising-38d3940270bf. Accessed July 11, 2020.

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Bilton, R. (2014). Apple ‘failing to protect Chinese factor workers’. http://www.bbc.com/news/bus iness-30532463. Accessed April 23, 2020. Carlson, A. (2020). Cadavers in car safety research. https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/case-study/ cadavers-car-safety-research. Accessed April 22, 2020. Coutros, G. (2016). The implications of creating an iPhone backdoor. National Security Law Brief, 6, 81. Cyranoski, D., & Ledford, H. (2018a). International outcry over genome-edited baby claim. Nature, 563(7733), 607–608. Cyranoski, D., & Ledford, H. (2018b). Genome-edited baby claim provokes international outcry. Nature, 563(7733), 607–608. Fortune, J., & Peters, G. (1995). Learning from failure—The systems approach. Wiley. Hawkins, A. J. (2019). Everything you need to know about the Boeing 737 Max airplane crashes. https://www.theverge.com/2019/3/22/18275736/boeing-737-max-plane-cra shes-grounded-problems-info-details-explained-reasons. Accessed July 1, 2020. Hersh, M. (2006). Mental models, sense making and organisational structures. In M. Hersh (Ed.), Mathematical modelling for sustainable development (pp. 143–164). Springer. Hyde, J. (2010). How a cadaver made your car safer. https://jalopnik.com/how-a-cadaver-madeyour-car-safer-5622667. Accessed May 12, 2020. Limitone, J. (2016). Fmr. NSA, CIA Chief Hayden sides with Apple over feds. https://www.fox business.com/features/fmr-nsa-cia-chief-hayden-sides-with-apple-over-feds. Accessed May 15, 2020. Mc Grath, J. (2010). Can crash test dummies really simulate human injuries? HowStuffWorks.com. https://science.howstuffworks.com/science-vs-myth/everyday-myths/can-crash-test-dummiesreally-simulate-human-injuries.htm. Accessed May 12, 2010. Martin, M. W., & Schinzinger, R. (2004). Ethics in engineering (4th ed.). McGraw Hill. Meshkati, N. (1991). Human factors in large-scale technological systems’ accidents: Three Mile Island, Bhopal, Chernobyl. Industrial Crisis Quarterly, 5(2), 133–154. Nakashima, E. (2016). FBI paid professional hackers one-time fee to crack San Bernardino iPhone. https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/fbi-paid-professional-hackers-onetime-fee-to-crack-san-bernardino-iphone/2016/04/12/5397814a-00de-11e6-9d36-33d198ea2 6c5_story.html Nice, K. (2020). How crash testing works. https://auto.howstuffworks.com/car-driving-safety/acc idents-hazardous-conditions/crash-test.htm/printable. Accessed May 13, 2020. NPR. (2016). San Bernardino police chief sees chance nothing of value on shooter’s iPhone. https:// text.npr.org/s.php?sId=468216198. Accessed May 15, 2020. Parkinson, S. (2020). The environmental impacts of the UK military sector. https://www.sgr.org. uk/sites/default/files/2020-05/SGR-DUK_UK_Military_Env_Impacts.pdf. Accessed May 21, 2020. Rettner, R. (2018). Father transmits HIV to newborn son in rare case: How did it happen? https:// www.livescience.com/63710-father-transmits-hiv-to-son-rare-case.html. Accessed April 26, 2020. Slotnick, D. (2020). The first Boeing 737 Max recertification flight just landed, marking a new milestone for the troubled jet. https://www.businessinsider.com/boeing-737-max-first-certifica tion-test-flight-faa-jet-2020-6?r=US&IR=T. Accessed July 1, 2020. Smythe, C. Wang, S., & Kary, T. (2016). Apple goes to Washington fresh from big boost in iPhone fight. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-03-01/apple-goes-to-washin gton-with-some-wind-in-its-sails. Accessed May 15, 2020. Tanfani, J. (2018). Race to unlock San Bernadino shooter’s iPhone was delayed by poor FBI communication, report finds. https://www.latimes.com/politics/la-na-pol-fbi-iphone-san-bernar dino-20180327-story.html. Accessed May 15, 2020. UNESCO. (2005). The precautionary principle. In UNESCO World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology (COMEST).

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Vezin, P., & Verriest, J. P. (2005). Development of a set of numerical human models for safety. In 19th International Technical Conference on the Enhanced Safety of Vehicles, Washington DC (pp. 6–9). Vincent, J. (2015). Despite successes, labor violations still haunt Apple. http://www.theverge.com/ 2015/2/12/8024895/apple-slave-labor-working-conditions-2015. Accessed April 23, 2020.

Part V

Looking Forward

Chapter 9

Final Word: Which Side Are You On?

Most of us want to be on the side of humanity and the planet. However, this is determined by actions rather than just wishes. The book has provided tools to analyse the impact of our actions in the form of an ethics and behaviour analysis framework. The ethics component of the framework applies a number of different ethics theories to analysing actions to determine whether they are ethical from a number of different perspectives, including their impacts on other people and the environment. The behaviour component uses several different theories of behaviour to investigate and try to understand and explain the reasons for particular actions. The book provides 15 case studies of the application of the framework to real situations. The majority of them relate to ICT and automation, but there are also case studies covering other issues, including the use of cadavers in car safety testing, human genome modification and the Bhopal disaster (though this does incorporate elements of ICT and automation). Seven of the examples took place in Poland, mainly during the period of the development of early computers and other ICT and automation technologies. The other case studies come from China, Germany, India, the UK and the USA and a slightly later period, 1984–2019. The case studies also show how a climate of fear and a degree of pervasive corruption can make ethical behaviour more difficult. This does not remove individual responsibilities to behave ethically, even in difficult circumstances. It also demonstrates the importance of trying to create climates that encourage ethical behaviour. There are various ways of doing this, including through challenging bullying and cultures of blame. However, there are advantages in doing this collectively rather than individually to discourage victimisation (Hersh, 2002). The examples in the book analyse other people’s actions to determine both whether they are ethical and to try to explain them. However, individuals could equally well apply the framework to investigate their own actions in a particular situation to determine whether they were ethical and the reasons for these actions. A possibly more interesting use of the framework is to analyse situations to determine possible courses of actions. As indicated in the conclusions to Chaps. 7 and 8, it could be used in this way to determine one or more sets of actions which meet all the ethical © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8_9

