The achievements have been extraordinary: we have the Web, Google and GPS - but we also have viruses, spam and cybercrime. What can we learn from past triumphs and disasters to help us decide about Big Data, driverless cars, artificial intelligence and life in silico? Might the future be built on sand, metaphorically as well as literally?

An independent consultant systems engineer and non-executive director, Professor Martyn Thomas is an internationally recognised expert in safety-critical or security-critical, software intensive systems, software engineering, and cybersecurity. (from gresham.ac.uk)