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MISTICA: Re: Version colectiva documento vision social TIC

From: Sam Lanfranco ([email protected])
Date: Wed Sep 18 2002 - 09:54:59 AST

It is worth remembering that the simplist form of "technology" used to
effect purposeful change is to mold individuals into structured
communities. The technology involved is a pure mental construct of
human-interaction and social process. No wires, no batteries. This "human
solution" is not only the most elementary in terms of technology, it is an
assumed and absolutely essential ingredient in any effort, successfully or
not. It is the most overlooked, whether our eyes are glazed over looking
at the simputer in India or the Three Gorges Dam in China.

For anything having an impact on others how can one know what to do unless
there is a clear understanding, and agreement of why it is being done. At
the core of any "why" is an ethical decision, even if we rush past it and
only apply our "why" thinking to the menu of technologies. In that case we
have made the ethical decision in the dark. It is interesting to note that
one international NGO, Health for Humanity, in its decidely low tech
community health promotion projects has decided to front load their
community development training program with training around ethics.
Information and communications technology (ICT) are supposed to be the
"thing" that allows us to move enough information widely and quickly to
brand this "The Knowledge Age". While is may be, and I believe it is, true
that ICT will allow us to better assemble information into knowledge,
these are still very rudimentary building blocks. The core strategic
questions remain. What are we to build and how. Before that stands the
ethical question: "Why".

Until we gets ethics front and centre, and most likely a democratic and
participatory ethics, we will continue to build dams, big and small, in
the wrong places and for the wrong reasons. Until we get ethics front and
centre will continue to build ICT solutions, simple or complex and apply
them in the wrong places for the wrong reasons.

Sam Lanfranco,
South Bay, PEC, Ontario, Canada 

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