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criteria. The behaviour framework could then be used to determine which of these courses of action are in line with your values and goals and best meet your needs, as well as the likely pressures for and against the actions and your confidence in your ability to carry them out. The book also celebrates the triumph of the human spirit and human creativity and ingenuity in the establishment and development of the computer industry in Poland in difficult conditions resulting from the lack of availability of state-of-theart components. In doing this, it presents a little known history of the early ICT, automation and applications industry in Poland and brief biographies of some of the ‘pioneers’ involved in these early developments. Many of the subsequent applications of these computers and the associated software were in the power industry, particularly in coal-fired power stations. On the one hand, these systems supported the more efficient running of the stations and therefore reduced coal use and emissions for a given energy output. This clearly had a positive environmental impact, including in reducing these power stations contribution to global climate change. On the other hand, there seems to have been little interest and possibly also a lack of awareness of the environmental and human costs of using fossil fuel power stations. While the use of automation and control technology reduced greenhouse gas emissions, they were still very high. The ICT and automation pioneers did not challenge the use of coal-fired power stations or suggest looking for other ways of generating energy which had considerably lower negative environmental impacts. They may have lacked knowledge of their environmental risks, but the human costs of coal mining should have been apparent. However, there is no longer any excuse not to recognise that global climate change now presents a major threat to humanity and the planet (Masson-Delmonte et al., 2018). Due to the work of the intergovernmental panel on climate change (IPCC, undated) as well as other climate scientists, there has been broad scientific consensus for several years that this is due to human activity increasing levels of carbon dioxide, methane and other greenhouse gases in the atmosphere (Hersh, 2006). In particular, globally averaged surface temperatures for 2006–2015 were 0.87 °C higher than for the 1850–1900 period and are still increasing at an average rate of 0.2 ± 0.1 °C per decade as a result of past and continuing emissions. Further increases will lead to further sea level rises and greater risks of serious flooding and increase the risks to energy and food supplies and water availability, as well as of increasing poverty in Africa and Asia. The consequences of temperature increases of 1.5 °C compared to 1850–1900 will be extremely unpleasant and of 2 °C could be disastrous (Masson-Delmonte et al., 2018). Engineers, scientists, computer scientists, programmers, technicians and other technical professionals (subsequently referred to as technical professionals) will need to make choices to ensure that their actions contribute to combating climate change rather than causing it. Due to the cumulative and continuing effects of past greenhouse gas emissions, preventing further climate change will require as close as possible to zero emissions, as well as zero net energy and resource use, preferably without halting all activities. Although perpetual motion machines and totally lossless closed loop

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systems are not possible, present practice can be significantly improved on. This is where technical professionals could have a very important impact. The evidence shows improving international security requires peace building and resolving the major global problems of climate change, competition over resources including water, growing inequality and marginalisation, and global militarism (Abbott et al., 2006). Instead, the focus is on military preparedness, including highly sophisticated weapons technologies (Jackson, 2011). As well as channelling society into war rather than peace, this military spending is diverting resources from resolving social and environmental problems. For instance, it has been estimated that armed conflict between 1960 and 2007 reduced GDP by $9.1 trillion or 12.5%. Meeting the millennium goal of providing all children with schooling by the year 2000 would have taken less than one percent of spending on weapons (Brazier, 1997), Nuclear weapons pose a particular threat to humanity and the planet. A simplistic calculation based on the fact that the 40 nuclear weapons on a Trident submarine could cause 5.4 million deaths (Ainslee, 2013) indicates that current global stocks of 13,000 nuclear weapons (Sanders-Zakre, 2020) could lead to nearly 1.8 billion deaths. The destruction of infrastructure, including hospitals and firestorms could significant expand this number. Another casualty would be the climate. Simulations show that even regional nuclear war between India and Pakistan using only 100 nuclear weapons could cause unprecedented global ozone losses of 20–50% over populated areas, more than 25 years of the coldest average surface temperatures for the last 1000 years, and mid-latitude summer increases in ultraviolet indices of 30–80%. This would cause widespread damage to human health, agriculture, and terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. There would be significant pressures on global food supplies which could trigger a global famine and cause hundreds of millions of further deaths (Mills et al., 2014; Helfand, 2013). Emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, cyber technologies and autonomous control are increasing the risks associated with nuclear weapons, including through increasing uncertainty in the decision to launch a nuclear weapon (Anon, undated). In 2019, nine nuclear weapons countries spent $72.9 billion on building and maintaining their over 13,000 nuclear weapons. The country with the highest nuclear weapons spending is the USA, $35.4 billion in 2019. The UK spent an estimated $8.9 (£7.2) billion on nuclear weapons in each of 2018 and 2019 and an estimated £39.093 billion on ‘defence’ (military expenditure) in 2019 (Sanders-Zakre, 2020). However, both the UK and USA lacked sufficient ventilators and protective equipment for the covid-19 pandemic. This is resulted in medical personnel and others being unnecessarily exposed to risk, unnecessary loss of life to both patients and medical personnel, a probably extended duration of the pandemic and ethically unacceptable decisions about who should have access to ventilators. This situation would have been different if the UK and US governments had prioritised health care over military (‘defence’) spending. India and Pakistan are both nuclear weapons states and have been in conflict over Kashmir since 1947. There have been repeated military skirmishes and escalations of the conflict and there is a real, though remote, possibility of escalation to nuclear

