Summary
Managing Science and Technology (MSTS) MPA Summary
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Summary of MSTS weekly lectures and weekly notes, along with an explanation of weekly concepts/theories.
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Managing Science & TechnologyLecture 1
Introduction
1. Themes of the Course
- Societal conversation and complex problems and innovation
- Interaction between science, tech and society
- Course outline
- Intro of assignments
Aim
1. Get acquainted with a conceptual framework to critically assess complex problems
2. Understand intertwinement of science, technology and society in order to deal with
complex problems
>>>> Responsible Research and Innovation
Complex problems and innovation
- Societal conversation and complex problems exists
o Which are annoying, exactly the result of progress
- Uncertainty is high
>>>> We need new ways of innovating
Modernity (not needed to know):
Is the realization of societal goals by means of knowledge and technology.
- Societal goals have expanded through the years >> first man + fire, now technology
Modernity is:
- Aimed at control
- People, plant, animals are seen as isolated things
- Development and application of that type of knowledge promoted by institutions
o State, marked, society, science
o Their alignment
o (Separate entities).
o Their alignment
^ the above is now a norm of life and isn’t even thought about
Pit falls of modernity
Beck: this is simple modernity
- Is facilitated by the structure of our society
- Did indeed lead to progress
- But also has side-effect and risks (climate change, pollution)
,That are also embedded in our society: the risk society
Especially the risks become central: ‘’age of side effects’’
Not: who gets the benefits, but who gets the risks
Risks/side effects are difficult to attack without attacking the desired effects.
Complex societal problems
Examples:
Nuclear energy: Efficient
Clean
Safe
Reliable
But; uncertainty, and societal debate.
Chernobyl: 1987 disasters (Radio active)
Destabilization of the middle-east
3D printing (printed building/ printed gun (uses for bad/good)
Unmanned Air Vehicles (drones)
Are these promising technologies with their risks of side effects??
- Helpfulness of drones for example, help find people in natural disasters
- OR is it an invasion of privacy
Big Data/ Algorithms
- Big data can help, algorisms can look for correlations that are not seen before
- Traffic is being controlled by algorithms
- Google: before googled help find info that you didn’t know, now it tell you things
based on what you want to know
- NSA: Utah
Privacy definition: “The ability to determine for ourselves when, how, and to what extent
information about us is communicated to others”.
The ability to blah blah
Now, privacy is basically dead
Jeff Hammerbacker data scientist. One of the employees of Facebook, building and driving
data algorithms.
“The best minds of my generations are thinking about how to make people click adds. That
sucks.”
Does science solve the right problems?
- Value diversity.
,Does scientific knowledge solve problems at all?
- Uncertainty.
Innovations in the Life Sciences are often
Complex societal issues (unstructured problems)
These problems are by definition a combination of scientific uncertainty and conflicts of
value
The problem of innovation is no longer the technical puzzle
but the ‘social robustness’
Do we incorporate our values?
Can we deal with uncertainty?
Concerns
- Corporate surveillance >>>
Exchangeability
- Does it matter …
- Do you want to live in a world where is problem is solved by someone, if so...why not
it be me?
Technology
What do we want from technology
How will it change our lives?
What are the side effects?
First, we had simple modernity: progress and now the age of side-effects, so now we have
complexed problems.
Technology is complex but you chose what to do with it. Big data algorithms are the
problems of our times. Technology changes the world we live in.
Value diversity >> people think differently about science and technology.
Innovation in LS are often complex society issues (unstructured problems)
The problems are by definition a combination of scientific uncertainty and conflicts of value.
The problem of innovation is no longer the technical puzzle.
Social robust knowledge
- Reliable: things work according to scientific standards
- Robust: it works in the lab, but does it work in the real world (outside of the lab).
- Validity is reached by including a wide range of experts, including lay-experts (non-
scientists)
- Less controversies because of involvement of society.
How to reap the benefits of technological progress without the (possible) pitfalls?
, Innovating your way out?
What kind of problems are at stake?
What kind of mechanisms play a role?
How can we analyze the complexity of problems in a better way?
Answer: …By including society in the right way.
In MSTS we learn no how to solve complex problems, but you learn how to be more
analytical to eventually solve problems.
Technology has negative side effects…
All tech aims to solve problems we had from before.
Therefore, is innovation not only a technical issue, innovation is also a societal issue.
Dealing with diversity and uncertainty requires
- Academic reflection
o Reflective thinking about the context and background of a question.
- Understanding uncertainty
o Is understanding the nature of scientific knowledge and technological
artefacts.
What is the nature of scientific knowledge and technological artefacts?
Science, Technology & Society studies
Interdisciplinary flied of research
Aimed at:
- Understanding the ways of science and tech. influence, and are influenced by
society.
2. Influencing the development of science systems and sociotechnical systems.
Technology and Society
Technology is situated: not disconnected but attached to practices, cultures, other
techniques.
Technology situated as:
- product of interaction
- working in interaction
- working on interaction
Example
In 1931, there was one phone booth in the NLD.
Until 2008: at least one phone booth per 500 people
2011: (almost) none
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