Thinking for ourselves:
moving beyond corporate perspectives on technology
Prabhakar Ragde
Department of Computer Science
University of Waterloo
Some myths about technology
Its impact is inevitable
Its effects can be predicted
Its effects will be wholly positive
It is value-free, or "just a tool"
It can be used to remedy social ills
It’s best left to the marketplace
We learn about new technologies from those who have vested interests in our adopting them
Originators, developers
Enthusiastic early adopters
"Visionaries"
What’s the alternative?
Reject technology?
There is a middle ground
Be both optimistic and skeptical
Don’t take claims at face value
Look for secondary and long-term effects
Look for "appropriate uses"
Try to mitigate negative effects
Why should this approach work?
It’s the Canadian way
It can save time, money, and effort
People prefer action to reaction
Why would a company care?
Corporations are interested in more than maximizing short-term profit
They are also concerned about their overall image in the eyes of the public
Progressive social attitudes have long-term benefits for corporations
As citizens…
We can advocate public policies that further the type of society we want to live in
We can moderate between the extremes of rejection and surrender
We can control technology rather than it controlling us
As technologists…
We can take a broader view of our work (not exclusively technical)
We can acknowledge the value and usefulness of other disciplines
We can make sure that rational voices are heard in debates over the use of technology
We can alert people to the dangers of oversimplification
As employees…
We can convince our employers of the benefits of "ecological" approaches
We can raise consciousness among our fellow workers
We can lead balanced and informed lives
As managers…
We can make sure our employees see the big picture
We can look for strategic partnerships with competitors, government, NGOs to mitigate negative social impacts
Some areas of concern
Inequities in access to computing
Social dislocations caused by transformation to information-based economy (if this is happening)
Hasty software deployment
Inefficiencies of constant upgrade and feature creep
Concerns, continued
Safety-critical situations
Computers in basic education
Computers in higher education
Government invasions of privacy
Corporate invasions of privacy
Even more concerns
Professional ethos of technologists
Certification of technologists
Ergonomics of computing
Democracy and activism
Centralization and monopoly
Weakening of geographical ties and local relationships
Last slide of concerns
Increased instability
Over-reliance on connectivity
Weakening of intellectual authority
Changing notions of intellectual property
We can’t articulate what we want from technology without a serious examination of what we have currently, what we wish to change, and what we wish to preserve.