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war (Hood, 2019). It has also been suggested that these nuclear weapons encourage rather than reduce conventional conflict between India and Pakistan (Kapur, 2005). In addition to the risks to local and global security posed by these nuclear weapons— the high expenditure on nuclear weapons, $2.3 billion in India and $1 billion in Pakistan (Sanders-Zakre, 2020)—is also costing the people of these countries by taking away resources from development and poverty reduction. In 2019, a quarter of the population of Pakistan was living in poverty, with higher levels of poverty at 31% and low literacy in rural areas (Sial, 2020). India has a very fast growing economy and is reducing the percentage of people living in poverty. However, about 270 million or 21.9% of the population of 1.2 billion lived below the poverty line of £1.25 a day in 2011–12, and this figure remained at 21.9% in 2017 (Anon, 2020a). India’s population has increased to 1.38 billion (Anon, 2020b) with possibly 302 million people in extreme poverty. Poverty is a particular problem in North Korea, a low-income country with nuclear weapons. In 2018, an estimated 60% of the population or about 15.47 million people (Anon, 2020c) lived in absolute poverty, meaning they were unable to meet basic needs including food, shelter, safe drinking water, education and healthcare (Cuaresma et al., 2020). This is largely due to North Korea prioritising military spending, about 22% of gross domestic product (GDP) over development and measures to eradicate poverty. This included spending about $620 million in 2019 on nuclear weapons (Sanders-Zakre, 2020). It has been suggested that the increasing use and importance of technology in armed conflict could possibly be making engineers and engineering technicians the new frontline troops (Blue et al., 2013). While they are not actually fighting in the frontlines, the withdrawal of significant numbers of technical personnel from developing and maintaining weapons and other technologies used by the military could detechnologise war. This is unlikely to prevent all armed conflict, but detechnologising conflict, could significantly reduce its devastation in terms of deaths, injuries, environmental and infrastructure destruction. The British Medical Association (BMA, 2007) voted water supply and sewage disposal systems the most important advances in medicine since 1840. Universal access to safe and clean sanitation and water would make a significant difference to global health. The United Nations General Assembly declared ’safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life and all human rights’ in 2010 (UN, 2010). However, there are still 2.4 billion people who lack access to improved sanitation, about 949 thousand who defecate outside and 663 million people who lack access to improved water sources (UNICEF, 2015; WHO, 2015). The original definitions of improved sanitation and water supply are no longer sufficient, and therefore have been replaced by ladder approaches to encourage and monitor progressive improvement (JMP, undated; Shaheed et al., 2014). In the case of water even when piped water is available, there are still issues of the water being obtained from non-contaminated sources, water being available consistently rather than intermittently and safe water storage when piped water is not available (Shaheed et al., 2014).

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High water losses of up to 50% in some cities are occurring despite diminishing availability of water resources. In addition to real losses due to leaks and reservoir overflow, unauthorised consumption and metering inaccuracies can cause apparent losses (Farley & Trow, 2003). Where unauthorised consumption is occurring, it may be due to poverty. This implies that basic domestic water consumption should be paid for out of taxation, and only levels above a threshold be paid for by the user to prevent excessive usage. Engineers and other technical professionals clearly have an important role in working to improve water and sanitation. This includes upgrading facilities and reducing losses. However, paralleling the discussion in the technology transfer case study on involving local experts in Chap. 7, involving local people is vital so that solutions are appropriate to the local context and can be maintained locally, as otherwise they may not be used. An example of this is the Zimbabwe bush pump which was designed to involve the local community. It was found that, for instance, not taking account of local traditions of the involvement of nanas (traditional healers) and local water diviners in the choice of well site generally resulted in wells that were dry or not used (de Laet & Mol, 2000). Technical professionals apply enormous creativity and ingenuity and often triumph over great difficulties in their work. While this is frequently admirable, it is no longer sufficient to solve problems, without considering the applications of these solutions. Technical professionals also need to consider the impact of these solutions on human society and the planet. This will frequently require both collective and individual responsibility: collective responsibility as much technical work takes place in teams and to avoid victimisation, and individual responsibility as collectives are formed of individuals. It needs individuals to take responsibility for their actions for the collective to as well.

References Abbott, C., Rogers, P., & Slaboda, J. (2006). Global responses to global threats sustainable security for the 21st century briefing paper. www.thebreakingnews.com/files/articles/globalthreats.pdf. Accessed June 26, 2013 Ainslee, J. (2013). If Britain fired Trident. In The humanitarian consequences of a nuclear attack by a Trident submarine on Moscow. http://www.banthebomb.org/index.php/publications/reports. Accessed April 18, 2014. Anon. (2020a). Poverty in India. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Poverty_in_India. Accessed May 18, 2020. Anon. (2020a). India population. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/india-popula tion/. Accessed May 18, 2020. Anon. (2020c). North Korea population. https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/northkorea-population/. Accessed May 17, 2020. Anon. (undated). Emerging technologies and nuclear weapons risk. https://d3n8a8pro7vhmx.clo udfront.net/ican/pages/1166/attachments/original/1580226579/ICAN_emerging_technology_ and_nuclear_weapons_policy_briefing.pdf?1580226579. Accessed May 17, 2020.

