Technolife at Cesagen

  • About Work Package 4

    One of the aims of Technolife is to explore popular and occupational imaginations, concerning the latest developments in three innovation domains: biometric technologies, geo-visual and geo- referenced applications, and body and mind enhancement. The main task of Work Package 4 is to analyse online forums that address each of these domains. The forums were facilitated by the Technolife consortium from mid-September to mid-December 2010, and the operational management was supported by KerTechno, a virtual facilitation tool for online discussion and voting (see Deliverable D3.1 - Documentation of deliberative tool Ker-DST).

    Work Package 4 focusses on the interactions that took place, including the uses of audiovisual media to encourage discussion and debate, see Deliverable 4.0 - Introduction and Summary of Results.

    Each forum was designed to hone in on discussion topics, introduced on the opening page, along with a brief introductory text and a suggestion to view an embedded short film first, i.e., before entering the discussion space for the first time.

  • Biometric technologies

    Participants in the forum on biometric technologies were encouraged to consider the following topics:

    1) Social justice - Can biometrics promote freedom of movement, security and justice? Could new mechanisms of exclusion and discrimination be built into these systems?
    2) Surveillance and privacy - What does "privacy" mean for you? Could biometrics improve privacy and security at the same time?
    3) Trust in technology and in government - Can governments and operators be entrusted with keeping our personal and biometric information?

    See Deliverable 4.1 - Social imaginaries and ethical issues in deliberative process on Biometrics.

     

  • Digital globes

    Participants in the forum on digital globes were encouraged to consider the following topics:

    1) Trust in maps and images - How can we know that images circulated on the web are realistic? And how can we know that maps of the future can be relied upon?
    2) Surveillance and privacy - High-resolution imagery and increased capacity for seeing comes along with increased opportunities for surveillance.
    3) Equality and power - Access to valuable resources and critical information could be limited to only those with influence and money.

    See Deliverable 4.2 - Social imaginaries and ethical issues in deliberative process on Digital Globes.

     

  • Body and mind enhancement

    Participants in the forum on body and mind enhancement were encouraged to consider the following topics:

    1) The final words of the movie are: "To me, normal is a state of perfection" - What do you think about this?
    2) Freedom of choice and social difference: If some people can afford to choose their bodies and minds, how could that change society?
    3) Forever young: Can new technologies make us live and stay beautiful longer, or even forever? Will humanity turn into super-humans or cyborgs? What do you think about this?

    See Deliverable 4.3 - Social imaginaries and ethical issues in deliberative process on Body and Mind Enhancement.

     

  •  

    ^ to top

Cardiff University Lancaster University
Cesagen, Genomics Network
The Epinet project
The ICT ethics project
The Technolife project
The HIDE project The RISE project
The BBMRI project
The Gleube project
The BITE project