Author: admin_tech_ethos_strong

TechEthos named among World-Leading Ethical Practices

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 20 June 2024. Posted in Article (main), News.

TechEthos named among World-Leading Ethical Practices
17 June 2024

TechEthos has been named one of the world’s leading ethical practices in the newest CORDIS Results Pack on ethics and integrity in research, released by the European Commission. This recognition highlights our commitment to ensuring that scientific and technological progress aligns with societal values and ethical standards.

The publication, titled CORDIS Results Pack on Ethics and Integrity: Building Bridges for Trust and Excellence in Research and Innovation, was published by the European Research Executive Agency (REA) in cooperation with the European Commission’s DG RTD. It highlights the results of eight Horizon Europe and Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society (SwafS) funded projects. These projects aim to rethink research governance systems to ensure that scientific and technological advancements are in harmony with ethical values.

The featured projects, including TechEthos, illustrate how the EU is actively promoting training, education, and capacity-building regarding research integrity principles. They also support initiatives that analyse the ethical dimensions and implications of emerging technologies.

The EU-funded TechEthos project provides guidance for the development and deployment of critical new technologies. While emerging technologies often bring significant social, economic, and environmental benefits, their development and use can also raise substantial ethical concerns and questions. For example, the rapid adoption of new technologies might lead to widespread job losses, necessitating worker reskilling, or it could create new data breaches and vulnerabilities for cybercriminals to exploit.

To address these concerns, prioritising ethics and societal values in the design, development, and deployment of new technologies is essential. The TechEthos project focuses on providing guidance on achieving this balance.

“For the first six months, we analysed and identified new and emerging technologies with high economic and ethical relevance,” explains Project Coordinator Eva Buchinger, AIT Austrian Institute of Technology. “We ended up focusing on three areas of innovation that interact with the planet, with the digital world, and with the body.”

TechEthos is proud to be part of this vital initiative and look forward to continuing the work in promoting ethical practices in technology development. For more details, read the full CORDIS Results Pack on ethics and integrity in research and discover the projects’ resources.

Back

The TechEthos Societal Readiness Web Tool (SRT)

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 16 February 2024. Posted in News, Resource.

The TechEthos Societal Readiness Tool
16 February 2024

Authored by: Giuseppe Loveno Garofalo
Reviewed by: Greta Alliaj

Are you a developer concerned about the potential societal impacts of your innovative products? While dealing with new and emerging technologies, it is crucial to ensure that these innovations are not only beneficial but also ethically sound for society.

This is why it is important to keep track of the the societal readiness level. This level represents the degree to which a product can be trusted to fulfill its intended benefits within a real-world social setting, while adhering to ethical principles, preventing adverse societal impacts, and being governed, as needed, by robust legal frameworks.

Based on this concept, the TechEthos project produced the Societal Readiness Tool (SRT), primarily intended for use by actors in product design and innovation while developing their innovative products.

The SRT has two primary objectives.

It has a guidance goal, and assists users in fulfilling their responsibilities regarding the ethical and societal implications of their products. The SRT offers specific steps for consideration during design, deployment, and use, ensuring a comprehensive approach to addressing societal impacts.

It enables target users to conduct qualitative self-assessment of the product societal readiness level. Rather than imposing rigid and pre-determined criteria to assess this level, the tool offers a possibility for reflection, allowing users to make their own judgements about how effectively their products prevent possible negative societal effects while delivering intended benefits.

Do you want to know more about our tool? Read the full document.

Interested in using the SRT?

Read how to use it here and access the Web Tool here.

Back

TechEthos Societal Readiness Web Tool

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 15 February 2024. Posted in Resource, Tool (main).

Tool

Societal Readiness Web Tool

This article introduces the TechEthos Societal Readiness Web Tool, a prototype for a tool to help actors in product design innovation develop product social readiness, and to facilitate qualitative societal readiness self-assessment.

Have a closer look at Societal Readiness Web Tool

Check it out!