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Blue, E., Levine, M., & Nieusma, D. (2013). Engineering and war: Militarism, ethics, institutions, alternatives. Synthesis Lectures on Engineers, Technology, and Society, 7(3), 1–121. BMA. (2007). Medical milestones: Celebrating key advances since 1840. British Medical Journal, 334(suppl), s1–s22. Brazier, C. (1997). State of the world report, issue 287. In New internationalist. http://newint.org/ features/1997/01/05/keynote/. Accessed June 13, 13. Cuaresma, J. C., Danylo, O., Fritz, S., Hofer, M., Kharas, H., & Bayas, J. C. L. (2020). What do we know about poverty in North Korea? Palgrave Communications, 6(1), 1–8. De Laet, M., & Mol, A. (2000). The Zimbabwe bush pump: Mechanics of a fluid technology. Social Studies of Science, 30(2), 225–263. Farley, M., & Trow, S. (2003). Losses in water distribution networks. IWA Publishing. Helfland, I. (2013). Nuclear famine: Two billion people at risk? https://www.psr.org/wp-content/ uploads/2018/04/two-billion-at-risk.pdf. Accessed May 17, 2020. Hersh, M. A. (2002). Whistleblowers—Heroes or traitors?: Individual and collective responsibility for ethical behaviour. Annual Reviews in Control, 26(2), 243–262. Hersh, M. A. (2006). Mathematical modelling for sustainable development (pp. 1–74). Springer. Hood, L. (2019). Nuclear war between India and Pakistan? An expert assesses the risk. https://theconversation.com/nuclear-war-between-india-and-pakistan-an-expert-assessesthe-risk-112892. Accesses May 17, 2020. IPCC (undated). IPCC reports. https://www.ipcc.ch/reports/. Accessed May 17, 2020. Jackson, S. T. (2011). Arms production. SIPRI Yearbook (pp. 231–248). JMP. (undated). Sanitation. https://www.washdata.org/monitoring/sanitation. Accessed May 18, 2020. Kapur, S. P. (2005). India and Pakistan’s unstable peace: Why nuclear South Asia is not like cold war Europe. International Security, 30(2), 127–152. Masson-Delmonte, V., et al. (2018). Summary for policy makers in global warming of 1.5°C. IPPC. Mills, M. J., Toon, O. B., Lee-Taylor, J., & Robock, A. (2014). Multidecadal global cooling and unprecedented ozone loss following a regional nuclear conflict. Earth’s Future, 2(4), 161–176. Sanders-Zakre, A. (2020). Enough is enough 2019 global nuclear weapons spending. https://d3n 8a8pro7vhmx.cloudfront.net/ican/pages/1549/attachments/original/1589365383/ICAN-Eno ugh-is-Enough-Global-Nuclear-Weapons-Spending-2020-published-13052020.pdf. Accessed May 17, 2020. Shaheed, A., Orgill, J., Montgomery, M. A., Jeuland, M. A., & Brown, J. (2014). Why? Improved? Water sources are not always safe. Bulletin of the World Health Organization, 92, 283–289. Sial, H. (2020). Poverty in Pakistan facts and figures 2020. https://he.com.pk/pakistan/causes-ofpoverty-in-pakistan-2/. Accessed May 17, 2020. UN. (2010). The human right to water and sanitation. https://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/ human_right_to_water.shtml. Accessed May 18, 2020. UNICEF. (2015). Progress on drinking water and sanitation: 2015 update and MDG assessment. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/177752/9789241509145_eng.pdf;jsessi onid=CE8E29897D891192321D41EC5FC2B1FF?sequence=1. Accessed May 14, 2019. WHO. (2015). World Health Organization, UNICEF, United Nations Population Fund and the World Bank. In Trends in maternal mortality: 1990 to 2015, WHO, Geneva. https://data.unicef.org/ topic/maternal-health/maternal-mortality/. Accessed May 14, 2019.

Resources: Addresses of Organisations of Engineers and Scientists Working for Change

Engineers for Social Responsibility Web: https://sites.google.com/site/test4esr/ PO Box 6208, Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141, New Zealand Engineers Without Borders (EWB) Contacts for 65 organisations in different countries that are part of the EWB network: Web: http://www.ewbinternational.org/ Secretariat: Cathy Leslie, EWBUSA [email protected] 1031, 33rd St., Suite 210 Denver, CO 80205, Tel: 1-303-772-2723 101, Constitution Avenue, Suite 375 East, Washington DC 20001 Tel: 1-855-381-3517 Forum Wissenschaft & Unwelt Email: [email protected], Web: www.fwu.at Palmgasse 3/2 1150 Vienna, Austra. Tel: + 43 01 2164120 20 Grup de Cientifics i Tecnics per un Futur No nuclear (Group of Scientists and Engineers for a Nuclear-Free Future) Web: http://www.energiasostenible.org/ca/ Bustia verda, Apartat de Correus 10095, 08080 Barcelona, Catalunya Tel: +34 629 932 908 Interdisziplinäre Arbeitsgruppe Naturwissenschaft, Technik und Sicherheitspolitik—IANUS (Interdisciplinary Working Group on Science, Technology and Security Policy) Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.ianus.tu-darmstadt.de/home/index.de.jsp Technische Universität Darmstadt, Brigitte Schulda, Sekretariat S3/04 103 Alexanderstr. 35 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8

