Eclectic, random, intuitive? Technology assessment, RRI, and their use of history

The Ecological Turn in Design: Adopting a Posthumanist Ethics to Inform Value Sensitive Design

“…Instead, they look towards ways to open up alternative future possibilities by intervening in design or by envisioning a third option [7]. One earlier effort focused on the values inherent to technological innovation can be seen in the practice of technological assessments (TA) [20][21][22][23]. Forming part of what has been termed the responsible research and innovation (RRI) discourse, TA was and is employed as an approach to providing policymakers and governing bodies with tangible cost-benefits for the adoption of specific innovations (rather than more general or encompassing technological artefacts and systems).…”

Anticipatory governance and moral imagination: Methodological insights from a scenario-based public deliberation study

“…On the other hand, governments, parliaments, civil society organizations, and the general public find anticipatory knowledge to be indispensable for many purposes, such as providing guidance and support for political action, coordinating innovation actors across different societal spheres, and building trust in the outcomes and the quality of decision-making processes. [3] Davies and Selin suggest that scenario-building and "futuring" can inform anticipatory governance, but should support "a fully integrated approach to technological development," one that builds on the natural sciences as well as the social sciences. [21] An interdisciplinary approach would help to reduce the problems raised by scenarios developed by a small group of experts, which are "subject to implicit, ambiguous assumptions about the shape of future developments, and to the biases that accompany the expertise of their proponents."…”

“…For instance, the 2030 scenario led participants to identify public health applications for genetics as well as exceptions where genetic testing could be legitimate. When participants engage with others, including the scenarios' characters (3), and mobilize the past to reason creatively about the future (4), the method enables them to voice their personal concerns and eventually contribute to a historically more informed anticipatory governance. For instance, the 2040 scenario pushed participants to raise the importance of addressing the unmet needs of families afflicted by debilitating genetic diseases and of anticipating the long-term consequences of linking reproductive decisions to individual health decisions.…”

“…-"It is the human capacity to learn rather than know which so impressed Dewey." [1] Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) [2][3][4][5][6][7] shares important affinities with participatory foresight [8][9][10][11] since both fields of research seek to implement future-oriented, anticipatory forms of governance to orient innovations towards certain public goods or to mitigate the risks of innovation. [12] Anticipatory governance refers to "a broad-based capacity extended through society that can act on a variety of inputs" in order to manage emerging technologies while it is still possible to realign their development.…”

Imagining the future through revisiting the past: the value of history in thinking about R(R)I’s possible future(s)

“…There have already been appeals for a more deliberate, reflexive use of history (see e.g. Kranakis 1988;Nordmann 2014;Wilsdon 2014;Zimmer-Merkle and Fleischer 2017). These appeals concern the extent to which historical cases and examples are important parts of the practice of technology assessment (TA), and R(R)I, as well as the value of historical reflection in understanding how past assessments, or forecasts, have succeeded or failedenabling future practices to be tweaked and refined.…”