Around 40 people crowded into Politeia
earlier this month for the official launch of “Slow Tech and ICT: A Responsible, Sustainable and Ethical Approach”, the new book by IFIP stalwarts, Diane Whitehouse and Norberto Patrignani.
Ms Whitehouse, who led IFIP Technical Committee 9 up until the end of last year and Mr Patrignani. Chair of IFIP’s Domain Committee on Cloud Computing (DCCC) collaborated on the book, which explores the issues at the heart of creating trustworthy technology.
The February 19 event was attended by an impressive gathering which included eminent professors, heads of charitable foundations and software designers from leading technology companies.
It began with a brief introduction by the authors, after which they were joined by Viola Schiaffonati, Professor of Computer Ethics at Politecnico di Milano, and Marzio Riboldi, from Samsung Design Europe, for a round table discussion of the issues canvassed in the book.
According to the book’s introduction, “Slow Tech provides people with ‘the brakes required in the technological Indianapolis’. It offers people more time for reflection and for the processes needed to design and use ICT that takes into account human well-being (good ICT), the whole life cycle of the materials, energy, and products used to create, manufacture, power, and dispose of ICT (clean ICT), and the working conditions of workers throughout the entire ICT supply chain (fair ICT).”
Mr Patrignani is Senior Associate Lecturer in Computer Ethics at the Doctorate School of Politecnico of Torino while Ms Whitehouse is a social scientist who runs the Castlegate Consultancy, which focuses on electronic services policy and consulting, including eHealth.
