How do we use technology in a responsible and ethical way?

Seeking to develop information technology that can help fight the Covid-19 pandemic has led to many innovations in an unusually short period of time. Can these innovations form the basis for responsible policy interventions? How do we know? We can and must benefit from the lessons learned over the past decade in the field of Responsible Innovation and Ethics by Design.

Open Coronaware

The Netherlands, much like the rest of the world, is struggling with the gradual easing of measures taken during the so-called intelligent lockdown, in order to eventually return to a society that is as closely to normal as possible. This transitional phase requires that the spread of the coronavirus be brought under control. But the way the virus spreads is closely linked to our behaviour, meaning that with every step we take to normalise society a little further, we risk further spread of the virus.

Responsible innovations for intelligent intermittent lockdown

The drive to develop information technology tools capable of aiding in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic has generated innovations in a short period of time. Can these innovations form the basis of responsible policy interventions? How do we know? We can benefit here from the lessons that have been learned in the past decade in the field of Responsible Innovation and Ethics by Design. This idea of Responsible Innovation (or in Dutch ‘Maatschappelijk Verantwoord Innoveren’) was pioneered by the Dutch Research Council NWO in the last decade. The idea was integrated into the Dutch Innovation Strategy of Key Sectors (‘Topsectoren’) and has by now gained worldwide acclaim. It was also used by the European Commission in its 80 billion Horizon2020 R&D programme to address ethical, legal and social aspects of technology and guarantee broad public acceptance and moral acceptability of new technology.

What can we learn from other countries?

Countries that initiated - and maintained - a complete package of stringent measures early in the pandemic now seem to have the virus well under control. Technology can play an important role within those measures. In this context, Taiwan is being praised for its successful approach: the economy is booming and the number of infections is very low.