Dual usefulness

'Dual use' is where idealogical battlelines will increasingly be drawn in the future.

The classic example of dual use is uranium, which can be used to make nuclear weapons (a military application), as well as fuel for nuclear power plants (a civilian application). Dual use is a backdoor through which non-nuclear states can gain access to nuclear fuel because it nullifies non-proliferation arguments.

Another perhaps more mundane example of dual use is the 'business case'. An employee who would like a piece of equipment or software for their personal use can construct a business case, ie. reasons why the company should procure the equipment or software, and thereby obtain it using company funds. The company benefits (assuming the business case is not a straight-out lie) but so does the employee.

2006-07-21 11:59:00am (GMT +10) kyy