Looking Past the Collingridge Dilemma: Interventions for Responsible Digital Societies

On Tuesday, June 30th, the Digital Transformation group of EUt+’s ACCELERATE project will be hosting an open session designed as a hybrid seminar and panel discussion with multidisciplinary experts from across the European University of Technology. The topic is “Looking Past the Collingridge Dilemma:  Interventions for Responsible Digital Societies”. The event will be taking place in TU Dublin, Grangegorman campus.

This event will be of interest to staff, students, and academics interested in technology assessment, science and technology studies, sustainability, economics,  responsible innovation, and engineering ethics.

This is an in-person and online event—those present in Dublin are encouraged to join us in person.

Certificates of attendance can be provided on request.

In order to join the event, you must first register here. After you do, venue details and/or a Zoom link will be shared with you closer the day.

Title: “Looking Past the Collingridge Dilemma:  Interventions for Responsible Digital Societies”

Date and Time: June 30th, 15:45 WEST (Dublin), 16:45 CEST (Berlin), 17.45 EEST (Bucharest)

Registration Link:   https://forms.cloud.microsoft/e/HTkxKNxk4F

Abstract: The Collingridge Dilemma poses a double-bind problem; that the impacts of technology elude prediction and often only become apparent upon widespread adoption in society, and that once its risks are known it becomes too late to alter the course of the technology’s development. Many technological breakthroughs--especially in recent years where we are witnessing acute and accelerated digital transformation--would seem to evidence a “runaway train” thesis that once new technologies have developed a certain momentum, their progress cannot be stopped or altered, and with potentially disastrous or unknowable societal results--including ethical, economic, political, and ecological ramifications (such as socio-ecological rebound effects).

The concept and framework of Prospective Technology Assessment (ProTA), and the variety of tools of responsible innovation, oppose such a dilemma and thesis, and argue instead that reflexive, inclusive, anticipatory and responsive technological development can help identify and avert the wide-ranging risks and impacts of novel technologies. The university is a centre of development and experimentation with novel digital technologies and also a key site for deploying the methodologies of responsible innovation, including methods of technology and technological impact assessment (e.g., ethical impact assessment, environmental impact assessment, and Prospective Technology Assessment). This event will foreground the role of ProTA as an introduction to technology assessment.

The university is also a place of learning for students who need to be equipped with the skills to critically engage in methods of responsible innovation and critical thinking about technology, to be empowered to contribute to the development of technologies that serve rather than undermine human values, including those of ecological flourishing.

This event will provide a critical background to overcoming the Collingridge Dilemma with a focus on the role of technology assessment, socio-ecological rebound effects, as well as critical interdisciplinary discussion on the impacts of digital technology and the role the university has in pioneering pedagogical and research interventions for responsible innovation for sustainable digital societies.

Agenda

Seminar: Introduction to Technology Assessment – and the Challenge of the Collingridge Dilemma for an Early Shaping of Technology (1 hour)

–      Professor Jan C Schmidt, h_da

Panel Discussion:  Interventions for Responsible Digital Societies (1 hour)

–              Assoc. Prof. Raffaele Giammetti, UNICAS

–              Prof. Shannon Chance, TU Dublin

–              Dr. Mael Jambou, UTT

–              Prof. Jan C Schmidt, h_da

Panel chaired by Dr. Jye O’ Sullivan, NCAD