ETHICS-2023: Ethics in the Global Innovation Helix

The triple helix model of innovation was introduced in the 1990s, developed to theorize and understand interactions between academia, industry, and government. Since then, scholars have expanded it to include additional strands or sectors, including society or the public (quadruple helix) and the natural environment (quintuple helix). The conference theme, “Ethics in the Global Innovation Helix,” underscores questions about the role and place of ethics and related concerns (e.g., social responsibility, social justice, regulatory compliance, etc.) in interactions between these strands, especially in ongoing processes of technology innovation, diffusion, evolution, and maintenance.

Plenary Sessions

• Active Human Interface: Technology, Uncertainty, and Hope, Debbie Chachra (Olin College of Engineering)
• Ethical and Legal Frameworks for Automation, Iven Mareels (Institute of Innovation, Science and Sustainability, Federation University Australia)
• Thinking Like an Engineer: Twenty-Five Years Later, Michael Davis (Illinois Institute of Technology) plus three commentators

Special Sessions (Panels)

• The Ethics of Weapons Technology Development
• Perspectives from Liberal Arts on the Practical Turn in AI Ethics
• The Role of Human Rights in the Global Helix for Technology Innovation and Justice
• The Arc of a Global Engineering Education
• Careers in Technology Ethics (Sponsored by SSIT Ethics Committee
• 4 + 1: The Impacts of Academia, Industry, Government and Civil Society on Sustainable Development (Sponsored by IEEE TechEthics)
• Socially Responsible Innovation for Climate Change Mitigation and Adaptation (Sponsored by IEEE TAB Program on Climate Change)
• The Quintuple Helix: Promoting Innovation for Impactful Socio-Ecological Interactions (Sponsored by IEEE Standards Association).

Special Session (Open Forum): Building a Technology Ethics Community

Workshops and Tutorials (ATTENDEES AT EACH WORKSHOP/TUTORIAL ARE ELIGIBLE FOR 1.5 IEEE PDH CREDITS)

• Exploring Mental Models of Ethics and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in Engineering
• Critical Design for Responsible Innovation
• I can’t teach ethics, I’m not an ethicist: Transforming STEM ethics education begins with engaging faculty as ethical subjects
• AI Safety, Governance, and Alignment Tutorial
• Taking “day to day” ethics seriously outside the academy: Experiences from STS and Communication (sponsored by the ASEE Liberal Education/Engineering & Society Division)
• STS Postures as a Framework for Teaching Ethics Throughout the Engineering Curriculum

Pre-Conference Workshop – Norbert Wiener Symposium: Discussion of the Future of Work
In the spirit of the Macy Conferences, through which Norbert Wiener developed much of his work, this event will be deliberately multi-disciplinary, with 20 invitations to economists, psychologists, technologists, lawyers, social scientists and others. (Observers are welcome to attend.) The topic is the future of work, in the light of automation, the 4th industrial revolution (with Wiener’s dystopian concern captured in Kurt Vonnegot’s Player Piano). Each invited attendee will present a 5 minute introduction to their approach, focusing on drawing out discourse (and encouraged to be controversial). The discussion will be captured through a number of scribes (postgraduate students, plus perhaps recordings). After the workshop a working party (volunteers/participants/scribes) will curate the notes into a coherent text, with appropriate references. This text will mature into the proceedings of the workshop. In a final stage we will seek the input from the invited participants to finalize the written material and to agree as co-authors to publish the resulting proceedings.

Call for Participation: INES Intersections: Connecting International Engineering Studies Scholars, a hybrid (face-to-face and online) workshop, sponsored by the International Network for Engineering Studies (INES), scheduled for Saturday, May 20, 1:15-4:30 PM EDT, held in conjunction with the IEEE ETHICS-2023 conference at Purdue. Our goals for the workshop include helping those of us in the engineering studies community revitalize our connections with one another and explore avenues for future research. The event itself will be organized around three main themes or foci: Publishing, Networking, and Funding Opportunities. We kindly ask all workshop participants to have an active INES membership for 2023, and also complete a brief registration form available at: https://forms.gle/AZXxcUQQrYTaxijq8. Information on joining INES, which includes a subscription to the journal Engineering Studies, is available at https://inesweb.org/join.

For ETHICS-2023 attendees interested in also attending the CEPE 2023 conference to be held in Chicago on May 16 -18th, 2023, we are looking into providing a chartered bus for individuals attending both events.