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64283 Darmstadt Tel: +49 6151 16-4368, +49 6151 16-6039 International Network of Engineers and Scientists for Global Responsibility Web: http://www.inesglobal.net Marienstr. 19-20, D-10117 Berlin, Germany Tel: +49 (0)30 1208 4549 Programme director Lucas Wirl, email: [email protected] International Network of Engineers and Scientists Against Proliferation Email: [email protected], Web: www.inesap.org INESAP e.V. c/o IANUS Darmstadt University of Technology Alexanderstraße 3537 D-64289 Darmstadt, Germany Tel: +49 6151 16 4468 Japan Scientists Association Email: [email protected], Web: http://www.jsa.gr.jp Chasu Blg. 9F, 1-9-15 Yushima, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo, 113-0034 Japan Tel: +81 03 3812 1472 Science for Peace Email: [email protected], Web: www: http://scienceforpeace.ca/ 045 University College, 15 King’s College Circle, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, M5S 3H7 Tel: +418 416 978 3606 Science Unstained Web: http://www.scienceunstained.co.uk/ Scientists for Global Responsibility, Australia Email: Chris Hamer [email protected], Web: www.sfgr.net PO Box 6505, University of New South Wales, Sydney NSW 1466 Scientists for Global Responsibility, UK Email: [email protected], Web: www.sgr.org.uk Unit 2.8, Halton Mill, Mill Land, Halton, Lancaster LA2 6ND, UK Tel: +44 1524 812 073 Sociedad Mexicana de Física (Mexican Physics Society) Emails: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected] Web: http://www.smf.mx/ A.P. 70-348 México, D.F. Departamento de Física, 2do piso, Facultad de Ciencias UNAM, C.P. 04510 Delegación Coyoacán, Ciudad Universitaria, México, D.F. Tel and fax: (52-55) 5622-4946, 5622-4848

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Unione degli Scienziati Per Il Disarmo (Union of Scientists for Disarmament) Web: http://www.uspid.org/index.html Registered Office: Pisa Fiscal Code: 93006920503 National Secretary: Prof. Francesco Forti tel: (+39) 050 2214341

Index

A Achieving change, 190 Agency, 16, 25, 31, 79, 215, 217 Antennae, 171, 172 Antisemitism, 188, 189 Approval standing up for customers, 218 Architecture, computer Harvard, 109 Von Neumann, 109, 131 ARCNET, 160, 174 Arrests, arbitrary, 191 Assembler alphanumeric, 147 numeric, 147 Astronomy radio astronomy centre, 166, 186 control, 165 Attitudes, 22, 24, 45, 213 Autocode MOST, 74, 76 Automation Module System (AMS), 126, 128 Autonomy, 14, 15, 19, 20, 29, 31, 185, 190, 192, 193, 196, 199, 201, 204, 209, 213, 217, 219, 223, 225, 228, 231, 234

B Bad practice, 6, 7, 28, 30, 184, 205, 226, 235 Balancing act, 45, 188 Behaviour, human

framework, 3, 8, 9, 24, 29–31, 39, 183, 185, 190, 193, 196, 199–204, 207–210, 212, 213, 216, 232, 234, 241 unethical, 28, 186, 195, 226, 233 Beneficence, 14, 19, 20, 29, 31, 204, 213, 219, 222, 223, 234 Bhopal 3800 deaths, 224 hazards report ignored, 222, 224 Hindi safety information lacking, 224–226 human factors ignored, 225 leak exploded, 224 lower safety standards than in US, 225, 226 major accident, 225 safety checks lacking, 225 shanty town, 225 toxic gas emissions, 218 US safety mechanisms not transferred, 224 Bonus justifying underpayment, 192 misappropriated, 191, 192 project implementation, 183, 191 unearned, 184, 193, 194 British Airways, 218–220 Bullying, 12, 27, 63, 184, 185, 241

C Cadavers appropriate treatment, 208

© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2023 M. Hersh and J. B. Lewoc, Ethics and Human Behaviour in ICT Development, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-25277-8

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254 car safety testing, 207, 208, 211, 232, 241 Career development, 93, 184, 229 Care, ethics of, 13 Case approach, 13, 20 Case studies, 3, 6–9, 31, 39, 84, 102, 183, 202, 207, 232, 233, 241 Catholic church Cardinal Joseph Glemp, 45 Cardinal Stefan Wyszynski, 43 Central processing unit, 95, 103, 111, 138, 144, 156, 176 Channel autonomous, 123, 125, 127 character, 123–125, 127, 128 industrial, 128 multiplexor, 124, 125, 132 priority, 125, 127, 128 Character developing, 209 good, 14, 17, 20, 29, 184, 187, 190, 196, 199, 201, 204, 212, 225, 228, 234 Child workers, 212, 213 Civil Aviation Authority, 218–220 Classification of ethical theories absolutist, 14 monist, 12 pluralist, 12 process, 12 situation-based, 13, 18, 20 Climate change food shortages, 244 increasing poverty, 242 inequality, 88, 243 sea levels rises, 4 threat to humanity and planet, 242 water shortages, 244 Cluster control unit, 125, 156, 178 Codes, professional, 14, 16 Combustor can repair, previous, 219 rupture, 218 Competence lack of, 198 Compiler, 75, 122, 138, 141, 149, 175, 177 Complexity, 15, 30, 75, 90, 122, 164, 193, 199, 201, 204, 209, 214, 228, 231, 234 Computer analogue, 84, 104, 107, 131 digital, 55, 56, 84, 96 generations, 70, 102 mainframe, 103, 139, 141

Index Computing power, 101, 130, 158, 174 Confidence achievement of change, 188 national, 187 technical skills, 90 Conflict, 244 role of technology Conflicting duties, 208 Conformist, 186 Conformity, 23, 27, 28, 30, 194, 204, 205, 210, 211, 218, 220, 224, 234, 235 Consequences long term, 6, 13, 19, 21, 30, 185, 188, 196, 199, 201, 204, 209, 217, 219, 225, 228, 234 short term, 201, 223 Consequentialist ethics, 16–19 Coordinating Committee for Multilateral Export Controls (CoCom), 50, 51 Copernicus, Nikolas, 41, 52, 165, 186 Corruption pervasive, 195, 203, 241 COuncil of Mutual ECONomic assistance (Comecon), 43, 50, 51, 56, 76, 79, 81, 106, 107, 113, 118, 125, 131, 133, 145, 146, 233 Covid-19, 5, 70, 243 Creativity, 92, 93, 197, 242, 245 Culture organisational, 24, 30, 194, 204, 234

