for more responsible technology
It's news to noone that we're on the brink of climate catastrophe. COP27 was moreorless the letdown it was predicted to be. Former Irish President Mary Robinson even feared that many world leaders there were close to giving up on the Paris Agreement target of limiting global warming to 1.5°C this century. What's tech got … Continue reading Your tech use impacts the planet. Here’s how to reduce it
Goodbye, 2020! You won't be missed. And as vaccines start to be administered worldwide, we can be reasonably hopeful the crisis will end in 2021. The other good news is that pressure on big tech to be more responsible is not easing up at all, au contraire. Whence these reasons why, this year, technology may … Continue reading How tech *might* get better than ever in 2021
You know how companies tend to say one thing and do the other? When it comes to the environment, this is known as greenwashing; essentially, pretending to be green for good press, then doing the opposite. Like Amazon's leader Jeff Bezos saying initiatives like its wind farms (above) would enable the company to be carbon … Continue reading Big tech is harming the environment; how to stop it
1. Screens now divide rich from poor "Human contact is now a luxury good," asserts this thought-proving New York Times piece. "The wealthy can afford to opt out of having their data and their attention sold as a product," writes Nellie Bowles. "The poor and middle class don’t have the same kind of resources to … Continue reading 4 more reasons to reduce your screen time… after reading this
It's now easier than ever to buy organic food. But what about gadgets? How can we make sure the technological products we choose have minimal impact on the environment, and on others? Whilst no "organic" labels yet exist, there are options. Here are a few. Fairphone: heart in the right place Fairphone, a company founded … Continue reading Can gadgets be ‘organic’?
Up until 2018, we'd happily posted the slightest details of our daily lives (ok, only the positive ones) on Facebook, warmly welcomed Alexa into our homes, waited impatiently for the latest iPhone, and not thought twice about letting Google follow us everywhere. This year, we learned, for example, that even turning off Google apps' location … Continue reading 2018: The year we lost Trust in Tech
Few initiatives better prove technology's potential for good than TechFugees. Founded in 2015 by TechCrunch's Mike Butcher and led today by entrepreneuse Josephine Goube, the non-profit, which encourages startups to devise solutions to help refugees, organised its second Global Summit at Paris' Station F late October. The event's "Global Challenges" competition saw tech companies, as well … Continue reading Techfugees, when technology saves lives
Can tech companies be encouraged to think about social before financial profit? Such is the mission of EthicalOS, which uses highly plausible, Black Mirror-style scenarios of where we could be in the near future if startups and big tech don't think responsibly. Here's why it matters. Why is technological responsibility such a big deal right … Continue reading EthicalOS: Teaching tech responsibility
Then we'll begin! What do Brave New World, Blade Runner and Black Mirror (above, © Netflix) have in common? Hint: it's not "B". They all predict worlds where technology has lost control. Where the ideas of a few, claiming to be set on "making the world a better place" (© Silicon Valley), have managed to impose … Continue reading Welcome! Are you sitting comfortably?
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