TechEthos Societal Readiness Tool is of particular interest to individuals in product design innovation, professional associations in product design fields, and academic researchers with an interest in product design ethics or product readiness from ethical, legal and social perspectives.

The tool has two functions. First it offers a guidance function: a set of high-level and mid-level guidelines, the fulfilment of which will facilitate the achievement of societal readiness across a range of innovation fields. Users are then able to develop their operational understanding of the guidelines via exploration of potential violations, and the mitigating actions needed to respond to those violations through design, deployment and use-context interventions.

Second, it offers an assessment function. On the basis of their engagement with the guidance function, users are guided through a simple self-assessment procedure, which outputs a readiness level indicator in the form of three levels of action that may still be required to achieve readiness.

The tool is designed to be reiterative and reflexive, with users encouraged use the tool continuously throughout a project lifecycle, and to add new content to the tool on the basis of their ongoing usage of it.

As the tool is generic, for use in any product innovation field, it constitutes a prototype to be adapted to a range of specific fields. Thus, we are especially interested in feedback from interested parties who may wish to develop the tool for use in specific product innovation fields.

How to open the Web Tool?

Access the Web Tool here.

After accessing the tool, users will be invited to select whether they wish to begin a new project, or return to progress already saved by means of a project code. First time users should select “New Project”.

The user will then be asked to enter the name of their project. This is a name chosen by the user. Below, users will find a project code. This code can be used to return to your progress using the tool in future sessions. Select “Next” will enter the tool.

The user will first be presented with a text box introducing the tool. This box can be closed by clicking outside it.

Instructions for using the tool can be accessed by clicking “How to Use” in the top right corner of the screen.

In the very top right corner of the screen, you will find your unique 10-digit project code. This is the same as the code displayed on the entry screen. Make a note of this code. Your progress using the tool will be automatically saved.

To return to saved progress, on navigating back to the tool page via the link below, select “Resume Existing”, and enter the code noted.

Back

Installation Insights: TechEthos across 6 European Science Engagement Organisations

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 11 January 2024. Posted in News, Resource.

Installation Insights: TechEthos across 6 European Science Engagement Organisations
11 January 2024

Authored by: Giuseppe Loveno Garofalo
Reviewed by: Greta Alliaj

To enhance awareness of the rapidly evolving landscape of new and emerging technologies, TechEthos six science engagement organisations hosted the TechEthos physical installation: Y/our ethics decide!

Starting from October 2023, their venues welcomed more than 70,000 visitors – with 100,000 expected for 2024 and 200,000 more for the following years. The installations were spread in nine locations (like museums, universities, science centres, and even shopping malls!) across Europe. They successfully reached a high variety of audiences, including high school and university students, younger audiences, the general public, families and adults but also vulnerable groups with socio-economic disadvantages.

The installations centred around two main technology families: Digital Extended Reality and Climate Engineering, each of these brought a unique local perspective, along with its own set of challenges and case studies.

Three science engagement centres focused on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Natural Language Processing (NLP), tackling topics like the ethics of using avatars and generated chat tools, the cultural applications of new technologies on language and education, and controversies regarding job replacement. The second group dealt with climate engineering practices, including subjects like cooling effects of plants in big cities and insights into local carbon capture facilities.

Installations on AI and NLP

The Bucharest Science Festival (ASUR), together with the University of Bucharest, addresses the ethics of using AI-based avatars. They also permit visitors to interact with ChatGPT and AI-based image generators – involving them in discussions with local experts on relevant ethical challenges.

Photos: Bucharest Science Festival (ASUR)

The Center for the Promotion of Science (CPN) focuses more on educating about the cultural diversity of NLP datasets. Visitors can compare stylistic differences between chatbots’ and human linguistic capacities, watch an explanatory video on the future of AI, and attend engaging workshops. For instance, participants can create digital paintings using AI-based image generators like DALL-e – mimicking the styles of renowned Serbian artists!

