Writing
The weblog contains primarily commentary on and analysis of reliability- and safety-related matters with complex systems, especially those involving software.
PBL trained as a logician, and maintains interest in applied logic and philosophy, so there is also some of that.
Writers
Peter Bernard Ladkin (PBL) is Professor i.R. of Computer Networks and Distributed Systems, Bielefeld University (“i.R.” means “retired”). He is founder, Director and Company Secretary of the tech-transfer company Causalis Limited (England and Wales), as well as CEO (“Geschäftsführer“) of Causalis Ingenieurgesellschaft mbH (Germany).
PBL chairs the international standardisation committee IEC MT 61508-3-2 for formulating the methods highly recommended for the development of software with the highest reliability requirements conformant with the standard IEC 61508 for the functional safety of electric, electronic and programmable systems.
Most recently PBL has been involved with lawyers and other software reliability specialists in analysing how evidence from digital-electronic systems is used (and unfortunately sometimes misused) in legal proceedings.
PBL developed Why-Because Analysis (WBA) for the causal analysis of accidents and incidents in 1996-8 with the assistance of students. WBA has been adopted as a company standard by Siemens Mobility in the Rail Automation sector, the world market-leader in railway signalling systems. Causalis has used it to support legal proceedings. Peter has also developed a the hazard analysis method Ontological Hazard Analysis (OHA) to determine safety requirements for critical systems as completely as possible.
PBL has degrees from Oxford and from the University of California at Berkeley. He still holds a U.S. FAA private pilot’s licence with instrument rating and used to own a PA28-181 which he flew all over the Western U.S. and Southwestern deserts. Now he mostly travels by bicycle.
Peter may be contacted at ladkinATrvsDOTuni-bielefeldDOTde