You will select a social enterprise operating outside of the U.S. — a social entrepreneuring firm, or an NGO (non-governmental organization). The work of your selected entity depends on some technology in a substantive way, [It is okay if the entity is headquartered in the U.S., just so long as its substantive work is outside of the U.S.]
Your selected entity benefits a discernible population, or, a social group (which could be represented in our language of social configurations — social order, technosocial routines and their technology, and defining conditions). In other words, your selected entity will not simply offer a good product into a general market … since in this case the consumers may bear no relation to one another beyond having also bought the product. In order to examine the values infrastructure that connects the social enterprise to those benefiting, and to comment on the ethical qualities, the entity that is benefited needs to be a discernible social group.
For example, the NGO Resolve (Resolve.ngo) develops and installs cameras with onboard AI technology (TrailGuard AI) to protect critical animal populations in national preserves — detecting and aiding in the capture and prosecution of poachers. This enhances the ecosystem and benefits communities near the preserves. In addition, by hardening and lowering the cost of its technology, Resolve is helping many such preserves (and various species) and so communities. Protecting these threatened species, and their ecosystems, is a service to the nations involved — and one could argue, to the world as a whole.
In general you might examine a social enterprise that benefits: a kind of community; a collection of communities in a region; everyone who is somehow connected (through interest, livelihood, proximity) to an ecosystem; or perhaps a population that suffers some hardship and that is aware of itself (e.g., the very poor in a region who lack medical care).
So, I selected Hello Tractor (Nigeria and Kenya) – Focused on improving food and income security for smallholder farmers, Hello Tractor offers an “Uber for tractors” model where farmers can access affordable tractor services via a mobile app. This technology allows farmers to increase their agricultural productivity and reduce labor costs, benefiting local farming communities economically.
PROMPT
[1] Describe the overall context: your selected benefiting entity, the entity (discernible population, or actors in a durable social formation) that receives the benefit (the “benefited” entity), and any other important participants.
[2] Describe the technology and how it is deployed into practice (i.e.,what it does, and how it enters into relevant technosocial routines). Also describe any effects on the social configuration that benefits from the technology, such as changes in influence or power among some actors (i.e., change in the social order).
[3] Analyze the underlying values infrastructure – values of the selected enterprise or NGO, and of the receiving entity. Your goal is to show how the values of these two relate to (fit with) one another. To do this, show how the technology as it is employed is responsible for some new conditions in the world. These conditions serve values you name of the social enterprise, and the conditions also serve values you name of the entity that is benefited. At times to achieve this integration of values it will be necessary to employ the technology in a particular way — i.e., the conditions that create shared value require more than just the typical use of the technology. If this is the case you should explain this.
[4] Which of the values of the social enterprise would you say are “built into” the technology? Here, you are making a link between something your benefiting entity cares about, and specific features of the technology, or, necessary aspects of the use of the technology. At the least it may be that the benefiting entity sees something as a problem, and the technology (used properly) addresses the problem. Or, there may be a stronger influence on design — as when there are multiple design alternatives, and the actual ‘shape’ of the technology reflects that a particular value of the social enterprise legislated which of the alternatives would be taken.
[5] Evaluate the overall system ethically – contrast the benefited entity’s conditions pre- versus post-technology insertion, and show how at least one of the 12 ethical qualities (Vallor’s “technomoral virtues” that we discussed in class and that are found in the Vallor reading) is manifest in (is a feature of) the change that has been made.
[6] How do you imagine these ideas – values infrastructure, value-laden technology, and ethics – will inform your future career?
GRADING
750 words, at least 2 references (may include lectures; if so cite the recording as a web link type of reference).
Write an essay that addresses the questions above. When you respond to these questions, you should be specific and cite specific details from the readings, class lectures, and your own research. You may provide references from your own research, but only in addition to material provided by the course. Also, you MUST make sure to cite your sources in your response and include a reference list at the end of your essay. Citations must be from reputable sources. Sites like Wikipedia, about.com, etc. are NOT considered acceptable sources, but citing class lectures is acceptable.
Higher credit will be given for responses that show evidence of a systematic and comprehensive understanding of the topics involved.
Correct use of English is a fundamental requirement for your papers to be graded. If errors in English make it difficult for a grader to understand your sentences, or excessively slow down the grader to mark your technical errors, your paper will be returned to you for further work on its English, and your grade for the paper will be deferred until it is resubmitted with corrected English. If your assignment is returned for an excessive number of grammatical errors, you will be allowed to rewrite and resubmit it within two weeks of the original return date. If not resubmitted by the date set by your instructor, you will receive a zero (0) for the writing assignment.
