She has also analysed the ways in which present development practices might cause subsequent problems for the users of safety-critical systems. There are a number of lesser reasons why the field of HCI ought to offer more direct support to the development and operation of safety-critical, interactive systems. Not the least of these is that both governmental and commercial organisations are appealing to research institutions to provide advice and guidance in this area. As a result there are numerous national initiatives in this area but little international integration. This creates considerable problems for the dissemination of research results and for the coordination of research activities.
Further problems arise because many initiatives relate to specific industries.
The findings of research into nuclear safety rarely reach interface designers within major aircraft manufacturers. This is significant because many interaction problems cross these industry divisions. The first was held in Glasgow in March 1997. The procedings have been developed into two special editions of Elsevier's Interacting with Computers. Attendance was limited to 50 participants but the meeting was considerably over-subscribed.