Slow Tech and ICT

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xxi

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 1-3

3. Pneumatophores

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 5-11

4. Speed Limits in Cyberspace

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 13-24

5. Stories About Speed and Time

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 25-35

6. Information: Environmental and Human Limits

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 37-53

7. The Beginning of a New Renaissance in ICT

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 55-79

8. Slow Tech: A Good, Clean, and Fair ICT

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 81-112

9. Applying Slow Tech in Real Life

   • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

   Pages 113-127

10. Energy, Time, and Information: A Long-Term View of ICT

    • Norberto Patrignani, Diane Whitehouse

    Pages 129-139

11. Back Matter

    Pages 141-148

    PDF

This book makes an important contribution to the recent evolution in Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) that are human-centred and socially desirable, environmentally sustainable, and ethically acceptable. It introduces the concept of moral, equitable and environmental limits in the ICT domain and proposes a Slow Tech approach to face the challenges of these limits, laying out a set of principles that can be applied in real-life business settings. With the launch of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and the growing interest in the circular economy, Slow Tech and ICT - A Responsible, Sustainable and Ethical Approach is a timely tool for forward-thinking businesses.

• environmental
• technology
• sustainability
• circular economy
• CSR
• corporate responsibility
• human-centered
• business ethics
• information technology
• computing

“This book is to be highly recommended. It is an important contribution to the study of the relationship between sustainability and ICT in the long term. The authors argue for the introduction of Slow Tech as a new paradigm in the appropriate design of ICT and ICT systems and, as a result, they suggest new policies for organisations and companies, especially those companies aware of their social responsibility. This book is required reading in order to prepare the next generation, not only of researchers and computer professionals but also of users, ICT designers, ICT industrialists and policy makers.” (Emilio D’Orazio, Director of Politeia-Center for Ethics and Politics, Milan, Italy)

“In the midst of what feels like unrelenting increases in the pace of human activities and technological change, this book offers a simple but powerful alternative idea, Slow Technology.  The authors weave a tapestry around the idea, putting it in historical context and providing an optimistic visionfor our potential future.” (Deborah G. Johnson, Olsson Professor of Applied Ethics Emeritus, STS Program - Department of Engineering & Society, University of Virginia, USA)

“A wonderful and well-researched book that will greatly benefit the education of technology students and leaders worldwide. The concepts presented in the book provide a challenge to our thinking about Information and Computer Technology and our societal appetite for consumption of technological innovations. I look forward to incorporating it as a tool in my classroom.” (Rebecca Lee Hammons, Associate Professor, Center for Information and Communication Science, Ball State University, USA)

“This book offers a roadmap for ICT based on the ‘slow perspective’. It is this slow perspective that provides the compass to navigate new directions for a more responsible, sustainable, and ethical approach to ICT – a truly refreshing perspective for imagining the future we want and need.” (Viola Schiaffonati, Associate Professor of Computer Ethics, Politecnico di Milano, Italy)

“This book makes an important contribution to the question of how best to balance benefits and disadvantages. By drawing on the established idea of Slow Food, the authors develop a vision of future technology development that emphasizes the importance of taking time to reflect – which is required to promote responsibility, sustainability and ethics. It will give (slow) food for thought to researchers, developers, the ICT industry and policy makers, and thereby contribute to ensuring that future ICT benefits individuals and society.” (Bernd Carsten Stahl, Professor of Critical Research in Technology, Centre for Computing and Social Responsibility, De Montfort University, UK)

 “It is wonderful to see the ecology of cyberspace taken up vigorously by people interested in promoting a good, clean and fair ICT. As a system engineer, I know our job in developing complexand integrated solutions is to put wisdom and long-term thinking into practice. This book is inspiring in its ambition to show us further perspectives to make this possible.” (Gino Romiti, Innovation Director, Loccioni Group, Ancona, Italy)

“The book presents a challenging vision of how ICT should evolve in order to make a substantial contribution to the establishment of a sustainable, fair and liveable world. The authors show that it is crucial to escape from the present development model where natural resources are assumed to be limitless, time is an annoying constraint, and ethics is not an issue. This is an impressive book that makes a fundamental contribution by enriching the concept of sustainable development.” (Federico Butera, Professor Emeritus of Environmental Physics, Politecnico of Milano, Italy)

 “Multiple moments and developments over the past decade mark out new directions towards designing ICT – creative and critical approaches desperately needed for the sake of good lives and for flourishing in today’s technological era. The authors, leaders in these developments, authoritatively draw together insights and resources, some of which have been decades in the making. The result is a watershed contribution to the contemporary efflorescence of urgently needed collaboration between normative disciplines, including applied ethics and ICT design.” (Charles Ess, Professor in Media Studies – Department of Media and Communication, University of Oslo, Norway)

“‘ICT will very soon solve almost all our problems and it will satisfy all our needs.’ At least that is how we will feel. Then ‘we’ will not be needed anymore. Our thinking, our making of choices, our responsibility, and our anxiety will all be gone. But, is this what we really want? If yes, then this will be heaven. If not, we have to do something about it and, in order to have a chance, we need to prepare ourselves. We need a clear mind and practical tools to use. Slow Tech offers someof these.” (Iordanis Kavathatzopoulos, Professor, Department of Information Technology – Division of Visual Information and Interaction, Uppsala University, Sweden)

“Inserting the word ‘time’ into the reasoning about technologies is precisely what was missing for both present, and future, generations to build up an ethical approach to ICT. This book flows swiftly. It provides a large, clear range of reference thinkers and virtuous examples. It offers its readers a coherent set of materials, to enable them to reason together with the authors. In order to develop the means for a positive Anthropocene balance with the ecosystem, I personally hope that ethical human beings will greet this Slow Tech evolution.” (Clelia Caldesi Valeri, PhD Cultural Heritage and Infosphere, Researcher in the ethics of culture and ICT, Italy)

“Innovation, especially technology-driven innovation, should serve and support humankind, not thecontrary. By proposing a ‘good, clean and fair’ way to address ICT challenges, the authors give us a compass, and there blows a fresh wind. As a citizen, who belongs to a company strongly engaged with sustainable development, and myself committed to responsible innovation, I believe that we need to listen to alternative voices like these that call for a world where we take the time to think about our common future.” (Anne Goldberg, Senior Principal Scientist, Solvay Corporate Research & Innovation, Brussels, Belgium)

• Politecnico of Torino and Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milano, Italy

  Norberto Patrignani

• The Castlegate Consultancy, Malton, United Kingdom

  Diane Whitehouse

Norberto Patrignani is Associate Lecturer of Computer Ethics at Politecnico di Torino and of ICT & Information Society at Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Italy, ethics expert to the European Commission, and Scientific Advisor to the Loccioni Group, Ancona, Italy. He is the Italian representative to IFIP’s Technical Committee on Computers and Society.

Diane Whitehouse is a founding partner of The Castlegate Consultancy, which concentrates on research, policy, and deployment in digital health, and an eHealth policy consultant at European Health Telematics Association (EHTEL), Belgium. She is co-Chair of the International Federation for Information Processing’s (IFIP) domain committee on health informatics. In 2017, she was awarded HIMSS Europe’s eHealth Leadership Award.

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