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Technology and Sustainable Economic Development. Nov 15, 2002. Outline. Introductions Motivation + Objectives Format Themes + Topics Living laboratory Today’s presentation proper. Introducing Ourselves. Alastair Iles - PowerPoint PPT Presentation
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Technology and Sustainable Economic
DevelopmentNov 15, 2002
Outline
• Introductions• Motivation + Objectives• Format• Themes + Topics• Living laboratory
• Today’s presentation proper
Introducing Ourselves
• Alastair Iles– Postdoctoral research fellow at Society & Environment;
Energy and Resources Group, UCB– Ph.D in environmental policy, Harvard, ‘00– Research interests in policy, science, politics
• Matthew Kam– 2nd-yr Ph.D. student in EECS with primary interest in Human-
Centered Computing– B.A. Economics, B.S. EECS, UCB ’01– B.A. thesis was his first shot at development microeconomics
Motivation
• Have not encountered similar opportunity at UCB for cross-disciplinary engagement on this topic
• Technical design often isolated from social factors
Motivation
• But new research suggests:– Successful use of technology depends on
tacit work practices developed for specific contexts
– Decentralized technology may be more effective than centralized ones
– Others?
Objectives
• Dual-track initiative– Technology track: How do we design
technology for sustainable development?– Social track: What are the broader social,
business and political contexts influencing the success of these designs?
Objectives
• Forum for interested UCB students to– Get acquainted– Keep up with related developments– Incubate alternative visions to advance
sustainable development in both developing and developed countries using technology
– Others? (do a poll here)
Intended Participants
• All interested folks are welcome!
• Not restricted to Ph.D. students(we also have an undergraduate, exchange student, recent UCB graduates, and postdoc)
• Not restricted to EECS, ERG or SIMS(would benefit from MBA, public policy, public health, other science/engineering and social sciences inputs)
Tentative Format
• Weekly 1-hour meetings
• Format:– Presentation by volunteer (15 min)– Break-out discussions (15 min)– Combined discussion (20 min)
• Format to be reviewed by everyone in last session of Fall ’02 (Dec 13)
Broad Themes
• Technology– Participatory design– Decentralized systems
• Sustainable development– Economic, sociopolitical viability– Distributive effects of technology deployment
• To review collectively after Fall ’02
Specific Topics
• Rotate among participants’ areas of interest / specialization
• Topics:– EECS (albeit with SIMS / HCI / STS flavor)– Green technology– Economics– Others? (do a poll here)
• Tentative plan: Fix topics for each session in advance, students (or volunteer presenter) in respective areas agree on reading(s)
Living Laboratory
• Intimate, long-term exposure to the design, use and evolution of technology promotes deeper appreciation and understanding
• To observe CHSP regulations• Findings to be shared (and debated) among
participants• Collectively work towards an interpretation, i.e.
the “lessons learnt”
Living Laboratory
• First shot: Livenotes– Collaborative note-taking application– Handheld wireless tablets– E.g. of a decentralized, interactive
technology
• Call for volunteers (approx. 3)
Any questions before we proceed with presentation of today’s readings?
• What works?What doesn’t?
• We’ll collectively review the reading group’s organization in last session of Fall ’02 (Dec 13)
Today’s readings
• Two chapters from the Worldwide Wildlife Fund report on IT/sustainability, July 2002:
- Zambrano: intergovernmental funding and strategies for promoting technology
- Wijkman & Afifi: what technology can do (today’s focus)
• Written by government bureaucrats.• Focused on information technology (IT).• Just a starting point for discussion...
Beginning Caveats...
• What does “technology” cover? IT is just one of the technologies that could support sustainable development; technology designed for other purposes may be applied to environmental purposes.
• What does sustainable development mean?The readings take it for granted that we know what SD is.
Wijkman & Afifi (1)
• Argues: - IT will transform society without physical work or materials
- IT can help developing countries “leapfrog” over pollution and reduce energy intensity
- UNDP Report 2001 shows that IT can help promote economic growth
- however: there is a “digital divide” that exacerbates poverty, unemployment, underdevelopment...
Wijkman & Afifi (2)
• Argues:
- the equity of the IT changes depends on human capital
- “Those best placed to identify their tech. needs are the different stakeholders themselves.”
- deliberate policy-making by governments is central.
- the international community/market has been very slow to invest in IT in developing countries: the UN is disappointing.
Wijkman & Afifi (3)
• Examples of IT Uses:
- farmers using the web or cell phones to check going prices for their produce
- Village Knowledge Centers (South India)
- Grameen Bank Pay Phones (Bangladesh)
- Reproductive Health On-line (Uganda)
- cyber kiosks run by village entrepreneurs (India)
•
Wijkman & Afifi (4)
• Questions:
- Is “information” really separate from physical work and systems? Isn’t human capital needed to adapt IT to local social settings?
- To what degree are “leapfrogging” and “climbing ladders” really effective?
- Is there an excessive focus on web-based approaches, as contrasted to other IT technologies? The “put-everything-online” syndrome.
Wijkman & Afifi (5)
More questions:- Isn’t this approach like “e-government” and not participatory or grassroots?
- Where are the communities whose needs are supposedly being addressed?
- There is no mention of the energy needed to support the IT: how will this energy be provided?