TDDE32 Professionalism in Computer Science

Course information

Lecture 4: Societal challenges, IT and society: two sides of the coin

Can IT solve societal challenges, or does it create more problems than it solves? There are many examples of IT solutions that address societal challenges but also introduce additional problems: smart cites, communication and payments with smart phones, anonymous interactions online, the sharing economy and driverless cars. A socio-technical perspective is a way of understanding the influence of new technologies on society, as well as societal influences on technology development.

Preparations:

• Watch the recorded lecture by Maria
• Read: Bijker, W.E., Highes, T.P. and Pinch, T (1987) The Social Construction of Facts and Artifacts: Or How the Sociology of Science and the Sociology of Technology Might Benefit Each Other
• Listen: Wachter-Boettcher, S. (2017). Technically Wrong. Sexist Apps, Biased Algorithms, and Other Threats of Toxic Tech. Recorded Books, Inc. Available as audio book at LiU library. Listen to Chapter 1-3 and Chapter 6-7 (sound files 1 + 3 in the Liu library)
• Mager, A. (2012). Algorithmic ideology: How capitalist society shapes search engines. Information, Communication & Society, 15(5), 769-787.

The lecture begins with the various examples of how IT solutions address societal challenges but introduce other problems. The second half of the lecture presents a more in-depth example and analyses it with a socio-technical perspective.

Page responsible: Arne Jönsson
Last updated: 2021-09-09