Photos: Center for the Promotion of Science (CPN)

iQLANDIA educates on AI from the perspective of job replacement dynamics, creating an exhibition that invites visitors to discuss the positive and negative aspects of this technology.

Photo: iQLANDIA

Installations on Climate Engineering

Parque de las Ciencias sets up an installation related to the Sierra Nevada Natural Park – in cooperation with the SmartEcoMountains EU-funded project.

Photo: Parque de las Ciencias

The ScienceCenter-Network (SCN) focuses on the cooling effects of plants in big cities, with insights into future applications in water and green areas in the city and engaging workshops on how citizens can contribute to climate change mitigation. SNC also offers interesting insights into sub-technologies like Ground Based Albedo Modification (GBAM) and Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS).

Photos: ScienceCenter-Network (SCN)

Vetenskap & Allmänhet (VA), in cooperation with a local energy company, educates on a new carbon capture facility currently under development and, more broadly, carbon capture technologies!

Photo: Vetenskap & Allmänhet (VA)

Are you looking forward to learning more about emerging technologies? Have a look at the installations that are available in 2024!

IQLANDIA – Nitranská 410/10, 460 07 Liberec, Czechia

Installation of Artificial Intelligence (throughout 2024)

Workshop for vulnerable group – learning difficulties (May 2024)

Researcher’s Night – a special program for the audience (October 2024)

Vetenskap & Allmänhet (Curiosum Science Centre) – Östra Strandgatan 32, 903 33 Umeå, Sweden

Installation on carbon capture (until July 2024)

Parque de las Ciencias – Av. de la Ciencia, s/n, Ronda, 18006 Granada, Spain

Installation on Climate Change (until 30 April 2024)

Don’t you find physical installations nearby you? Have a look at our Digital Installation on the ethical dimensions of Climate Engineering and Natural Language Processing!

Get to know the science engagement organisations behind our installations.

Back

Advisory and impact board members’ activities, cooperation and clustering activities

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 2 January 2024. Posted in Deliverable (main), Resource.

Deliverable
Advisory and impact board members’ activities, cooperation and clustering activities

In short

This deliverable provides information on the ADIM (advisory and impact) board and the cluster of related projects – vital to expand the project knowledge base and create synergies with other projects’ work.

Spit in two parts, the report describes the activities of the individual ADIM board members and summarises the action of the TechEthos partners within the cluster of related projects.

Find out more by downloading the deliverable.

Author

Renate Klar, and Mathijs Vleugel.

Date of publication

20 December 2023

Status

Draft version submitted to the European Commission for review

Cite this resource

Renate Klar & Mathijs Vleugel (2023). TechEthos Deliverable D6.3: Advisory and impact board members’ activities, cooperation and clustering activities. TechEthos Project Deliverable. Available at: www.techethos.eu.

Download

Back

Dissemination and Communication Report

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 1 January 2024. Posted in Deliverable (main), Resource.

Deliverable
Dissemination and Communication Report

In short

In this deliverable, the TechEthos project reflects on the outcomes and results of its dissemination, and communication strategy – comparing and interpreting the data based on project activities.

Find out more by downloading the deliverable.

Author

Greta Alliaj (Ecsite), and Clara Boissenin (Ecsite).

Date of publication

19 December 2023

Status

Draft version submitted to the European Commission for review

Cite this resource

Alliaj, G., Boissenin, C., (2023). D7.4 Dissemination and Communication report. TechEthos Project Deliverable. Available at: www.techethos.eu.

Download

Back

Societal Readiness Tool

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 18 December 2023. Posted in Deliverable (main), Resource.

Deliverable
Societal Readiness Tool (Pre-Final Version)

In short

This deliverable introduces the TechEthos Societal Readiness Tool (SRT) – primarily intended for use by actors in product design and innovation.

The goal of the report is two-fold. First, the deliverable provides guidance and enables to undertake a product development process based on ethical and social impact considerations from the very earliest stages. Also, the tool enables target users to conduct qualitative self-assessment of the readiness level of their products.

