[liberationtech] ‘Kind’ technology?

Sun Feb 4 14:21:49 PST 2018

Great insights, Charles!

The Association for Computing Machinery is in what look like the final stages of publishing or revising its Code of Ethics, and it has some good teeth on it.

Also on an interestingly related topic, I came across this stream: minding energy efficiency of algorithms and their avatars in computer code.
https://vimeo.com/241030225

Regards / Saludos / Grato

Andrés Leopoldo Pacheco Sanfuentes

> On Feb 4, 2018, at 3:58 PM, Charles M. Ess <c.m.ess at media.uio.no> wrote:
> 
> I'm not sure if it's quite in the direction you have in mind, but in Scandinavia and now a bit more broadly in Europe at least, there is a growing tradition of "slow technology" - aimed at helping us slow down rather than always be in the service (enslavement) of greater efficiencies, etc.
> This tradition begins with the work of J. Redström (2002) and is elaborated on in  Patrignani and Whitehouse:
> … offers people more time for reflection and for the processes needed to design and use ICT that takes into account human well-being (good ICT), the whole life cycle of the materials, energy, and products used to create, manufacture, power, and dispose of ICT (clean ICT), and the working conditions of workers throughout the entire ICT supply chain (fair ICT). (Patrignani, Norberto, and Diane Whitehouse. 2018. Slow Tech and ICT: A Responsible, Sustainable and Ethical Approach. London: Palgrave Macmillan.2018, 1)
> 
> "Well-being" resonates with virtue ethics' emphases on flourishing and good lives, both individually and collective - one of the premier examples of taking virtue ethics as a foundation for design approaches is:
> Spiekermann, Sarah. 2016. Ethical IT Innovation: A Value-Based System Design Approach. New York: Taylor & Francis.
> 
> Most hearteningly (from my perspective) these approaches are increasingly being taken on board in various engineering projects and communities - including the IEEE "Global Initiative for Ethical Considerations in the Design of Autonomous Systems"
> (<http://standards.ieee.org/develop/indcon/ec/autonomous_systems.html>).
> 
> It seems to me that the collective norms and aims in play here would at least resonate with "kind technology"?  In some ways, that is, even in the privileged worlds I experience and work in, the enveloping and not-always beneficent character of ICT/ networked technologies make all of us vulnerable populations - though I am acutely aware that these are enormous differences in terms of context, culture, economic resources, etc. as well.
> 
> In all events, hope this might be helpful and of interest in some way. And best of luck!
> 
> - charles ess
> 
>> On 04/02/18 15:09, Yosem Companys wrote:
>> From: *Harnidh Kaur* <kharnidh at gmail.com <mailto:kharnidh at gmail.com>>
>> I don’t think most of you know this, but I work in the development space
>> and we’re always trying to find cool ways to make tech make the world
>> better. I’ve been trying to read up more about the same. So, here.
>> Is ‘kind technology’ a thing? Where people are trying to change gears of
>> existing/incumbent technology to specifically serve vulnerable populations?
>> Any existing ideas/something you’re working on/things you think SHOULD find
>> a kind tech iteration. Gimme!
>> --
>> Regards
>> Harnidh Kaur
>> Lady Shri Ram College for Women '15
>> St. Xavier's College, Mumbai '17
>> Foreverawkwardandlearning.wordpress.com <http://Foreverawkwardandlearning.wordpress.com>
>> <http://foreverawkwardandlearning.wordpress.com/ <http://foreverawkwardandlearning.wordpress.com/>>
>> +91-7718951383 <tel:%2B91-7718951383>
> 
> -- 
> Professor in Media Studies
> Department of Media and Communication
> University of Oslo
> <http://www.hf.uio.no/imk/english/people/aca/charlees/index.html>
> 
> Postboks 1093
> Blindern 0317
> Oslo, Norway
> c.m.ess at media.uio.no
> -- 
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