This presentation draws on a previous joint publication (Olofsson and Mali 2017) where focus was on the delay between the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and the development of risk assessments and policy documents that regulate the development of these technologies. Noteworthy, while computers have been part of society since the mid 20th century, it is not until recently that risk assessments and policy documents regarding their material residues have been developed and put into force. This means that the advancement of ICTs, at least for the first twenty-five to thirty years, proceeded pretty much without critical interventions of their effects. The delay between the development of ICTs and the development of regulatory frameworks also differs from the regulations of other emerging technologies such as (green) biotechnology (genetically modified organisms [GMOs]), nanotechnology, and synthetic biology where regulations were/are developed in conjunction with, or even before the development of the technologies themselves.
The current ambition is to further develop thoughts around the delay between the development of ICTs and the development of risk assessments and policy documents that serve to regulate the development of these technologies. As such, this presentation is a call for additional perspectives on how to transform critical thinking on this delay to practical impacts in current practices of policy making. While it might be difficult to pin down the effects that this delay had/has for the subsequent development of ICTs, we maintain the importance of taking into account, not only how and by whom risk assessments and policy documents are developed, but when they are developed in relation to the technologies that they serve to regulate.
References:
Olofsson, J. and Mali, F. (2017)Electronic waste - a modern form of risk?
On the consequences of the delay between the increasing generation of electronic waste and regulations to manage this increase. Human and Ecological Risk Assessment: An International Journal. Vol. 23(6), pp. 1272-1284.