Authors

Bennet Francis (UT), Philip Brey (UT), Andrea Porcari (AIRI), Tynke Schepers (UT).

Date of publication

18 December 2023

Status

Pre-final Report for Dissemination

Cite this resource

Francis, B; Brey, P; Richardson, R; Umbrello, S; Porcari, A; Schepers, T (2023). D5.6 Ethical sensitivity tools: societal readiness tool and ethical role-playing tool.

Download

Back

Navigating Ethical Horizons: Insights from TechEthos Policy Event

Written by admin_tech_ethos_strong on 4 December 2023. Posted in News.

Navigating Ethical Horizons: Insights from TechEthos Policy Event

4 December 2023

Authored by: Giuseppe Loveno Garofalo
Reviewed by: Greta Alliaj and Clara Boissenin

The TechEthos Policy Event held in Brussels on 14 November 2023 brought together high-level experts, including EU policymakers, researchers from academia, and industry representatives to discuss the ethical governance of emerging technologies in the digital transformation and green transition. The event was moderated by science journalist and broadcaster Vivienne Parry and drew over 60 on-site and 24 virtual participants. With the mission to discuss the ethical implications of emerging technologies, it kicked off with the opening remarks of policy analyst Mihalis Kritikos (DG RTD) emphasizing the evolution of tech-related EU policies and the need of a just transition. Next, TechEthos coordinator, Eva Buchinger (AIT) illustrated the TechEthos vision and Ethics by Design approach.

Ethics for the Digital Transformation

The morning session delved into ethical considerations for Digital Transformation, with Laura Weidinger, Senior Research Scientist at DeepMind setting the scene for an insightful panel discussion. Highlighting AI Safety, especially Generative AI, during her keynote speech, Weidinger stressed:

The need for a sociotechnical approach in AI development which recognises potential repercussions of algorithms on individuals. To reach sociotechnical safety, developers must assess AI capability, human interaction, and potential side-effects after full deployment;
EU’s AI Act should proactively advocate for a balanced distribution of responsibility, emphasizing foresight and pre-market testing implementation.

The session extended to explore ethical, social, and regulatory challenges of Digital Extended Reality through a dynamic panel discussion featuring Laura Weidinger, Alexei Grinbaum (CEA), Kevin MacNish (SOPRA STERIA), Alina Kadlubsky (Open AR Cloud Europe) and Ivan Yamshchikov (CAIRO). Key topics included:

Challenges in implementing Ethics by Design in XR applications. The creation of digital ‘twins’ via XR often produces static representations that may not capture the dynamic real-world evolution. Also, the integration of AI, visualization, and biometric data in human-machine interactions adds complexity, presenting ethical challenges in XR design and implementation;
Potential certification for development companies conducting impact assessments for their XR models;
Ethical concerns related to who shapes AI companions and their actions – raising debates over accountability;
The challenge of conceptual disentanglement in interactions between humans and AI companions, especially those with human-like attributes. These evolving relationships are understudied but may become a crucial focus in the future;
The absence of a one-size-fits-all rule complicates the implementation of the Ethics by Design approach.

Ethics for the Green Transition

In the afternoon session, Behnam Taebi, full Professor of Energy & Climate Ethics at Delft University of Technology addressed the urgent need for achieving net-zero by 2050, exploring the ethical controversies surrounding climate engineering techniques such as Solar Radiation Management (SRM) and Carbon Dioxide Removal (CDR). Key takeaways included:

SRM offers substantial benefits in reducing the pace of temperature and sea level rise, but its impact on ozone depletion, drought, health, and agriculture remains unknown;
Advocacy for a “risk vs. risk” approach, weighing the risks of implementing climate engineering against the risks of not taking any action;
Recognition of the need for private funding to address climate challenges while emphasizing the importance of business models that transcend profit-centric approaches.

