Technologies And Bias: A Historic And Contemporary Investigation

By:
Ute Hillmer
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The history of thought, knowledge and truth is connected to power from its very origin through a web of social forces (Foucault 1972b, p. 211). Technologies are designed and developed according to default standard procedures, and the measures and controls applied, come with a built in formal bias (Kuhn 1970a, pp. 129-34). While any obvious form of discrimination will usually be criticised in a modern society with democratic values, formal bias, rooted in the institutions of society can only be discovered in a larger context: one that requires revealing the substantive often forgotten historic and contemporary context. This paper shows how the social historic contexts exert a significant influence over the attitude towards technology and knowledge over time. It is argued that social normative order continues to frame human behaviour in the new social topology of an information society, but to a much lesser extend. Individuals gain increased choice through diversity of opportunity and freedom from social boundaries, but the cost is the loss of a clear cultural and moral guidance for action, leaving it up to the individual to find stability elsewhere. Technology managers reactions to these arguments are presented at the end of the paper.


Keywords: Technology And Bias, Historic, Contemporary, Managerial Reaction, Sociology
Stream: Knowledge and Technology
Presentation Type: 30 minute Paper Presentation in English
Paper: Technologies and Bias

Ute Hillmer

Doctoral Student, Business School
Research Department, University of East London
London, -, UK

The authors past experience are 16 years of corporate outbound marketing management in large multi-national commercial organizations (Hewlett Packard, CoCreate, Sun Microsystems), managing various marketing teams in the US, Europe and Asia. The product focus centred around state-of-the-art information technology hardware and software. More recent experience includes work as a strategy consultant and management advisor for medium size high tech firms and start-ups.
Many years of practical experience dealing with the seemingly unpredictable success or failure of a product as well as its weak relation to a products stated benefits and features, has caused the author to be critical of traditional perspectives found in management literature; to thinking about organizations from perspectives contained in sociology, social psychology, psychology and some aspects of neuroscience.
Researching outside the traditional discipline of management science has caused the author to adopt a broader personal perspective through which individuals’ choice of action and its consequences for technology management can be considered.

Ref: T07P0129