IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017 - 30

the private sector, and civil society
in its constitution and production.
It raises too the need for those
responsible for policy making, for
the design and production of services and platforms digital or not,
to build these attributes of the
good life, and the values and ethical frameworks they reflect, more
explicitly into the design and structure of human-machine interactions.
We will increasingly come to expect
our devices, our digital and analogue service providers, and those
who wield power and influence to
be more guided by these attributes
than ever.

ship, and all the reserves of good will
and generosity we can find.
The conversations will inevitably
be full of stories and experiences,
drawing on a close reading of the
way in which the four "corners" of
the discussions - technology, society, people, and nature - encounter the practical realities of shifting
technology-human interactions. But
access to good data and evidence
about what we already know, and
what we are learning through careful and patient research and inquiry,
will be just as important. It is from
the combination of data and experience that practical and usable
insight is most likely to be forged.
So Now What?
The next steps in this conversaMost conversations circle around
tion have to concentrate as much
eventually to questions about puron the "capillaries" as the "arteries,"
pose and consequences. As ideas
to pick up an allusion from the earand issues get aired and debated,
lier discussion. The work and knowinevitably there is a concern about
how of those close to the action
what should happen next and how
and doing the grounded life-work of
might things evolve from here.
technology-human interaction have
Some useful lines of inquiry are
to feature as much as the directions
emerging.
and preferences of larger institutions
of power and influence.
Building a more complete and consistent Web
Science "observatory" is
"There is no justice.
a longer-term venture perhaps. It could provide a
There is just us."
more comprehensive capture of research, thinking,
-Terry Pratchett
and examples that will be
easier for people to access
and contribute to. Some
This Web Science conversations
pro jects were undertaken earlier
needs to continue, bravely and conand an observatory, based on the
tinually testing boundaries, in differSouthampton instance, was built
ent places with different contributors
by the University of South Australia
and with a sense of energy and explo(http://intersticia.com.au/launch-ofration. Keeping those conversations
australias-web-observatory/). That
going, across Australia and around
project could be revived and further
the world, won't be easy given the
developed as a useful starting point.
very different sets of experience and
As far as possible, the Web Sciexpertise that need to be convened
ence conversations need to go to
and curated to make them both usewhere people are, not expect people
ful and productive. But it can be done
to come to another place or stream of
with a little design, plenty of leaderwork. Inviting existing institutions -

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

10 Principles for Creating Healthy
Communities
1) People support what they create.
2) People act responsibly when they
care.
3) Conversation is the way people have
always thought.
4) To change the conversation, change
who is in it.
5) Expect leaders to come from anywhere.
6) We focus on what works and it releases out creative energy.
7) The wisdom resides within us.
8) Everything is a failure in the middle.
9) Humans can handle anything as
long as we're together.
10) Generosity, forgiveness and love.
https://sites.google.com/site/ticstcc/
margaret-wheatley-s-ten-principlesforcreating-healthy-communities

schools, universities, governments,
NGOs, industry bodies and associations - to take on a Web Science
"flavor" will give the issues an immediacy and relevance they might otherwise lack.
The point about these "brave
conversations" related to technology and society is that they should
occur in the context of the places
and structures where people live
and work and which we want to
influence, and from whom we're
keen to harvest ideas and expertise
to shape the conversation still further (Figure 1).
Finally, the real test is not so
much to craft a list of work and
actions for "them," but to accept the
need for "us" to take up the responsibility, individually and in our organizations, to advance Web Science
discussions. The question in the end
is much more about "what I can do"
in the context and with the resources and opportunities I have to make
an immediate and local contribution. That has implications for the
model of what we might call "brave
∕

SEPTEMBER 2017

https://sites.google.com/site/ticstcc/ http://intersticia.com.au/launch-of

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2017