- Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School Belfer Center Newsletter

Managing Technology's Risks to Society

| Fall/Winter 2018-2019

TAPP Priorities

  • Responsible Innovation
    Collaborating with innovators and entrepreneurs on the responsible development and commercialization of emerging technologies.
  • Tech Policy
    Providing educational training and tools to increase policymakers' understanding of emerging technologies.
  • Global Governance
    Advancing international efforts to develop frameworks and best practices for governing high-risk technologies.
  • Generation Next
    Training and inspiring a new generation of technology leaders to make advancing public purpose a part of their life calling.

Technological change has brought immeasurable benefits to billions through improved health, productivity, and convenience. Yet as recent events have shown, unless we actively manage their risks to society, new technologies may also bring unforeseen destructive consequences.

Making technological change positive for all is the critical challenge of our time. We ourselves—not only the logic of discovery and market forces—must manage it. To create a future where technology serves humanity as a whole, we need a new approach.

To this end, the Belfer Center has launched a new endeavor, the Technology and Public Purpose (TAPP) Project. Established and led by Ash Carter, the TAPP Project leverages experts from Harvard, MIT, and Stanford, along with leaders in technology, government, and business, to ensure that emerging technologies are developed and managed in ways that serve the overall public good across three domains: digital, biotech, and jobs and training. The TAPP Director, Laura Manley, coordinates the range of team efforts from her Belfer Center base.

 

In the past several decades, numerous technological advances—including the exponential increase of data, widespread access to computing power, and the growing potential of artificial intelligence—have supported a rapid innovation ecosystem. These advances have, in turn, contributed to norms that define the behaviors of our current tech culture.

While the technological advances of today are quite remarkable in and of themselves, these norms are of equal consequence. The TAPP Project has been exploring the fundamental drivers of today's tech environment and the resulting outcomes. Accelerationist culture, for instance, has benefited broad swaths of society by rapidly bringing useful goods and services to market. Yet following principles such as “move fast and break things” or “everything that is not forbidden is allowed" has often deprioritized the values and mission that serve society beneficially and broadly.

In a world where technological change cannot be stopped and generally brings with it much progress, it is our obligation to foresee dilemmas it creates and invent solutions that are technically informed and inclusive. The TAPP project seeks to encourage a new approach to technological change.

“Society is in need of practical, analytically driven solutions to the problems that arise in connection with fast-paced technological change,” Carter said.

“Such solutions will emerge only if technologists, policymakers, and the new generation are encouraged and inspired to assume the civic responsibilities that come with creating changes of great consequence."

TAPP Director Laura Manley makes a point about emerging technologies during a HUBweek event in October. Panelists included (left to right) Harvard's David Eaves, Kyruus's Steve Strassmann, and Defense Digital Service's Chris Lynch​​​​​​​. 

TAPP Director Laura Manley makes a point about emerging technologies during a HUBweek event in October. Panelists included (left to right) Harvard's David Eaves, Kyruus's Steve Strassmann, and Defense Digital Service's Chris Lynch. Photo by Belfer Center Communications.

For more information on this publication: Belfer Communications Office
For Academic Citation:

"Managing Technology's Risks to Society." Belfer Center Newsletter. Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School (Fall/Winter 2018-2019). 

Related

Ash Carter

Ash Carter

  • Former Director, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard Kennedy School
  • Former Belfer Professor of Technology and Global Affairs
  • Former Faculty Director, Technology and Public Purpose Project
  • Former Member of the Board, Belfer Center
  • Former Faculty Affiliate, Project on Managing the Atom
  • Former United States Secretary of Defense (2015-2017)
Expertise:
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