D Delay, 154, 168 Deontological ethics, 17, 20, 24, 29, 184, 187, 192, 193, 198, 200, 203, 208, 219, 222, 225, 227, 234 Dependency, 194 Design, 5, 18, 51–55, 59, 62, 63, 65, 69, 72, 73, 76, 78–82, 85, 88–92, 95, 96, 103, 104, 107, 109, 110, 115, 122, 123, 128, 131, 133, 136, 137, 139, 140, 160, 161, 163, 164, 167, 173, 174, 178, 183, 191, 192, 198–200, 202, 203, 210, 219, 220, 222, 223, 225, 227, 228, 233 Designer automatic control, 79 education, 52, 53, 70, 82, 88, 90, 91 Elwat-1, 107 leisure interests, 77, 94 Odra computers, 62, 65, 71, 72, 74 regional power monitoring system, 77

Index Devastation by war, 49, 52, 53, 64, 65 Disk drive, 130, 168 Duty of care, 217, 225, 226 E Eco-centred ethics, 21, 30, 185, 188, 196, 199, 201, 204, 213, 219, 223, 231, 234 Educator, ICT, 86 Egocentric perspective, 185 Elwro computer service centre, 56, 58, 65 liquidation, 183, 200, 201 sale, 56, 65, 201, 202 training, 56–59, 75, 85, 89 Embargoes, western relaxation, 104, 120, 136, 195 Emotions, 25–28 Employer obligations, 198 Engineering ethics outcomes or applications, 6 professional practice, 6, 7, 90 Ethical grid, 18, 19 Ethics framework, 3, 8, 9, 11, 24, 29, 31, 39, 79, 183–185, 187–189, 192, 195, 200, 208, 209, 222, 225, 227, 230, 232, 234 Exclusion from project, 183 Existential ethics, 13 Expectations, 25, 27, 28, 69, 93, 186, 194 Experimentation, ethics of, 13, 20, 30, 185, 188, 201, 204, 219, 223, 231, 234 Expertise local, 6, 196 loss of, 7, 185, 196, 227 F Fairness/unfairness, 29, 204, 219, 223, 225, 229, 234 Favouritism, 184, 192, 194, 203 FBI, 215–218 Fear climate, 191, 200, 241 Fire, aircraft 55 deaths, 218, 219 fast spread, 217, 218 investigation, 218 manchester airport, 207, 218 passenger evacuation problems, 216 First secretary, Polish United Workers Party Edward Gierek, 45 General Wojciech Jaruzelski, 45

255 Wladislaw Gomulka, 45 Framework, 78, 101, 137, 168, 176 Free speech legal protection, 215

G Gender issues gendering of ICT profession, 70 stereotypes, 93 women ICT pioneers, 70, 92 Genome editing babies, 229 HIV protection, 230 regulation of research, 230 Goals achievement, 22, 26, 188, 199, 204, 210, 226, 229, 234 achievement of values, 232 appropriate action, 199 gain goal, 26, 210 goal framing theory, 24, 26 hedonic goal, 26, 210 positive change, 188, 191, 194, 199, 204, 210, 235 Good practice, 7, 184, 200

H Habitual behaviour, 27, 29, 193, 194, 196, 204, 210, 211, 219, 226 Harm mitigation, 187, 192, 201, 204, 217, 219, 228, 231, 234 Henrician articles, 41 Herzberg’s theory of job satisfaction, 27 Hippocratic or engineering oath, 13 Human-centred ethics, 13 Human immune deficiency Virus (HIV) health, 230 transmission to children, 230–232 treatment, 230 Human rights declaration, 189 principles, 189

I IBM computers system /360, 131, 136, 141 system /370, 131, 141 ICL computers ICL 1900 A Series, 141 ICL 1900 S Series, 141

256 ICL 1900 T Series, 141 ICL 1902A/1903A, 126, 156 ICL 1904, 123, 125, 140 Illegality, 190 Inclusion and diversity culture, 197, 214 debates about, 197 Inducement higher payments to improve supplier behaviour, 213 Industrialisation six-year plan, 43 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) ambience of ICT courses, 88 attractiveness as career, 87 environmental impacts, 8, 242 history, 3, 7–9, 39, 41, 64, 101, 102, 242 negative impacts, 88, 160 positive impacts, 70 social impact, 87 Warsaw, 54 Wroclaw, 9, 39, 52–54, 58, 195 Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development history, 3, 7, 9, 39, 50, 64, 102 Warsaw, 54 Wroclaw, 3, 39, 52 Informed consent, 12, 13, 20, 30, 201, 204, 208, 219, 223, 225, 234 Institute for Computer Automation and Measurement Systems (UKSAiP), 62 Institute for Power Systems Automation (IASE), 59–61, 63, 65, 76, 78–80, 83, 129, 150, 156, 158, 162, 163, 174 Integrated circuit, 71, 95, 96, 102, 120, 122, 123, 125, 126, 131, 137, 139–141, 156, 176 Interface, 81, 95, 96, 126, 136, 141, 153, 160, 167, 168 International security, 243 Interrupt, 104, 117, 118, 121, 122, 128, 140, 151, 167, 176, 177 Inter-university communication network nodes, 167, 168

J Jagellonian dynasty, 40 Josef Pilsudski, 42

Index Justice, 14, 15, 20, 29, 31, 185, 190, 191, 193, 196, 199, 204, 209, 213, 217, 219, 223, 228, 234

