Businesses can no longer afford to treat data security as just another problem for the IT department: it’s now a mission-critical issue for the executive suite. Companies that fail to adequately protect personal information not only run the risk of lawsuits and legal penalties, but also severe – and – potentially fatal – hits to their bottom line.

Top executives and risk managers also need to recognize that the dangers posed by theft of personal data have escalated sharply in terms of financial liability and the potential for irreparable damage to a company’s reputation.  The loss of confidence in a company’s ability to properly manage confidential information can jeopardize the survival of its business. Recently, a well-known credit card processor was dropped by several major credit card brands after a security breach in its system exposed millions of consumer accounts to possible fraud.
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1. Frangos, Alex, “With 3-D Drawing Software, Freedom Tower Architects Put Mind’s Eye on a PC Screen,” The Wall Street Journal (Jul. 7, 2004). See http://webreprints.djreprints.com/1055491238420.html.
2. “Hammurabi’s Code of Laws,” Laws 229-233, translator L.W. King. See http://eawc.evansville.edu/anthology/hammurabi.htm.
3. Bergin, Thomas J., Editor, “50 Years of Army Computing,” Army Research Laboratory-SR-93 (September 2000): 17. See http://www.arl.army.mil/main/Main/default.cfm.
4. Fitzpatrick, Michael, “Internet just leaving its Stone Age – U.S. experts,” Reuters News (Sept. 2, 1999). See http://www.paksearch.com/br99/Sep/4/INTERNET.htm.
5. World Wide Web Consortium, “Tim Berners-Lee.” See http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/.
6. Frangos, ibid.

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Paul Dietrich and Brad Gow

The architecture and engineering professions are undergoing a period of unparalleled change brought about by rapid advances in computing and communications. Technology has transformed everything from project design to client communications in the daily practice of the design professions. The effects of these extraordinary changes are being seen publicly in daring new skyscrapers around the world and more subtly in the use of new materials and in more efficient manufacturing and industrial processes.

In architecture, the use of computer-aided design has enabled imaginative designs such as the proposed twisting structure of the Freedom Tower on the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.(1) Computer design software has allowed architects to move from two-dimensional blueprints to three-dimensional visualizations. Now, architects can take their clients on computerized room-to-room tours long before construction begins and escort them through virtual lobbies to show off the planned interiors in minute
detail.
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by Brad Gow

Information technology has wrought vast and rapid changes in the global economy.

In virtually every industry, a revolution in computing and communications has radically altered the way business works. The ability to send massive amounts of data around the world in milliseconds has enabled businesses to communicate and collaborate worldwide, to set up back office and customer service operations an ocean away, and to efficiently build and market products globally. Whole new industries have arisen, from Internet portals to online retailers. This transformation has created a wide range of new opportunities for those businesses adept enough to take advantage of new technology.

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