Public interest technologies

The COVID 19 pandemic has shown us the importance of science and technology (S&T) in tackling grand public challenges. S&T is not just key to the development and delivery of public services and utilities, but it is also central to education, communication, participation and many more aspects of the public sphere. What is the role of S&T in serving public interest and generating public outcomes? How can we ensure that S&T is not merely used for proriteiry purposes but is instead used for the public? What lessons can we learn from tech giants, research organisations, startups, and public service delivery organisations about the above? What challenges to leaders and innovator face in balancing public and private interests of S&T and how do they overcome the same? 

The course is about the intersection and interactions of public and S&T. It is divided into four key questions. 

• What are the different notions of 'public' including a set of values, an interaction sphere, a collective of national and global citizens, and a common good?

• How these different notions of public interesects with and shapes the development, application and usage of S&T?

• How technology shapes different aspects of public, including that of privacy, ethics and justice that are talked about in popular discourse? 

• How can leaders, policy makers and organisations balance the public and prviate interest of technology?

We will explore the emerging paradigms, such as digital platforms, open source, and crowd sourcing, in S&T that are centred around public governance and catering to public interest. We will discuss the role of intermediary institutions (e.g., knowledge institutions, community organisations, social media and government) and factors that shape the relationship between public and S&T. 

If you are interested in taking the course, please directly register on the IITD ERP system.

There are no prerequisites the course. 

Timings

The class meets on Tuesdays and Fridays at 3:30 PM. 

Illustrative readings and case studies

• Case studies around the development of COVID 19 vaccine, Aadhar, Digital payments

• Bozeman, B., & Sarewitz, D. (2005). Public values and public failure in US science policy. Science and Public Policy, 32(2), 119-136.

• Hippel, E. V., & Krogh, G. V. (2003). Open source software and the “private-collective” innovation model: Issues for organization science. Organization science, 14(2), 209-223.

• Nelson, R. R. (1989). What is private and what is public about technology?. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 14(3), 229-241.

• Wynne, B. (1992). Misunderstood misunderstanding: social identities and public uptake of science. Public understanding of science, 1(3), 281.