Social dimensions of reliability of complex systems

The purpose of this panel is to explore the limits of our ability to build fully reliable systems and the consequences thereof. As we come to depend more and more on sophisticated computer-based systems, certain of society's functions are placed in jeopardy. In general our dependence grows gradually as we adjust our degree of trust based on incremental experience. But there some tendency to get into trouble by trusting too much too soon. This panel investigates these issues and raises questions about what society might do to deal with them more thoughtfully.