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To add to then case studies, the situation with the UK Postal Service and the Fujitsu-developed software, named “Horizon,” led to some postmasters being convicted of theft and embezzlement, and some even ending their own lives, when the faulty software — which
Fujitsu knew did not work properly — made it seem that thousands of pounds were missing from numerous postal offices around the country. It is still unresolved, to my knowledge:
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<div>Fujitsu: How a Japanese firm became part of the Post Office scandal</div>
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<div> https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61020075</div>
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<div>I personally often recall the PeopleSoft disaster that took place at the University of Wisconsin about 25 years ago. Considering that these systems are typically sold on a claim that they can reduce personnel overhead and streamline operations — and invariably
run millions, if not billions, over and rarely, if ever, are able to deliver the full gamut of features and functionality promised — one must ask just what exactly the point is. </div>
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<div>Enriching private corporations from publicly-funded entities seems like one key answer…</div>
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<div>—Sarah<br>
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<div>S a r a h T. R o b e r t s, P h. D.</div>
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<div>Faculty Director, UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry | Co-Director, Minderoo Initiative on Technology & Power</div>
<div>https://www.c2i2.ucla.edu/</div>
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<div>Associate Professor</div>
<div>Department of Gender Studies</div>
<div>University of California, Los Angeles</div>
<div>https://gender.ucla.edu/</div>
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<div>Department of Information Studies</div>
<div>School of Education & Information Studies</div>
<div>University of California, Los Angeles</div>
<div>https://is.gseis.ucla.edu/</div>
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<div>Behind the Screen (Yale University Press)</div>
<div>https://www.behindthescreen-book.com/</div>
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<div>TO SCHEDULE ONLINE MEETING: https://calendly.com/dr-sarah-t-roberts and choose category </div>
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<div>**Please note: I’m increasingly finding email unmanageable. If I don’t respond and your issue is urgent, please resend and indicate that in the subject line. Thank you. </div>
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<blockquote type="cite">On May 29, 2023, at 10:32, Jeffrey Yost via Members <members@lists.sigcis.org> wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">Hi Lee,
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<div>Do not know if this would be of any interest or use...I wrote a short book chapter case or failure study of the Control Data Corporation's Advanced Logistic System for the USAF--software and real time networked global system. CDC was the main contractor
on this system to coordinate all supplies, weapons, personnel, food, medicine, etc. in real time. It would have been the largest logistics system in the world if it worked.</div>
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<div>The system never worked in real time, its whole purpose. It was a giant failure, roughly a $250 million plus software project in the first half of the 1970s. As such, it is one of the largest failed software projects up to that point (perhaps the largest)
in the 1970s. As I cite, Willis Ware (who I interviewed and I also researched his papers and did research at the RAND Archives) was Chief Scientist of the Air Force (in addition to head of CS at RAND) and he warned the Air Force it would fail and he was right.</div>
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<div>Jeffrey R. Yost. Materiel Command and the Materiality of Commands: An Historical Examination of the US Air Force, Control Data Corporation, and the Advanced Logistics System in Arthur Tatnall's History of Computing IFIP Proceedings published by Springer
(2010). Here is the link<br>
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<div><a href="https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-3-642-15199-6_10.pdf" target="_blank">Title (springer.com)</a><br>
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<div>Best, Jeff</div>
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<div><b><font color="#222222">Please connect at:</font></b> <font size="4"> </font>
<b><font color="#38761d"><a href="https://mastodon.social/@JustCodeCulture" target="_blank">Mastodon</a><font size="4"> </font></font><font><a href="https://twitter.com/justcodeculture" target="_blank"><font color="#ff0000">Twitter</font></a><font color="#000000"> </font></font></b><b><font color="#222222"> </font><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/jeffrey-yost-b714566" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">Linkedin</font></a></b><b> <font color="#222222"> </font></b></div>
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<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)"><b>Jeffrey Yost, Ph.D. </b></div>
<div style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Director, <a href="http://www.cse.umn.edu/cbi" target="_blank">
Charles Babbage Institute</a>; Research Professor, History Sci/Tech/Med</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal" style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">222 21st Avenue South, University of Minnesota; Minneapolis, MN 55455</p>
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<div><b><font color="#cc0000">Studies in Computing and Culture book series, Johns Hopkins U. Press </font></b><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Co-Editor </span></div>
