1. DIGI SOCIETY

I have been deeply interested in technology from a young age. During my primary school years, I disassembled and reassembled mechanical and electrical devices, built scale models, worked with wood, and drew airplanes.

I have always had a strong ability to understand how systems work, and this, combined with my hands-on skills, has made me a good aircraft mechanic. Even though in my actual job I haven’t been as hands-on in the last 20 years, I have maintained my aircraft mechanic’s license and skills by servicing smaller aircraft. I also fly myself and have co-owned several aircraft while also serving as a supervisor in the construction of a home-built aircraft project.

My early computer years

I received my first computer when I was 12 years old. It was a Sega SC-3000, which required a separate memory cartridge to function. I started learning simple programming commands like “if,” “then,” and “goto.” I even created a very basic text adventure game. I drew a maze on paper and then wrote the code to navigate the player to the treasure. Wrong choices led to gruesome endings. Computers have been a part of my life since then, but I never really got into programming.

When home computers became popular in the 1990s, I began assembling computers from individual components, not only for myself but also for friends and acquaintances. I became interested in overclocking processors, and I remember the excitement of surpassing a 1GHz clock speed for the first time. I had used a pencil to bridge two contacts on the processor, thus unlocking the multiplier. The joy of success was immense, even though the actual performance gain was minimal, and heat-related issues made the computer quite unstable.

Later on, I completed my Master’s thesis on informationsecurity, and much later, I worked as the cyber director for the Finnish Defence Forces’ logistics command in Tampere. In the field of cybersecurity, I had the opportunity to undergo training in Austria and the Netherlands, as well as participate in the prestigious Black Hat conference in London in 2019.

Thoughts on modern aviation

Even though a simple aircraft can stay in the air without computers, today’s aviation, overall, is highly technical and computer-based.

Traditional mechanical and analog airplane systems are been replaced by digital technologies. Modern electronics replace traditional mechanical control mechanisms in fly-by-wire systems. Pilot inputs are delivered as electrical impulses to flight control computers in these systems, which then change control surfaces to generate the needed aircraft response. FBW systems improve control precision and safety.

Avionics, including communication, navigation, and monitoring systems, have become more digital in recent years. Glass cockpits use digital displays instead of traditional analog gauges to provide pilots with easily readable information. This increases situational awareness while decreasing pilot load. Electronic Flight Bags (EFBs) have replaced traditional paper-based charts and manuals with digital devices, such as tablets or touchscreen displays. Pilots can access real-time weather information, navigation charts, and other essential documents digitally, streamlining workflows and reducing the need for physical paperwork.

Digital communication systems, including satellite communication and digital datalink, have replaced older analog systems. This improves communication reliability and enables real-time data exchange between the aircraft and ground control. For aircraft equipped with an ADS-B transponder, location information is available on the internet. www.flightradar24.com

Modern aircraft are equipped with Health and Usage Monitoring Systems (HUMS) that use sensors to monitor the condition of critical components. These systems can predict potential failures, allowing for proactive maintenance and minimizing unplanned downtime. Finnair’s Airbus A350, for example, continuously sends telemetry data to Helsinki for service technicians. Data can be used to obtain information such as high temperatures and decreased hydraulic pump output, allowing the replacement of the pump to be scheduled before it fails.

Digital navigation systems, such as Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS), have replaced traditional navigation aids. In Finland, directional beacons are no longer being built for airport approach routes. Instead, navigation points have been replaced by ‘virtual’ GPS points

Digitalization in School and GPDR

Now I work as a teacher in a vocational school, and my work is highly digitized: Teaching materials are on Moodle, student management is done through Wilma, and communication with parents takes place via messaging services.

The openness of the digital world is both a threat and an opportunity. A threat in the sense that assessing the accuracy of information is often difficult, even impossible. I also find it disturbing the constant use of mobile devices by young people. In the school environment, I have observed that some basic skills, such as writing and reading, as well as students’ ability to concentrate, have declined.

Teachers often deal with sensitive student information, like grades, attendance records, and possibly health information. Data privacy reforms (GDPR) place more responsibility on teachers to secure this information and ensure that it is only available to authorized people. For example, take extra safety measures to protect the personal information they handle. Protecting physical papers, using secure internet platforms, and making sure electronic devices storing private data are password-protected

Plenty of digital tools for teachers

Use of AI in school

The use of artificial intelligence is being encouraged at my TREDU where I work. Teachers encouraged to use artificial intelligence and think about how it might be used in different situations.

The teacher should explain the principles, problems, and benefits of using artificial intelligence to students, as well as the limitations of any forbidden use. During their education, it is important to encourage students to use and explore artificial intelligence in a supervised and safe way.

Self evaluation

While viewing movies, reading other people’s messages, and writing my own, I couldn’t help but think that I have been living in a truly revolutionary time. The last few decades have changed the way we think about information. Through the incredible capabilities of phones and the internet, we can carry the entire world in our pockets. I’m constantly looking for new ways to creatively use digital tools in my job and reading these blog’s has given me plenty to choose from.

I commented on these blogs

• https://isokenblog.wordpress.com/digi-society/comment-page-1/#respond
• https://blogi.savonia.fi/ninakylmaluoma/digi-society-2/#comment-7