On July 19, supermarkets, banks, hospitals, airports, and other services experienced a global blackout due to a software glitch. This highlighted the world’s reliance on information technology. Until the solution’s developers put out a fix, news of the problem and outage traveled globally via the networks used for communication.
While technological developments are good, it’s important to also include failsafes and emergency plans.
Adoption of new technology is focused in sectors competing in global markets and in piecemeal fashion compared to local services, exacerbating existing gaps. For instance, while an airline operator may have suffered financial losses, cardiac facilities at a tertiary care center or a computer attempting to access a thermal power station during high demand would be more affected.
Glitches are often caused by minor process or business failures. Prioritize network interconnections and life-saving redundancy to make these technologies effective. Unfortunately, unlike other technological firms, information technologies have yet to develop a mature self-awareness of their pansocial nature. The state is responsible for addressing this issue.
A ‘Digital India’ initiative must include the impact of software solutions on digital privacy and data sovereignty, as well as the issues posed by income disparity and political marginalization in more networked societies. Open-source software and integrity testing that do not violate physical or digital property rights could restore public trust in electronic voting machines, which had been fueled by a lack of understanding of software security among the political class, judiciary, and civil society.
The July 19 outage presents an opportunity to rethink the software used by public sector institutions to provide essential services. This includes eliminating single-vendor policies and incorporating redundancies to maintain connections with informal economies during network outages. Previously, the state was responsible for developing democratic digital infrastructure. As social, economic, and cultural realities become more interconnected, it’s important to provide shock-proof infrastructure.
ABHISHEK VERMA
Author: This news is edited by: Abhishek Verma, (Editor, CANON TIMES)
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