IT is ethical - Issue dtd : 23th August 2004 By Madan

Software Engineers are bound by a professional code of conduct [IEEE-CS/ACM Software Engineering Ethics]. A software engineer is equally responsible to the society as a doctor or a lawyer. Software professionals have a social responsibility while developong life critical systems designed in medical, transportation, and banking domains.

Sky Bus Mishap: A case in point is the Failure of the Sky Bus technology during its trial run [ ]. A 26 year old software engineer is held responsible for the mishap during the trial run, which resulted in the death of two engineers [The Navhind Times, Goa 27 September 2004]. The engineer had programmed the auto-driving device that failed to control the speed limit of the sky bus coach at a crucial turn. The software engineer is charged with a criminal case for "negligent and rash driving causing accidental death and injury". Unfortunately, the software engineer is battling for his life as he was in the coach during the trial run. Sky Bus Metro project is touted as a big revolution in urban transport.

There are some questions regarding the feasibility and usage of Sky bus technology. Are the officials trying to find a scapegoat in the software engineer? The whole technology defies the logic that anything that is left dangling is not safe. How can it be stable when a strong force of gravity is acting on it? Why is it not possible to ply the coaches on top of the elevated sky way? It can be safely operated like an elevated railway. Kochi and Goa are the two cities that have given consent for deploying Sky bus metro system. This mishap will definitely pose more questions than answers to Konkan railway corporation.