The Shaping of Ambient Intelligence and the Internet of Things
Description
Recent advances in ICT have given rise to new socially disruptive technologies: AmI and the IoT, marking a major technological change which may lead to a drastic transformation of the technological ecosystem in all its complexity, as well as to a major alteration in technology use and thus daily living. Yet no work has systematically explored AmI and the IoT as advances in science and technology (S&T) and sociotechnical visions in light of their nature, underpinning, and practices along with their implications for individual and social wellbeing and for environmental health. AmI and the IoT raise new sets of questions: In what way can we conceptualize such technologies? How can we evaluate their benefits and risks? How should science-based technology and society's politics relate? Are science-based technology and society converging in new ways? It is with such questions that this book is concerned. Positioned within the research field of Science and Technology Studies (STS), which encourages analyses whose approaches are drawn from a variety of disciplinary perspectives, this book amalgamates an investigation of AmI and the IoT technologies based on a unique approach to cross-disciplinary integration; their ethical, social, cultural, political, and environmental effects; and a philosophical analysis and evaluation of the implications of such effects.
This book is the first systematic study on how AmI and the IoT applications of scientific discovery link up with other developments in the spheres of the European society, including culture, politics,policy, ethics and ecological philosophy. It situates AmI and the IoT developments and innovations as modernist science-based technology enterprises in a volatile and tense relationship with an inherently contingent, heterogeneous, fractured, conflictual, plural, and reflexive postmodern social world.
The issue's topicality results in a book of interest to a wide readership in science, industry, politics, and policymaking, as well as of recommendation to anyone interested in learning the sociology, philosophy, and history of AmI and the IoT technologies, or to those who would like to better understand some of the ethical, environmental, social, cultural, and political dilemmas to what has been labeled the technologies of the 21st century.
Reviews / Votes
"This is an unusually multifaceted book ... entailing a unique approach to cross-disciplinary integration. ... This seminal work contains a rich spectrum of fascinating and highly relevant and topical issues, encompassing so much of contemporary and imminent everyday life's practicalities. ... The author is a true "renaissance-man" covering a huge range of different sciences. The book is a very important contribution to the scientific debate of today - and of tomorrow - with regard to the relationship between scientific knowledge, technological systems, and modern society. Therefore, it is a must read for everyone interested in developing more robust understandings of the nature of debate over the risks posed by AmI and the IoT, or in better understanding the ethical, environmental, social, cultural, and political implications of what has been labeled the technologies of the 21st century." (Prof. Per Flensburg, Social Informatics, University West, Sweden)
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Person
Before starting his Master studies' endeavor, Bibri worked as an ICT strategist. In 2004, he founded a small business and consulting firm where heserved as a sustainability and green ICT strategist and consultant. Over the last few years, he has been involved in a number of research and consulting projects pertaining to the IoT, green ICT strategy, strategic sustainability innovations, circular business model innovation, clean and energy efficiency technology, sustainable urban planning, and sustainable urban models (eco-city, smart city, and compact city). Since his graduation in June 2014, he has been working as a freelance consultant in his areas of expertise and a research associate, giving lectures on specialized topics, and writing his second book.
Bibri has a genuine interest in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research. In light of his varied academic background, his research interests include AmI, the IoT, social shaping of science-based technology, philosophy and sociology of scientific knowledge, sustainability transitions and innovations, urban sustainability, eco-city and smartcity, governance of sociotechnical changes in technological innovation systems, green and knowledge-intensive innovation, clean and energy efficiency technology, green and circular economy, and S&T and innovation policy.
Content
Introduction.- Understanding the Research and Academic Field of STS.- Conceptual Background, Theoretical Framework, Academic Discourses, and Research Methodologies.- The Nature and Practices of AmI: Historical a Priori, Epistemic, Institutional, Political, and Socio-cultural Perspectives.- Paradigmatic and Discursive Dimensions of AmI and the IoT and Knowledge/Power Relations, Subject Positioning, and Legitimation.- AmI and the IoT and Environmental and Societal Sustainability: Risks, Challenges, and Underpinnings.- Ethical Implications of AmI and the IoT: Risks to Privacy, Security, and Trust, and Prospective Technological Safeguards.- Democratizing AmI and the IoT: The Power and Influence of Social Innovation and Participative and Humanistic Design.