About do-it-yourself ethics
Do-it-yourself ethics
EthicSchool trains anyone in do-it-yourself ethics, allowing you to contribute to a common responsibility for sustainable and responsible innovation.
Responsible Research and Innovation
Responsible Research and Innovation
applies methods of Corporate Social Responsibility to innovation in companies and knowledge institutions. The emphasis is on risk governance, to identify possible risks of new technology at an early stage and take precautionary measures by a combination of legal, technical and social solutions.
Sustainability
Since the adoption of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 by the General Assembly of the United Nations in 2015, more attention has been paid to the opportunities that science and technology development offer for sustainable development. Governments, companies, researchers and social organizations work on solutions in their own community, but cooperation that creates synergy is lagging.
Democracy and technology
The rapid rise of Artificial Intelligence and the platform economy highlight the democratic gap in decision-making on innovation and new technology. Technological, legal or social solutions are applied to close this gap, but every solution brings new problems. A balanced combination of these three types of solutions is needed for democratic governance of new technology.
Reflection on new technology
Despite the rapid pace of technological progress, early reflection on potential future implications of the technologies being developed in the laboratories of today, can help avoid a lot of problems.
Scenarios, stories and other methods are available to facilitate discussion about more sustainable and responsible technology development.
Biosecurity / dual use / peace and security
Discussions about military technology are usually conducted in different forums than discussions about household technology used by consumers and businesses. So-called dual-use technology, however, crosses the boundary, because it can be used for both peaceful and hostile purposes. Biotechnology and chemistry but also drones and other information technology, raise ethical questions about the right balance between security and freedom.
Artificial intelligence, robots
For 15 years governments have been stimulating research into the ethical and societal implications of research subsidized by them, e.g. in the field of nanotechnology or modern biotechnology. Information technologies such as artificial intelligence and self-driving cars have received less attention, because large multinational high-tech companies have invested independently in this. Now that technology is rapidly conquering the labour market and economy, broad public dialogue on responsible and sustainable innovation in those fields is long overdue.