K KON-10, 72, 184, 185

L Law breaking, 189, 200 and morality, 17, 189 Leadership moral, 228 privacy, 217 research field, 55, 194, 229, 231 safety, 232 Leading designer characteristics, 88 communication skills, 84, 85 education, 88, 91 ethical, 90, 91 technical, 89 ethical practice, 70 experience, 69, 70, 91 good example, 88, 89 technical, 89 technical skills, 89, 90 training, 70, 78, 87, 89–91 colleagues, 87 Leak safety, 224, 225 Lech Wal˛esa, 45, 170, 189 Lithuania, 41 Living standards, 44–46, 187, 225 Local communities, 196, 245 Logic, computers binary, 108, 131, 139, 146 three valued, 55, 108, 144

M Machine code, 74, 75, 95, 117, 138, 139, 146, 147, 175–177 Martial law, 46, 76, 84, 170, 171, 189 Mathematical Apparatus Group (GAM) early computer, 143 differential equation analyser, 55 XYZ, 55 ZAM, 55 Mathematical machine, 54–56, 65, 72, 73, 77, 82, 83, 86, 103, 104, 107, 137

Index Mathematical Machine Construction (BMM) Faculty early computers UMC-1, 104, 143 UMC-10, 55 Memory drum, 51, 104–106, 108, 113, 116–118, 121, 140, 145, 146, 159 ferrite core, 106, 110, 113, 115–118, 120, 128, 129, 140, 146 graphite core, 113 interleaving, 74, 95, 113 magnetic disk, 159 partitioning, 133, 134, 136, 139 random access memory (RAM), 117, 130, 138, 140, 144, 175 read only memory (ROM), 156 reserved memory area, 170, 177 virtual, 133, 134, 136 working, 75, 105, 106, 110, 113, 115–118, 123, 125, 140 Microprocessors Intel 8080, 76, 160 Microprogramming, 72, 74, 82, 95, 120, 123, 126, 139, 144, 145, 177 Military work not normalising, 227 opposition, 229 Monarchy, election of, 41 Motivation, 16, 21, 22, 24, 25, 27, 28, 30, 51, 64, 90, 137, 144, 187, 188, 194, 197, 199, 202, 204, 213, 217, 220, 226, 228, 231, 234 Multi-cultural research, 196

N Narrative ethics, 17, 18, 31 Needs, human achievement, 199, 226 affiliation motivation, 22, 30, 188, 197, 199, 202, 204, 228, 234 authority/power, 185, 188, 190, 193–195, 197, 202, 204, 210, 217, 220, 223, 228, 231, 234 conflict of different needs, 15 existence and material needs, 185, 194, 220, 223, 226 ERG theory, 21, 30, 185, 190, 204, 210, 220, 234 growth, 21, 210, 213, 229, 234 hygiene needs, 27 maslow’s hierarchy of needs, 21

257 relatedness, 21, 190, 197, 199, 204, 226, 231, 234 three types of needs, 22 Networking standards, 167 Non-maleficence, 14, 20, 29, 31, 213, 217, 219, 222, 223 Normative ethics, 20, 29, 204, 225, 228, 234 Nova Huta Metallurgical Plant, 62 Nuclear power plant Chernobyl accident, 197 ˙ 197 Zarnowiec, Nuclear weapons cost, 243 opportunity costs, 244 risk to global security, 244 threat to climate, 242, 243 O Occupation not normalising, 227 opposition, 229 Odra computers Odra 1003, 74, 109, 113, 146 Odra 1013, 104, 106, 113, 114, 137, 140, 145, 146 Odra 1103, 115–117, 137, 144–147 Odra 1204, 74, 76, 133 Odra 1304, 72, 74, 76 Odra 1305, 74, 76 Odra 1325, 72, 76 Operating system EX2P executive, 76, 145, 149, 150, 152, 174 George executive, 74, 75, 96, 122, 151 MASON, 75, 76, 145, 147, 149, 178 multiprogramming with variable number of tasks (MVT), 131, 133, 134 Phoenix, 134 SOW, 74, 75, 145, 147–149, 174, 178 virtual memory operating system, 133 Outcomes, 4, 6, 12–14, 16, 25, 26, 30, 191, 204, 235 Overconsumption, 4 P PDP-11/20 minicomputer, 167 Perceived behavioural control, 25, 31 Peripherals line printer, 121 paper tape reader, 108, 121, 123 punch, 108, 110, 121

258 Perspectives, principles, paradigms, 20 Pioneers, ICT biographies, 69–71, 92, 93, 242 Planned behaviour, theory of, 25, 27 Poland capitals, 3, 9, 39, 41, 48, 54, 64, 102, 113 Christianity, 40 education system, 42, 51 exact science tradition, 51, 52 Polish computers description, 7, 8 history of development, 3 Polish Republic third republic, 42 Politically appointed manager, 3, 7, 184, 202 Political parties, Poland National Democratic Party, 41 Polish Peasant Party, 41, 43 Polish Socialist Party, 43 Polish United Workers Party, 43 Political prisoners, 44, 46, 183, 189–191 Polska, 40 Pope John Paul II, 45 Popularity customer, 217, 218 Positive change, 30, 186, 191, 194, 199 Poverty, 15, 88, 187, 244, 245 Power generation unit, 59, 83, 160 Power network control, 79, 128, 152, 154, 158, 173 Power plant database, 63, 78–80, 160, 162, 173, 174 PowerSter, 80, 163, 164, 192 Precedents, 215 Pressures, social, 25, 191, 194, 210 Printed Circuit Board (PCB), 95, 139 Priority level, 154, 158, 167, 168 non-preemptive, 151, 177 preemptive, 151, 154, 167, 177 Privacy, 215–218, 233 Processing batch, 85, 95, 136 parallel, 139, 177 serial, 103, 177 Programmer education, 55, 70, 76, 82, 91 leisure interests, 77 odra computers, 65, 71, 74, 76, 146 riad computers, 75, 82 Programming language

