IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - March 2022 - 3

President's Message
50 Years of Good Trouble
Clinton J. Andrews
Rutgers University, New Brunswick, NJ 08901 USA
 During the 1960s, many engineers and
scientists became concerned about the trajectory
of the technological society they were helping
to create [1]. Those years were full of headlines
about nuclear war, environmental pollution,
unsafe products, ethical lapses in industry and
government, and unintended consequences of
innovations. The social implications of technology
became an organizational focus for IEEE on June
24, 1972, following a vote of the IEEE Technical
Activities Board (TAB) [2]. Initially called the IEEE
TAB Committee on Social Implications of Technology,
this entity in 1982 became the IEEE Society
on Social Implications of Technology (SSIT) [3].
Since then, SSIT has established a vibrant community
with conferences, publications, standards,
awards, and many other activities.
The concerns about our technological society
have not abated during this half century, although
they have shifted. Information-age issues such as
loss of privacy, cyber-insecurity, and social media
manipulation share the headlines with the founders'
long-standing concerns, quaintly called " traditional
SSIT topics " at our annual conference.
Since that TAB vote a half-century ago, one thing
that has changed significantly is SSIT. We represent a
wider array of world regions, ethnicities, genders, and
disciplines than our founders encompassed. We have
been able to bring together scholars and practitioners
with expertise in the social sciences, humanities,
Digital Object Identifier 10.1109/MTS.2022.3147538
Date of current version: 9 March 2022.
March 2022
law, and public policy, to work closely with IEEE's
traditional engineers and scientists. Our publications,
conferences, and social media presence give us a
wider reach than the founders enjoyed-take a look
at the typewritten newsletters from 1972 to get a sense
of how far we have come [4].
If you read those old newsletters closely, however,
you will see that humanity continues struggling
to make the world a better place. The newsletters
from 1972 discuss similar concerns, with a similarly
dour tone, as we do today. We have so much to do!
A few months before he died, the American civil
rights leader, John Lewis, famously exhorted those
attending the 2020 anniversary of the Selma civil
rights marches of 1965 to " speak up, speak out, get in
the way, " and be willing to " get in good trouble, necessary
trouble, " to encourage valued changes [5].
SSIT members have a history of getting into
" good trouble " as they encourage IEEE toward
more humanistic stances on ethics, transparency,
sustainability, and global equity. We have recognized
the heroism of whistle blowers through our
Barus Award, persuaded IEEE leaders to internalize
ethical concerns and humanitarian technology
goals, and bravely published research articles on
taboo topics.
This 50th anniversary year is a good time to ask
how the tradition might continue. Are we done? Has
the social implications of technology become just
another academic field? Or should we develop position
articles and policy briefs that try to influence
government policies? Should our new education
committee create a " current debates in social implications
of technology " reader for undergraduate
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