Slow Tech: Towards an ICT for the Anthropocene Age
Abstract
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are shaping our society and planet with unknown impacts and are definitely an integral part of the Anthropocene Era. The entire ICT supply chain should move towards a more systemic view of the infosphere. This paper proposes the concept of Slow Tech as a heuristic compass for finding new directions in the design of future complex socio-technical systems, by paying attention to ICT that are good, clean, and fair, socially desirable, environmentally sustainable, and ethically acceptable.
Key words: ICT, Slow Tech, Anthropocene
References
Andersen O. Hille J., Gilpin G., Andrae A.S.G. (2014) Life Cycle Assessment of electronics, IEEE, https://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/7046212.
Bateson N. (2019) Warm Data, https://norabateson.wordpress.com/2017/05/28/warm-data.
Belkhir L., Elmeligi A. (2018) Assessing ICT global emissions footprint: Trends to 2040 & recommendations, Journal of Cleaner Production, Vol.177, 10 March 2018, Elsevier.
Bernhardt A., Gysi N. (2013) (eds) The World's Worst 2013: The Top Ten Toxic Threats, Blacksmith Institute, Green Cross Switzerland.
Bynum T.W. (1999) Keynote at AICE99, The Foundation of Computer Ethics, Computer and Society, June 2000.
Carayannis Elias G., Campbell D.F.J. (2010) Triple Helix, Quadruple Helix and Quintuple Helix and How Do Knowledge, Innovation and the Environment Relate To Each Other? A Proposed Framework for a Trans-disciplinary Analysis of Sustainable Development and Social Ecology, International Journal of Social Ecology and Sustainable Development, 1(1), pp. 41–69.
CFUD (2019) Center for Universal Design, Universal Design Principles, North Carolina
State University College of Design.
CLW (2018) China Labor Watch: Amazon profits from secretly oppressing its supplier’s workers, An Investigative Report on Hengyang Foxxconn, June 10, 2018,
www.chinalaborwatch.org.
Condiffe J. (2018) Foxconn Is Under Scrutiny for Worker Conditions. It's Not the First Time, New York Times, June 11, 2018.
De George R.T. (2003) The Ethics of Information Technology and Business, Blackwell Publishing, p.ix.
Ellul J. (1954) La technique ou l'enjeu du siècle, Armand, Paris.
EU (2019), European Union, Complete guide to GDPR compliance, https://gdpr.eu/
Fasoli M. (2019) Il benessere digitale, Il Mulino.
Floridi, L. (2014) The Fourth Revolution. How the Infosphere is Reshaping Human Reality, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
GeSI (2019) ICT Solutions for 21st Century Challenges, Global e-sustainability Initiative, http://smarter2030.gesi.org.
Gotterbarn D. (1991) A "capstone" course in computer ethics, in (eds.) Bynum et al. (1991) Teaching Computer Ethics, Research Center on Computing and Society, S.Conn.State Univ.
Gotterbarn D. (1992) Software Engineering Ethics, in Encyclopedia of Software Engineering, ed. John J. Marciniak, John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
ICT4S (2013) Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies for Sustainability, ICT4S 2013, ETH Zurich, 14-16 February, ETH Zurich, University of Zurich and Empa, Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Science and Technology, available at: 2013.ict4s.org.
Johnson D.G. (2009) Computer Ethics, 4th Edition, London: Pearson.
LIMITS (2019) Workshops on Computing within Limits, computingwithinlimits.org.
Maffei L. (2014) Elogio della lentezza, Torino: Il Mulino.
Maner W. (1980) Starter Kit in Computer Ethics, Helvetia Press.
Marques Lima J. (2017) Data centres of the world will consume 1/5 of Earth's power by 2025, Data Economy, 12 December 2017.
Meadows D. H., Meadows D. L., Randers J., Behrens W. W. III. (1972) The Limits to Growth. A report for the Club of Rome's project on the predicament of mankind, Universe Books.
Moor J. (1985) What is computer ethics? Metaphilosophy, October.
Mumford L. (1934) Technics and Civilization, Harcourt.
Nygaard K. (1996) Those Were the Days, Scandinavian Journal of Information Systems, 8(2):91-108.
ODH (2019) Open Data Handbook, https://opendatahandbook.org.
OECD (2004) Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, Illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Public Statement by CIME (Committee on International Investment and Multinational Enterprises), www.oecd.org.
OHWR (2019) Open Hardware Repository, https://ohwr.org.
Patrignani N., Laaksoharju M., Kavathatzopoulos, I. (2011) Challenging the pursuit of Moore's law: ICT sustainability in the cloud computing era, Politeia, Vol.104, pp. 45-55.
Patrignani N., Whitehouse D. (2013) Slow Tech: Towards Good, Clean, and Fair ICT, in T. W. Bynum, W. Fleischman, A. Gerdes, G. M. Nielsen & S. Rogerson (eds.), The Possibilities of Ethical ICT, Proceedings of ETHICOMP 2013, International Conference on the Social and Ethical Impacts of Information and Communication Technology (pp. 384–390), Print & Sign University of Southern Denmark, Kolding.
Patrignani N., Whitehouse D. (2014) Slow Tech: a quest for good, clean and fair ICT, Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society, 12(2), pp.78-92, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
Patrignani N., Whitehouse D. (2018) Slow Tech and ICT. A Responsible, Sustainable and Ethical Approach, London: Palgrave MacMillan.
Petrini C. (2007) Slow Food Nation: Why our Food should be Good, Clean and Fair, Milano: Rizzoli Intl. Pub.
Rogerson S. (2009) The Ethics of Software Development Project Management, in (eds.) Bynum T.W., Rogerson S., Computer ethics and professional responsibility, Oxford: Blackwell.
Rogerson S., Gotterbarn D. (1998) The ethics of software project management, in G.Colleste (ed.), Ethics and information technology, Delhi.
Stallman R., (1985) The GNU Manifesto, Dr. Dobb's Journal of Software Tools, 10(3), p. 30.
Varela F.J. (1999) Ethical Know-How: Action, Wisdom, and Cognition, Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Vidal J. (2017) Tsunami of data could consume one fifth of global electricity by 2025, Climate Home News, 12 November 2017.
Weizenbaum J. (1976) Computer Power and Human Reason: From Judgment To Calculation, New York: Freeman.
Wiener N. (1950) The Human Use of Human Beings, London: The Riverside Press.
