SPP-misc: Call for Participation: Ethics of Pervasive and Autonomous IT

[Colin Allen]

CALL FOR PARTICIPATION

Ethical Guidance for Research and Application of Pervasive and  
Autonomous Information Technology (PAIT)

March 3-4, 2010, Cincinnati, Ohio

Made possible by the National Science Foundation (grant number  
SES-0848097), Indiana University's Poynter Center for the Study of  
Ethics and American Institutions and the Association for Practical and  
Professional Ethics.

This two-day workshop will convene an international meeting of experts  
in PAIT, ethicists well versed in practical ethics, and other  
stakeholders.

RATIONALE. Technologies are being developed today using very small,  
relatively inexpensive, wireless-enabled computers and autonomous  
robots that will most likely result in the near-omnipresence of  
information gathering and processing devices embedded in clothing,  
appliances, carpets, food packaging, doors and windows, paperback  
books, and other everyday items to gather data about when and how (and  
possibly by whom) an item is used. The data can be analyzed, stored,  
and shared via the Internet. Some of these pervasive technologies will  
also be autonomous, making decisions on their own about what data to  
gather and share, which actions to take (sound an alarm, lock a door),  
and the like.

The potential benefits of pervasive and autonomous information  
technology (PAIT) are many and varied, sometimes obvious, sometimes  
obscure, as are the ethical implications of their development and  
deployment. The history of information technology suggests that long- 
standing issues including usability, privacy, and security, among  
others, as well as relatively new phenomena such as ethically blind  
autonomous systems, are best addressed early enough to become part of  
the culture of researchers and engineers responsible for identifying  
needs and designing solutions.

KEY AREAS. The PAIT Workshop Planning Committee has initially  
identified the following key areas for discussion:
1. health and wellness (health monitoring, elder care, nagware)
2. everyday life (GIS, cell phones, PAIT in the home and car and on  
the body)
3. situations of limited human autonomy (in hospitals, the justice  
system, schools, the workplace)
4. autonomous systems and robots

Likely cross-cutting themes
1. Law and policy
2. International issues
3. Access and the digital divide
4. Uses of data beyond original intent (repurposing) and data  
aggregation
5. Informed consent, transparency (end-users' knowing the technology  
is in use and what it is doing), voluntary and involuntary use of  
data, the ability to "opt out"
6. Privacy, data security, anonymity
7. Managing data (lots of user interface questions here)
8. Balance of power among various stakeholders (parents/kids, elders/ 
adult children, patient/provider, employee/boss, etcÖ.)
9. Malicious uses, covert uses, surveillance, espionage

WORKSHOP FORMAT. This working meeting will feature discussions of  
previously-prepared case studies describing actual and anticipated  
uses of PAIT, invited presentations on key issues, working groups to  
identify and categorize ethical concerns, and other activities aimed  
at community-building and formulating ethical principles and other  
resources that will help researchers and designers of such systems  
recognize and address ethical issues at every stage, from design to  
deployment to obsolescence.

Results of the workshop will be published in journals and in one or  
more books, presented at academic and industry conferences, and  
distributed via the Internet.

A limited number of travel subsidies are available for members of  
underrepresented groups in science and engineering.

REGISTRATION. The workshop registration form, travel subsidy policy,  
and travel subsidy application form can be found at http://poynter.indiana.edu/pait/registration.shtml 
.

PLEASE NOTE that space at the workshop is limited. If the number of  
registrations exceeds expectations, we reserve the right to select  
among registrants to ensure balance. Please do not make travel plans  
until you have received confirmation of acceptance.

FOR MORE INFORMATION see http://poynter.indiana.edu/pait/ or get in  
touch with Glenda Murray, Poynter Center, Indiana University, 618 East  
Third Street, Bloomington IN 47405-3602; (812)†855-0262; FAX:  
855-3315; glmurray at indiana.edu.


Prospective participants are encouraged to consider registering for  
and attending the annual meeting of the Association for Practical and  
Professional Ethics immediately following the PAIT workshop, March  
5-7, 2010, at the same hotel. The Association's keynote address will  
be delivered by Marc Rotenberg, Executive Director of the Electronic  
Privacy Information Center in Washington, D.C.  at 8:30 am, Friday,  
March 5, and a mini-conference on ìEngineering Towards a More Just and  
Sustainable Worldî will be held Saturday afternoon, March 6 through  
Sunday, March 7, 2010, at noon. See http://www.indiana.edu/~appe/annualmeeting.html 
  for details.