Topic change: ethics; was Sysadmin job opening up at my company inWoburn, MA

[david at thekramers.net (David Kramer)]

NOTE: I know this thread is getting WAY off-topic; this post is to set the
record straight on Aptima, not make a political statement.

> I interviewed at Aptima a few years ago (although I didn't get hired).
> Their focus is on training systems and human-computer interfaces;

Yes, that's the case.  My group is the Performance Measurement and
Assessment team.  There are other teams that focus on Human Systems
Integration, organizational structure, team effectiveness, etc.

In short, Aptima helps organizations, teams, and individuals make better
decisions, share information better, and learn better.  I feel very
comfortable with this.  Better decisions and better training means FEWER
people injured.  We don't design, evaluate, or build weapons.

Do you fly in planes designed/built by Lockheed Martin?
Do you use internet technologies developed by BBN?

> judging from their Web site, they are starting to accumulate civilian
> customers as well.

True.  In fact, on of our biggest growing communities are the medical
industries (get the surgeons the information they need as fast and
optimally-presented as possible) and first responders.  We're partnering
with hospitals and medical device companies.  We're not only partnering
with civilian corporations, we're also developing products designed to be
sold to multiple customers.

> If work funded by the military can be put on a moral spectrum, with "the
> Internet, back when it was the ARPAnet" on one end and "logistics for
> managing secret CIA prisons" on the other end, then the stuff Aptima's
> doing seems pretty benign to me.
> In these United States, the closer you get to the cutting edge (pardon
> the expression) of CS research, and the greater the chance that your
> business will depend on the DOD (either as a customer or as a sponsor,
> through things like SBIR grants).  I find that unfortunate, but I don't
> think a principled refusal to touch any work associated with the
> military is going to change that.

Yup.  All the best tech comes from the DOD, the space program, and porn
companies.


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