What is ETCH?

ETCH is an initial effort to help build an ethical framework around technology through its process of design and innovation. The proposed framework would consist of a hierarchy of various controls related to the field of innovation ranging from genetics, bio-metrics, medicine to social networking, multimedia, smart devices using artificial intelligence.

How will it work?

The ETCH framework would have to be enforced using innovation governance boards filing patents for technology research. The enforcement would have to practiced from as simple as a standard self assessment questionnaire reviews governed by fields of science & research all the to automated evaluations of smart systems to test them for avoiding or controlling abuse.

How can I contribute and where do I find additional information?

The effort is very primitive and is currently collecting various levels of information to start building the foundation of a process starting with each industry with available experts to form an advisory board. The industry currently in consideration is the social networking using smart devices.

The hierarchical ground work for ETCH would include frameworks that involve process assessment models like AWOSE for ethical analysis in agile systems engineering. This will provide a guideline for injecting ethical assessment through a technical innovation process. The envisioned outcome of this effort would be a industry or sub industry evaluation process based on hierarchical ethical framework which could be modular allowing plug and play of ethical controls for that industry.

As an example the recent documentary on Netflix - The social dilemma brings for the lack of controls in the social networking space coupled with smart devices that use artificial intelligence. The documentary systematically evaluates each ethical space that is being violated expressing a dire need of controls with expert analysis of the boundaries that are being violated in grave detail.