Resumo do relatorio (asbstracts)
ICT innovations as the driver of techno-solutionism and neo-colonial world order
Prof Srinjoy Mitra
University of Edinburgh
Engineering education and practice have an outsized impact on modern life that is often not appreciated. The influence of gigantic technology companies and their financial reach is unprecedented in world history. The tech sector not only depends on a highly educated workforce coming out of universities but also immensely benefits from a continuous stream of publicly funded innovations. However, engineering (and applied science) education is unlike most other parts of the academic world. While topics like decolonisation and global justice are discussed and debated in various disciplines within and outside the university, engineers are notably absent from these platforms. Far from a neutral apolitical collection of artefacts, engineering/technology has historically been instrumental in building and perpetuating colonial orders. A reflection on the history and its underpinning values that brought about development in applied sciences is rarely part of the engineering curricula. The ICT (Information and Communication Technology) sector is not only the hallmark of modern ‘technological progress’ but also the one with the least interest in such introspection. On the contrary, young engineers’ training is dominated by concepts such as techno-optimism and techno-solutionism that uncritically frame technology as value-free, always good and the solution to any problem humanity can face. At the same time, this narrow view obscures the fact that most of such progress is highly dependent on colonial-era exploitation of the Global South. In contrast, the continuous cycle of innovation within the tech sector is a key driver of this optimism and pushes away any meaningful, immediate action towards an equitable world. Almost every technological solution to mitigate global warming depends on extractivism which further enhances the colonial-era power balance. In light of climate change and its everyday effects on people far away from the centres of technological progress, I argue that techno-solutionism is in itself a form of neocolonialism.