Assignment 2

Quiz 2

Directions: Answer the questions below based on your reading of the “Values, Ethics and
Innovation: Rethinking Technological Development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution” issued
by the World Economic Forum. Most answers are readily available in the article; however, you
should also provide personal, thoughtful analysis of the topics discussed. This may mean that
you need to look up unfamiliar terms used in the article and/or refer to external sources for
examples and clarification of the points you choose to include in your answers. All external
sources, examples etc. must be cited explicitly using MLA format.

1. How do “society and technology develop in tandem, with technologies shaping and
embodying societal values”?

Answer: it is known that the “society and technology develop in tandem, with technologies
shaping and embodying societal values.” From the reading of the “Values, Ethics and
Innovation: Rethinking Technological Development in the Fourth Industrial Revolution,” we are
told that technologies are main contributors to economic growth worldwide as they are
responsible for shaping people. People in turn shape technologies and this relation impacts
research agenda, investment flow, business model and education system content.

2. Why can we no longer assume that technological and economic progress are automatically
aligned with social progress?

Answer: We can no longer assume that technological and economic progress is automatically
aligned with social progress as statistics from European countries & the US reveals that material
conditions are better than the quality of life. It will take another 50 years for societies to define
their priorities, involve on the values and ethics and align to technological development in
accordance with their priorities.

3. What are the two most widely held beliefs about technology and how do they both reflect an
inadequate understanding of technology’s role in society?

Answer: The two most widely held beliefs about technology are:
a. Technologies are mere tools, which are intrinsically and undoubtedly aligned to greater
opportunity

b. History drives technological progress, while people are powerless to dictate its direction.

Both, these beliefs about technology do reflect an inadequate understanding of its role in society
as there is lack of critical understanding of technologies and their moral role in society. This
decreases the ability to make informed decisions about its development and its role in society.

4. What is Collingridge’s dilemma?

Answer: Comprehensive influence of technologies is not easy to understand as they could still be
evolving. However, as technologies evolve and they embed into social & economic
infrastructure, the impact they make also becomes hard to change. It is a part of the challenge
which is known as Collingridge’s dilemma.

5. How has the US responded to this dilemma vs. European countries like the UK?

Answer: The US responds to this dilemma by assigning priorities to innovations and made it as
the core value, thereby procrastinating regulations as they focus into products & outcomes.
Europe, on the other hand, has taken a precautionary approach focusing on processes rather than
products or outcomes.

6. The article uses the example of the automobile as a technology that fundamentally changed
society. It lists many changes, both positive and negative, that the automobile brought to society
but also makes sure to state that “None of these impacts were inevitable”. Why?

Answer: The article cites the example of the automobile and reveals that the changes that the
automobile brought to society were not inevitable. This is so as co-development helps
technologies and people grow together. People create technologies in environment, which opens
up and even limits based on how technologies help to shape society. In turn, technologies open
up or even limit environments and they help to shape the vision of society.

7. According to the article, what is the “central question” surrounding technology that a human
centered approach must always take into consideration?
Answer: As per the article, the “central question” surrounding technology that a human centered
approach must always take into consideration is as follows:

“How can technologies enable a meaningful future for humankind?”

8. The question of what a meaningful future for mankind might look like could be different for a
variety of people so why can’t we simply let the free market decide what the “majority” of
people want?

Answer: As per the article, the question of what a meaningful future for mankind might look like
could be different for a variety of people. But, we cannot simply let the free market decide as to
what the “majority” of people want. This is so as in free market people may not be able to
realistically support product or service that aligns to their value if such product or service is very
expensive.

9. The article claims that, “Despite the tendency to think of technologies as objects or tools, they
inevitably embody the values of their creators,”. Who do we generally think of as the creators of
technology? Is there a bias inherent in this type of thinking and/or the reality of who creates
technology for whom? How does the article propose to fix this bias?

Answer: as per the article we generally think of the creators of technology as a small team of
engineers attempting to solve some technical challenge, or large group of countries looking for a
collective destiny. There is a bias in this thinking that technologies are objects or tools as they
embody the value of the creators. The article proposes to fix this bias by considering the need of
society and sustainable development.

10. How can inclusion practices help mitigate the potential consequences of “surface
assumptions” in creating new technology and/or its uses in society?

Answer: Inclusion practice helps mitigate the potential consequences of “surface assumptions” in
creating new technology and its uses in society by looking at technological development from a
broader perspective. Surface assumptions means that there are uniform societal values and
ethical concerns. However, this is not the case and broader perspective of the society and their
needs have to be considered.
11. How is it profitable as well as ethical to adhere to what the article calls “transformative
innovation”?

Answer: It is profitable as well as ethical to adhere to what the article calls “transformative
innovation” as this innovation does not tends to widen the gap between haves and have-nots.
This innovation is profitable and ethical as it helps to facilitate technological advancement
compatible with social development.

12. What do they mean when they say that the challenge to create a transformative and ethical
relationship between technology and society is a “systemic challenge”?

Answer: The challenge to create a transformative and ethical relationship between technology
and society is a “systemic challenge.” In effect, systems leadership constitutes of technology
leadership, governance leadership & values leadership. It is systemic as advancements made in
value leadership do positively influence the technology leadership as well as the governance
leadership.

Bonus Question: How can innovation and the creation of new technologies be compared to
having a child?

Answer: Innovation and the creation of new technologies be compared to having a child as the
new born needs to be grown and developed. It is comparable to the innovation and creation of
new technologies. The child has to learn new skills and he or she needs hand holding till the
maturity comes. Innovative techniques are used in the growth and development and is akin to
evolving a new technology which is often called “the new baby” (Lee, Hyoung-joo, et al., 2011).

References

Lee, Hyoung-joo, et al. “Technology Clustering Based on Evolutionary Patterns: The Case of
Information and Communications Technologies☆.” Technological Forecasting and Social
Change, vol. 78, no. 6, 2011, pp. 953–967.