[LINK] ABS Tries to Blame IBM for 2016 Census Problems

[Tom Worthington]

In its 123 page submission to the 2016 Census Senate Inquiry, the 
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) seeks to blame IBM for the failure 
of the system on Census night: 
http://www.aph.gov.au/DocumentStore.ashx?id=124f22ba-caaa-46ff-899d-7d96851fee3e&subId=414127

Similarly, in the case of "Maguire v Sydney Organising Committee for the 
Olympic Games (2000)", SOCOG sought to deflect responsibility for 
defects in its web site to the contractor, IBM. However, this was 
rejected and SOCOG, not the contractor, was found responsible: 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maguire_v_Sydney_Organising_Committee_for_the_Olympic_Games_(2000)

SOCOG was a temporary organization set up just to run the Sydney 
Olympics, with limited experience. In contrast, the ABS has decades of 
experience in statistical collection using IT systems and cannot 
credibly transfer responsibility to IBM.

The 2016 Census will become a useful case study for teaching 
professional responsibility to IT students: 
http://www.tomw.net.au/basic_ict_professional_ethics/


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
The Higher Education Whisperer http://blog.highereducationwhisperer.com/
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
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Adjunct Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science, College of 
Engineering & Computer Science, Australian National University
http://people.cecs.anu.edu.au/user/3890 http://orcid.org/0000-0003-4799-8464