IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2019 - 88

Last Word
Christine Perakslis

n this issue, our communit y addressed
advantageous, and
disadvantageous, utilization of capacity
in society. We assessed constraints
that limit capacity. We addressed
underutilization of capacity. We
explored the potential for adjustments to throughput, with the hopes
of improving capacity.
As populations increase, the volume of man and materials increases
[1]. Demand can exceed capacity.
This is evidenced when cars (with
increased capacity) encroach on
pedestrian spaces and thereby
reduce people flow on sidewalks.
Capacity becomes constrained. As
our colleagues debated the usability
[2] and sustainability [3] of driverless
cars and/or railway systems, we contemplate such societal constraints
to capacity as traffic congestion,
and aging infrastructure. We identify
underutilized capacity; automobiles
designed to transport multiple people, are often utilized by only one.
We pondered the impact of autonomous vehicles on human capacity,
if wasted driving time is converted
into hands-free work productivity. Authors also showed us how to
advance capacity sustainably across
cities through more strategic organization and management of mobility
as-a-service (MaaS).
Our colleagues also explored
nudging, dynamic consent, cyber

I

Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2019.2918038
Date of publication: 30 May 2019

88

Understanding
and Strengthening
Capacity for Society
arms, and predictive policing. We were
exposed to flaws in the non-physical
throughput of information processing.
We wrestle with nudging; information
flow is manipulated. With dynamic
consent, we feel the benefit of removing unnecessary constraints through
real-time consent, yet also the risks
associated with circumventing necessary regulatory countermeasures.
We recognize constraints caused
by expanding gaps and ambiguity in
the legal environment relative to cyber
arms. We were also cautioned to better design throughput with an Ethics
of Care approach to better understand computational techniques of
predictive policing, so as to avoid
underlying bias in the data relative
to certain populations.
In the battle against cancer,
authors presented comprehensive
methodology to reduce such capacity constraints as time-consuming
and resource-demanding computations for more effective personalized
cancer treatments. Their incremental
approach to capacity management
when processing data is methodology likely to make the difference
between life and death.
IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

Everyday life requires movement up, down, and across capacity
in our world [1]. Our community came
together brilliantly, taking into
account this movement in both the
physical and non-physical spheres.
Our community assessed well the
utilization of technology, to help society better align capacity to demand.

Author Information
Christine Perakslis is Associate Professor in the MBA Program, College
of Management, Johnson & Wales
University, Providence, RI. Email:
christine.perakslis@jwu.edu.

References
[1] A. Connor and D. McNeill, "Growing cities face challenges of keeping the masses
moving up, down and across," theconversation
.com, June 3, 2018; https://theconversation
.com/growing-cities-face-challenges-ofkeeping-the-masses-moving-up-down-andacross-92827.
[2] T. Sobral, T. Galvão Dias, and J. Borges,
"Visualization of urban mobility data from
intelligent transportation systems," MDPI -
Sensors, Jan. 2019; https://www.mdpi.com/
1424-8220/19/2/332/htm.
[3] A. Bucchiarone, "Collective adaptation
through concurrent planning: The case of sustainable urban mobility," Jul. 2018; http://
ifaamas.org/Proceedings/aamas2018/
pdfs/p1880.pdf.

∕

JUNE 2019

https://theconversation.com/growing-cities-face-challenges-of-keeping-the-masses-moving-up-down-and-across-92827 https://theconversation.com/growing-cities-face-challenges-of-keeping-the-masses-moving-up-down-and-across-92827 https://theconversation.com/growing-cities-face-challenges-of-keeping-the-masses-moving-up-down-and-across-92827 https://theconversation.com/growing-cities-face-challenges-of-keeping-the-masses-moving-up-down-and-across-92827 https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/2/332/htm https://www.mdpi.com/1424-8220/19/2/332/htm http:// ifaamas.org/Proceedings/aamas2018/ pdfs/p1880.pdf http:// ifaamas.org/Proceedings/aamas2018/ pdfs/p1880.pdf http:// ifaamas.org/Proceedings/aamas2018/ pdfs/p1880.pdf

IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2019

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - June 2019