<div><font color="#222222"><b>PI, NSF-funded CBI project "Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy."</b></font></div>
<div><a href="https://www.blockchainandsociety.com" target="_blank"><font color="#38761d"><b>Blockchain & Society Blog and Site</b></font></a> (Founder/Leader)</div>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><i><a href="https://cse.umn.edu/cbi/interfaces" target="_blank"><font color="#000000">Interfaces: Essays and Reviews in Computing and Culture</font></a> </i></b><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34)">Co-Editor (w/ Amanda Wick)</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font color="#38761d"><b>Committee Member, National Academy of Engineering Extraordinary Engineering Impacts on Society</b></font></p>
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<p class="MsoNormal"><b><a href="https://amzn.to/3gqe4R6" target="_blank"><font color="#cc0000">Making IT Work: A History of the Computer Services Industry (MIT Press)</font></a></b></p>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Mon, May 29, 2023 at 10:23 AM Lee Vinsel via Members <<a href="mailto:members@lists.sigcis.org" target="_blank">members@lists.sigcis.org</a>> wrote:<br>
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<div dir="ltr">Hi, Jonathan! and all,
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<div>If there is a good book on why software adoption/modernization fails so often I have missed it, but I have really enjoyed the work of Robert Charette on the topic. I think his first piece on it was simply titled "<a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/why-software-fails" target="_blank">Why
Software Fails</a>" and was published in IEEE Spectrum. He has written several follow ups since then. Bob is easily approachable via email and has a wealth of knowledge about these topics. By the way, he is also the author of the recent 12 part series "The
EV Transition Explained," which <a href="https://spectrum.ieee.org/ev-transition-explained-ebook" target="_blank">
was also published as an ebook</a> and demonstrates his characteristic insights into system dynamics. </div>
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<div>Lee </div>
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<div dir="ltr" class="gmail_attr">On Thu, May 4, 2023 at 7:58 PM Jonathan Coopersmith via Members <<a href="mailto:members@lists.sigcis.org" target="_blank">members@lists.sigcis.org</a>> wrote:<br>
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<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Any suggestions for a book or article on software modernization failures, especially for large projects? Why do they seem common -- and apparently remain so?</div>
<div class="gmail_default" style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Thank you.</div>
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<div dir="ltr"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Stay sane</span><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif">,</span><font face="verdana, sans-serif"> </font></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Jonathan</span></div>
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<div dir="ltr"><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Jonathan Coopersmith</span><br>
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<div><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif">Fellow, American Association for the Advancement of Science</span></div>
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<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Professor Emeritus</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Department of History</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Texas A&M University</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">College Station, TX 77843-4236</font></div>
<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">979.739.4708 (cell)</font></div>
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<div style="font-family:arial,sans-serif"><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif"></span><a href="https://aerospaceamerica.aiaa.org/departments/a-chief-skunk-looks-back/" style="color:rgb(17,85,204);font-family:verdana,sans-serif" target="_blank">"A
Chief Skunk Looks Back,"</a><span style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:verdana,sans-serif"> (interview with Sherm Mullin) </span><i style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)">Aerospace America</i><span style="font-family:verdana,sans-serif;color:rgb(0,0,0)"> <span>March</span> 202<span>3</span> </span><br>
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<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><a href="https://theconversation.com/its-taking-more-time-to-cast-a-ballot-in-us-elections-and-even-longer-for-black-and-hispanic-voters-191711" target="_blank">It's taking longer to vote - especially if you are Black or
Hispanic</a>, <a href="http://theconversation.com/" target="_blank">theconversation.com</a> </font></div>
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<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif">Preserving space archives: <a href="https://www.toboldlypreserve.space/" target="_blank">https://www.toboldlypreserve.space/</a></font></div>
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<div><font face="verdana, sans-serif"><i>FAXED. The Rise and Fall of the Fax Machine</i> (Johns Hopkins University Press) </font><br>
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Department of Science, Technology, and Society<br>
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<div>Virginia Tech<br>
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<div><a href="http://leevinsel.com" target="_blank">leevinsel.com</a></div>
<div>@STS_News<br>
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