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 levelThis concept refers to how ready is society at large to accept a particular innovation, be it technological or social [...]. 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?
