In a telephone interview with Arab News discussing the issues concerning software quality, Papows explained that consumers tend to think of equipment or processes that are computerized as being unduly accurate. That’s not true of course. Software is only as good as the person behind the programming. When faulty programming and software flaws combine with poor safety procedures and/or inadequate staffing and training, sometimes the outcomes are horrifying. To emphasize this message, Papows highlighted the case of Scott Jerome-Parks who died from radiation poisoning. Due in part to a software “glitch,” Jerome-Parks was erroneously administered a massive amount of radiation during cancer treatment. Jerome-Parks’ case is not isolated. Papows pointed to other cases involving more than 150 patients at just two US hospitals who received the wrong radiation dose during cancer treatment.

“We have a trillion devices connected to the Internet. We’ve reached the saturation point now where we’re so dependent that if anything does go wrong, the opportunity for it being spectacularly wrong is much higher,” said Papows.

From the author’s perspective the only sane option is to put in place IT governance both at the corporate and government level. This would mean that in an effort to eliminate software coding errors, policies and best practices would be enforced beginning from the design phase of software development, in part through the use of automated technology tools. Governments would use IT governance tools to ensure that software met minimum design standards before being used to create or upgrade critical systems. 

“The government has put in controls regarding food quality and pharmaceuticals and yet information technology, I would argue, is more pervasive and the ramifications of having it wrong are just as deadly. There’s also the consideration of its impact on the economy,” Papows said. “Yet there are almost no government prescriptives, controls or mandates at all in regards to IT. Unless that changes, the potential for harm will only increase.”