Index Algol, 122, 143, 146, 149 COBOL, 122 FORTRAN, 122, 143, 146 pascal, 122, 143 Project cancellation, 192 Project managers, 69, 70 Public spending education, 187 R Racism Bhopal, to Indian workers, 225, 226 Regional power control centre automatic information processing system, 151, 152, 154, 156, 159 operating system, 79, 151, 152, 155, 156 Register Datum, 133, 136 Input, 117 Limit, 120, 133, 136 Output, 117 Relationship client-type, 194 workers’ representatives, 213, 214 Republic of two nations, 41 Research ethics, 194 Responsibilities of firm criminal investigations, 213 customer privacy, 215, 216 host country, 226 supplier behaviour, 212, 214 encouragement, 90 pressure, 212, 214 supporting unionisation, 213 Responsibility computer scientists, 70 engineers, 5, 16, 226, 245 individual, 16, 19, 27, 186, 203, 245 team, 5, 88–91, 245 technical professionals, 203, 245 Restart, automatic, 129, 154 RIAD computers R-32, 72, 82 R-34, 82, 131 Rodan, 72, 82 Riad computers, 75, 82, 104, 130, 131 Rights ethics, 20, 31 Riots student, 45 Risk increased unauthorised iPhone access, 216

Index to mine workers, 212 mitigation, 220 violent attacks, 216 Rule-based ethics, 16

S Safety improvement, 208, 209, 219 Safety critical Bhopal, 207, 225, 226, 232 nuclear power plant, 197, 198 Safety culture lack of, 220–223, 225, 226 Safety obligations, 198, 227 Safety standards, 219, 225, 226 Sejm, 41, 42, 46 Self-efficacy, 24, 25, 30, 31, 186, 188, 189, 191, 194, 200, 202, 204, 210, 214, 218, 224, 226, 229, 232, 235 Self theories, 26 Shootout 14 deaths, 215 Signal serialiser, 172 SKOK, 73, 103, 104, 130, 137 Solidarity trade union mass demonstration, 45, 189 political prisoners, 189 underground, 170, 189 Stakeholder, 18, 20, 31, 187, 188, 196 Steel mill control, 164, 165, 174 Strikes, 42, 45, 46 Subassembler, 144, 145 Subprogram, 150, 151, 154, 158 Switched measurement display, 160, 161, 174 Symbolic address language JAS, 76, 145, 146 Synchronised signal, 171

T Tabulating machine, 74, 75, 96, 104, 114, 115, 117, 144, 146, 147 Team, project building, 192 Technology, responsible use, 83 Technology transfer ethical issues, 6, 8, 183 Teleprocessor, 85, 96, 131 Training simulator, 78, 79, 151, 152, 156, 158, 159, 173, 174

259 Transistor, 55, 71, 96, 102, 104, 106, 107, 110, 116, 118, 120, 123, 125, 126, 137, 140, 141 Treatment of workers suppliers, 207, 211–214, 233 Tribal states, 40 TV Solidarity, 79, 164, 170, 174, 189, 190

U Underpayment, 192 Union Carbide profit motive, 226 University of Wroclaw, 49, 53, 72, 73, 75, 78, 79, 82 Unlocking iphones All Writs Act, 215 controlling backdoor access, 215, 216 court order, 215 Apple objection, 215 Unsustainable development, 5 Uprisings Warsaw, 42 Warsaw Ghetto, 42 Users of technology, 110, 123 Utilitarian ethics, 31, 185, 198, 201, 225 Utility theory, 24, 26

V Vacuum tube, 54, 102, 104, 105, 107–109, 140, 141 Values achievement, 193, 194, 199, 204, 210, 231 action against oppression, 229 behaviour, consistent with, 196 benevolence, 23, 30, 191, 193, 199, 204, 210, 232, 234 best products, 213, 214 central values, 22, 23, 30, 31, 185, 202, 204, 234 classification, 23, 102 conflict of values, 214, 229 honesty, 89, 229 making profit, 21, 210, 214, 232 positive change, 191, 199 power, 193, 199, 231 respect for diversity, 197, 229 security, 30, 199, 204, 207, 217, 218, 234 self-direction, 30, 188, 191, 204, 210, 211, 229, 232, 234

260 universalism, 30, 191, 193, 199, 204, 210, 234 Virtue ethics, 17, 20, 29, 31, 184, 185, 187, 190, 193, 199, 201, 204, 209, 212, 234 Virtuous person, 31, 184, 185, 187, 188, 190, 199, 209, 212, 217, 222, 228 Visual Display Unit (VDU) alphanumeric, 156 power industry, 156, 158 semi-graphical, 156

W Warsaw Pact, 44 Water resources, 245 Whistleblowing, 198–200, 203 Withdrawal from research project, 207, 227 Working conditions dangerous, 211 landslides, 211 tin mines, 212 World War I, 42, 48 World War II, 39, 42, 43, 51, 53, 54, 48, 49, 65

Index Wrocław Technical University”, 104 Wroclaw bridges, 65 education, 53, 64, 82, 84, 87 geography, 39, 46, 64 history, 48 ICT development suitability, 53–54 ICT firms, 55, 58, 64, 73, 195 EBS Ink-Jet Systems, 64 ENES, 62 Insofter, 65 leader, 62 Nokia, 64 Procom, 65, 78 Zeto, 63 industrial infrastructure, 48, 53, 64 universities, 53, 72, 77, 114 Wrocëaw Technical University, 53, 59, 72, 73, 76, 79, 82–87, 94, 104 Wrocëaw University, 52, 72, 76, 82, 83, 94, 170

Z Zloty, introduction of, 42