Eugene Spafford: Making A Difference 2004 Camille Dickson-Deane, Computers & Society editor University of Missouri-Columbia camilledd@acm.org [Q1]: Looking back, what was it that first sparked your interest in computer/information ethics? [A]: I really do not remember. I think it was when I was working on a project related to my PhD, and someone mentioned to me that I should be careful about what I claimed for my work (on fault-tolerance and security) because someone else might be building something on top of it that could be life-sustaining. I got to thinking about the responsibility incumbent on me, as a software designer, to do the right things in design and testing, and in being really accurate in what I presented. Then, as I looked around at what others were doing, I realized that too few people really understood the downstream consequences of what they did with computers. It became an important part of my worldview thereafter. [Q2]: In your opinion, what is/are the most pressing issues in our field today? Why? [A]: I think the whole attitude of "Get it working on time and within budget" is at the heart of many problems. Instead of looking deeper into issues,
/lp/association-for-computing-machinery/eugene-spafford-making-a-difference-2004-Bv4tHcEXDX