The keynote speech was followed by a panel discussion on the ethical, social, and regulatory challenges featuring Behnam Taebi, Dominic Lenzi (University of Twente), Dušan Chrenek (DG CLIMATE ACTION), and Matthias Honegger (Perspectives Climate Research). Key points discussed encompassed:

The need for a global collaboration for SRM research which incorporates principles of global justice, human rights protection, and legitimacy;
The necessity for effective and legitimate governance of research;
Warning about potential overreliance on the CDR technology – which might hinder emissions reduction efforts;
The need to clarify how CDR can be implemented in accordance with the EU principles, the biodiversity strategy 2030, and the UNFCCC’s principle of common but differentiated responsibilities and respective capabilities;
The necessity to scrutinize the role of fossil fuel industry in CDR deployment.

Conclusion

The conference ended with some final words from Maura Hiney (UCD Institute for Discovery), who contextualised the TechEthos project within the ALLEA Code of Conduct – a high-level framework for achieving high-quality, trustworthy, and responsible research. Finally, Eva Buchinger, Laurence Brooks (University of Sheffield), and Renate Klar (EUREC) provided some context concerning the project – seen as a continuation of previous projects and a foundation for future research on the ethics of emerging technologies.

The TechEthos Policy Event attempted to explore the ethical implications of the digital transformation and green transition, unravelling challenges that define our technological future. In the convergence of innovation and moral responsibility, a clear call emerges for global discourse. It is in these considerations that we shape ethical frameworks, ensuring that technology serves humanity with integrity. The echoes of the discussions held should resonate, urging us to collectively navigate the ethical landscapes that lie ahead.

Do you want to find out more? You can download the Event Slides here and take a look at the videos of the event on our YouTube Channel!

Back

Cookie	Duration	Description
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics	1 year	This cookies is set by GDPR Cookie Consent WordPress Plugin. The cookie is used to remember the user consent for the cookies under the category "Analytics".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary	1 year	This cookie is set by GDPR Cookie Consent plugin. The cookies is used to store the user consent for the cookies in the category "Necessary".

Cookie	Duration	Description
_ga	2 years	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics. The cookie is used to calculate visitor, session, campaign data and keep track of site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookies store information anonymously and assign a randomly generated number to identify unique visitors.
_ga_HSRCTLNCVY	2 years	This cookie is installed by Google Analytics.

Author: admin_tech_ethos_strong

TechEthos named among World-Leading Ethical Practices17 June 2024

The TechEthos Societal Readiness Tool16 February 2024

Interested in using the SRT?

Tool

Societal Readiness Web Tool

Have a closer look at Societal Readiness Web Tool

How to open the Web Tool?

Newsletter #9Spotlight on the Y/our ethics decide! installations, the Societal Readiness Tool, the TechEthos Anticipatory ethics Matrix, and Videos and Policy Brief Compilations

Installation Insights: TechEthos across 6 European Science Engagement Organisations11 January 2024

DeliverableAdvisory and impact board members’ activities, cooperation and clustering activities

DeliverableDissemination and Communication Report

DeliverableSocietal Readiness Tool (Pre-Final Version)

Newsletter #8Spotlight societal embedding of new and emerging technologies & TechEthos Anticipatory ethics Matrix (TEAeM)

Navigating Ethical Horizons: Insights from TechEthos Policy Event

4 December 2023

Ethics for the Digital Transformation

Ethics for the Green Transition

Conclusion

TechEthos named among World-Leading Ethical Practices
17 June 2024

The TechEthos Societal Readiness Tool
16 February 2024

Newsletter #9
Spotlight on the Y/our ethics decide! installations, the Societal Readiness Tool, the TechEthos Anticipatory ethics Matrix, and Videos and Policy Brief Compilations

Installation Insights: TechEthos across 6 European Science Engagement Organisations
11 January 2024

Deliverable
Advisory and impact board members’ activities, cooperation and clustering activities

Deliverable
Dissemination and Communication Report

Deliverable
Societal Readiness Tool (Pre-Final Version)

Newsletter #8
Spotlight societal embedding of new and emerging technologies & TechEthos Anticipatory ethics Matrix (TEAeM)