EGAIS
The Ethical GovernAnce of emergIng technologieS – New Governance Perspectives for Integrating Ethics into Technical Development Projects and Applications
| Coordinatore | UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE
Organization address
address: Largo Agostino Gemelli 1 contact info |
| Nazionalità Coordinatore | Italy [IT] |
| Totale costo | 998˙218 € |
| EC contributo | 837˙685 € |
| Programma | FP7-SIS
Specific Programme "Capacities": Science in society |
| Code Call | FP7-SCIENCE-IN-SOCIETY-2008-1 |
| Funding Scheme | CP |
| Anno di inizio | 2009 |
| Periodo (anno-mese-giorno) | 2009-05-01 - 2012-02-29 |
Partecipanti
| # | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |
UNIVERSITA CATTOLICA DEL SACRO CUORE
Organization address
address: Largo Agostino Gemelli 1 contact info |
IT (MILANO) | coordinator | 326˙528.12 |
| 2 |
UNIVERSITE DE NAMUR ASBL
Organization address
address: Rue de Bruxelles 61 contact info |
BE (NAMUR) | participant | 173˙504.00 |
| 3 |
MIDDLESEX UNIVERSITY HIGHER EDUCATION CORPORATION
Organization address
address: THE BURROUGHS HENDON CAMPUS COLLEGE BUILDING contact info |
UK (LONDON) | participant | 165˙952.00 |
| 4 |
INSTITUT CATHOLIQUE D'ARTS ET METIERS
Organization address
address: RUE AUBER 6 contact info |
FR (LILLE) | participant | 123˙520.00 |
| 5 |
INSTITUT INFORMACIJSKIH ZNANOSTI
Organization address
address: PRESERNOVA ULICA 17 contact info |
SI (MARIBOR) | participant | 48˙180.86 |
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Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)
'EGAIS will investigate the ethical governance in EU research projects with the goal of providing a framework for improved governance mechanisms that will address potential ethical issues arising from new and emerging technologies. The Ambient Intelligence projects will be used as a starting point of analysis, but the results will be tested to other emerging fields such as nanotechnologies, biodiversity and converging technologies. Usually projects with technical development do not sufficiently integrate the ethical issues that arise: the governance of ethics is missing and no guidelines have been provided at the EU and international level. These difficulties have been recognised at EU level, resulting in the attention paid to ethics and ICT in FP7 and partially in FP6. Adopting a bottom-up approach, EGAIS will investigate how ethical governance considerations could be embedded into the research and technology development culture of EU research so that they become a natural part of the evaluation and technical development process. The interdisciplinary project team will provide new governance guidelines addressing the integration of ethics into technical development projects that could be used in any field of technology development. Guidelines will emerge from the following steps: empirical analysis (of ethical governance measures within EU funded projects), classification of existing projects based on their ethical governance models and interpretation, application of theoretical outcomes to different technological domains to catalogue deficiencies in ethical governance mechanisms (portability of the problem), production of guidelines for concretely embedding ethics into projects in any EU technological development practices (portability of the solution). EGAIS will collect feedback from key stakeholders (EU policy makers, project leaders, academia, etc.) through a series of workshops. Dissemination activities will include the industry and civil society.'
Introduzione (Teaser)
European researchers investigated different governance perspectives for integrating ethics into the development of projects dedicated to new and emerging technologies. The resulting framework and guidelines contribute to a more ethical information and communication technologies (ICT) sector and enhanced personal privacy.
Descrizione progetto (Article)
Backed by EU funding, the EGAIS (The Ethical Governance of Emerging Technologies. New governance perspectives for integrating ethics into technical development projects and applications) project sought to deliver the means for balancing technology and ethics. The approach targeted the integration of ethical thinking in technological development and enhancing related governance mechanisms.
To this end, the EGAIS team examined ethical governance procedures in EU-funded ICT research projects and how the EU monitors ethical aspects of emerging technologies. It also investigated how ethical norms are constructed and implemented in projects.
Empirical analysis data were collected from technical research projects funded under the Sixth and Seventh Framework Programmes (FP6 and FP7 respectively) and related to ambient intelligence. This allowed a representative study of ICT research projects and identification of the different types of ethical governance and reflexivity used in EU projects.
Research was extended to other fields of technological development (e.g. nanotechnology, nuclear technology, hazardous activities) and their related ethics and governance issues (e.g. innovation and design).
Several workshops were held to elaborate on how the concept of comprehensive proceduralism can be employed to improve ethical governance. This joins rule-based (procedural), context-based (reflexive) and value-based (substantive) approaches. It also calls for engaging different actors such as technology users and even non-users in the ethics debate. This work led to a set of guidelines for policymakers and researchers that assist in planning, implementing and assessing ethical governance in research.
Research results were used to outline issues and challenges involved in integrating the consideration of ethics in EU projects. This served as a basis for developing an ethics governance approach. Overall, project developments support a more ethical European Research Area (ERA), redefine the way science and technology operate in the EU, and shift focus to the real needs of the stakeholders.
EGAIS developed a framework for governance mechanisms better able to identify and address potential ethical issues in the early stages of development. By embedding ethical considerations in the development of technological research projects, EGAIS emphasised society's interests first and foremost and supported an improved EU research and technology development culture.
Project outcomes have potential for application in other emerging fields such as nanotechnologies, biodiversity and converging technologies.