Aalborg Universitet Technology Assessment in Techno-Anthropological Perspective Botin, Lars; Børsen, Tom Holmgaard Creative Commons License CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Publication date: 2021 Document Version Publisher's PDF, also known as Version of record Link to publication from Aalborg University Citation for published version (APA): Botin, L., & Børsen, T. H. (Eds.) (2021). Technology Assessment in Techno-Anthropological Perspective. (OA ed.) Aalborg Universitetsforlag. Serie om lærings-, forandrings- og organisationsudviklingsprocesser Vol. 10 General rights Copyright and moral rights for the publications made accessible in the public portal are retained by the authors and/or other copyright owners and it is a condition of accessing publications that users recognise and abide by the legal requirements associated with these rights. ? Users may download and print one copy of any publication from the public portal for the purpose of private study or research. ? 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Downloaded from vbn.aau.dk on: October 09, 2021 Technology Assessment in Techno-Anthropological Perspective Edited by Lars Botin Tom Børsen Technology Assessment in Techno-Anthropological Perspective Edited by Lars Botin and Tom Børsen 1st Open Access edition © Aalborg University Press, 2021 Serie om Lærings-, forandrings- og organisationsudviklingsprocesser / Transformational Studies, No. 10 Series Editors: Annette Bilfeldt, Associate Professor, Department of Society, Economics and Journalism, University of Greenland and Tom Børsen, Associate Professor, Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Copenhagen Layout: Toptryk Grafisk Aps / Rasmus Elholm Nielsen Cover: Alva Holmgaard Børsen ISBN: 978-87-7210-727-1 Published by Aalborg University Press | www.forlag.aau.dk This book is financially supported by The Department of Planning, Aalborg University, Denmark Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Contents Chapter 1: ................................................ 5 Technology Assessment in a Techno-Anthropological Perspective: Some Introductory Remarks. Lars Botin and Tom Børsen Chapter 2: ............................................... 18 A Contemporary Framework for a Assessing Welfare Technologies: Unfolding an Assessment Model Developed by the Danish Technological Institute. Amanda Lærke Laubjerg, Anne Leth Klærke-Olesen, Jeppe Nielsen- Hannerup, Kasper Koefoed Larsen, Ronja Ingeborg Lofstad and Tom Børsen Chapter 3: ............................................... 47 Techno-Anthropological Constructive Technology Assessment: What Participatory and Interactive Methods can Add to Constructive Technology Assessment. Pernille Scholdan Bertelsen and Lone Stub Petersen Chapter 4: ............................................... 76 Constructive Technology Assessment and Partnership Innovation in Developing Countries. David Christensen and Arne Remmen Chapter 5: .............................................. 105 Digital Methods Contributions to Citizen Hearings: A Techno- Anthropological Approach to Twitter and Technology Assessment. Andreas Birkbak, Anders Koed Madsen and Anders Kristian Munk Chapter 6: .............................................. 127 The Digital Potential: a monstrous composite? Jesper Balslev and Søren Riis Chapter 7: .............................................. 152 A Quick and Proper Ethical Technology Assessment Model. Tom Børsen Chapter 8: .............................................. 181 Technology Assessments: A Philosophical Approach Towards Deconstruction of the Concept of Assessment. Lars Botin Contributors ............................................ 205 CHAPTER 1: Technology Assessment in a Techno-Anthropological Perspective: Some Introductory Remarks Lars Botin and Tom Børsen This anthology is a furthering of previous volumes on Techno-An- thropology as an emerging field of research and education. The program on Techno-Anthropology was developed during 2010 and 2011 as an inter- and transdisciplinary program between the human- ities, engineering, planning, energy-, health- and biotechnology at Aalborg University in Denmark. The research and educational program has for the past ten years gained reputation as truly concerned with emerging and imminent problems within environmental, climate, health, and biotechnological frameworks. The anthology is building on What is Techno-Anthropology? (Børsen & Botin, 2013), Techno-An- throplogy in Health Informatics. Methodologies for Improving Human-Tech- nology Relations (Botin, Bertelsen & Nøhr, 2015), and a special issue of the Journal For Philosophy of Technology: Techné on Techno-Anthro- pology (Wellner, Botin & Otrel-Cass, 2015). The array of contributions, which are presented in this anthology on Technology Assessment, show how different approaches are present, relevant, and often dependent on the specific problem to which the assessment revolves. This means that constructivist, com- prehensive, participatory, and, in some cases, consequentialist tech- nology assessments are presented, dependent on what is at stake. We, the editors, believe that this convivial being of different technology assessment models is essential, and that the field of Technology Assessment is enriched and enforced by our ethical and value-oriented approach. The inclusion of normative positioning 5 should be read as the techno-anthropological contribution to tech- nology assessment. We are fully aware of the fact that some of the constructive, comprehensive, and participatory technology assessment models are addressing norms and values, but in techno-anthropo- logical technology assessment (T-ATA) norms and values are fully and clearly explicated as frame and rack for the assessment. We are also fully aware that ethical and political frameworks for analysing and responding to technological problems and challenges can be risky business because who are we to advice and judge? Therefore, it should be stated from the very outset that our ap- proach(es) is tainted by a certain ethical and political stance where we stress the importance of values like social justice, equity, democ- racy, protection of the marginalised, and sustainable and responsible action and reflection. This means that liberal-capitalist values like privacy, autonomy, security, and identity, in our opinion, must be complemented with values reflecting the common societal good. Some historical notes on Technology Assessment Technology Assessment has been around for the past 50 years, stem- ming from a decision made by the American Congress in 1972 where a board consisting of six members from the Senate and six members from the House of Representatives created the Technology Assessment Advisory Council which consisted of experts that should assess new and emergent technologies. The panel was under the direct leadership of Congress, and accordingly all became in order to control and manage the hitherto sovereign power of the president on these matters (Grunwald, 2009). Declaration of purpose: a) As technology continues to change and expand rapidly, it’s applications are 1) Large and growing in scale; and 2) increasingly extensive, pervasive and critical in their impact, bene- ficial and adverse, on the natural and social environment. 6 b) Therefore, it is essential that, to the fullest extent possible, the consequenc- es of technological applications be anticipated, understood, and considered in determination of public policy on existing and emerging national problems (American Congress, 1972). Point c) and d) is not less important in this case but are too extensive for direct citation. They address the deficiency in contemporary dealings with technological innovation and development, which escape democratic and legislative assessments, and the Technology Assessment Act is meant to install a legislative and democratic unity that can qualify decisions (American Congress, 1972). It is obvious that the public attention on the use of certain technolo- gies in the Vietnam war – such as the use of Agent Orange in the Vietnamese jungle (Contakes & Jashinsky, 2016) – was a direct cause for this decision. Also the attention on long-term global side effects of insecticides and other chemical and polluting technologies in in- dustry and agriculture (Carson, 2002; Fjelland, 2016) had an influence. From then on, Technology Assessment committees and councils were installed in almost all Western societies. During the 1970s and the beginning of the 1980s, these committees were mainly made out of technical experts with a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) background and in many cases also implying sociologists, as was the case in the original American advisory board. They gave advice to political decision-makers based on measurements and consequences of existing technologies in use out in the ‘real world’. In the table below, we have tried to sketch out the various phases of Technology Assessment and, as can be seen, the first phase is characterised by a focus on cause-effect and consequenc- es when scientific (and positivist) approaches were standard. In the 1980s there was a growing awareness of how to involve and embrace the possible social groups and stakeholders that