EDITORIAL: Computer management

It is not uncommon for computer beginners to be at a loss thinking a computer broke down when an unfamiliar message pops up on the screen.

On Monday morning, all five Shinkansen lines operated by East Japan Railway Co. stopped for more than an hour. Simply put, the cause of the confusion can be likened to the above situation.

The trouble occurred on the Computerized Safety, Maintenance and Operation Systems of Shinkansen, commonly known as COSMOS, a centralized computer system that controls the operations of the Tohoku, Joetsu, Yamagata, Akita and Nagano Shinkansen lines.

Due to heavy snow, the company needed to change schedules of 24 trains. Seven workers in the general control center entered adjustments on the system one after another. COSMOS was expected to predict adjusted train schedules and automatically indicate necessary steps that need to be taken, such as updating arrival times and assigning platforms at each station.

However, for purposes of expedience, the number of changes to be displayed on their monitors had been set at no more than 600. Since the required number of changes exceeded the limit, lines on the screen kept flashing on and off. Not understanding why, the workers suspected a system malfunction and stopped all the trains. This is the explanation provided by JR East after looking into the cause for a full day.

Although the system was working properly, the operators had not been informed of the setting. JR East explained that it did not tell the operators because it might distract them while managing the train schedules. This does not sound convincing.

COSMOS started operations in 1995. Since then, although the number of daily train services grew 40 percent, the way the monitors displayed changes had not reflected the growth. When train services are disrupted because of bad weather, it is questionable that the system design division had been informed of predicted changes in schedules.

In the old days, the planning and changing of train schedules was the realm of experienced craftsmanship of railway workers using rulers and pencils. COSMOS was introduced to automate the work, to prevent human errors, and to advance precision and safety. It appears that in the process of shifting from human to mechanical systems, there was an unexpected pitfall.

Railways are operated by both humans and machines. Communication and sharing of information are indispensable between system designers and train operators as well as their respective organizations.

The government is contemplating sales of Shinkansen cars and operating systems to foreign countries as a set. Train services that strictly follow timetables and safety are Japan's selling points. Why not thoroughly re-examine the usability of operating systems at this juncture?

The problem is not limited to public transportation systems. Take, for example, the operation of such lifelines as nuclear power generation, economic activities such as the use of automatic teller machines and electronic transactions and exchange of information through the Internet.

Without various computer systems, modern society would come to a halt. Do people have the capacity to use them effectively? Aren't the systems confusing? This is a good opportunity to draw a lesson.

--The Asahi Shimbun, Jan. 20