Paper Number
2370
Paper Type
Short Paper
Abstract
Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) frameworks aim to moderate future social, economic and environmental impacts of an organisation’s use of technology. However, epistemic distance prevents these entities from engaging with radically uncertain futures - leaving them open to ethical risks and dilemmas from the emergence of unprecedented sociotechnical phenomena. To tackle this, the paper explores methods of engaging the future that are not based on the direct extrapolation of empirical data. Presented here is a short and selective summary of speculative foresight methods from three distinct research disciplines, namely; information systems, bioethics and education studies. The paper then incorporates a social mechanisms approach to inform the design of a corresponding method for integrating foresight into CDR practices. Lastly, I propose an action design research study to build and apply the method in an organisational setting, ancillary to an organisation’s existing CDR framework.
Recommended Citation
Johnson, Christopher, "Engaging Future Ethical Risk: A Mechanisms-Based Approach to Speculative Foresight Within the Context of Corporate Digital Responsibility" (2024). ECIS 2024 Proceedings. 6.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/ecis2024/track25_futures/track25_futures/6
Engaging Future Ethical Risk: A Mechanisms-Based Approach to Speculative Foresight Within the Context of Corporate Digital Responsibility
Corporate Digital Responsibility (CDR) frameworks aim to moderate future social, economic and environmental impacts of an organisation’s use of technology. However, epistemic distance prevents these entities from engaging with radically uncertain futures - leaving them open to ethical risks and dilemmas from the emergence of unprecedented sociotechnical phenomena. To tackle this, the paper explores methods of engaging the future that are not based on the direct extrapolation of empirical data. Presented here is a short and selective summary of speculative foresight methods from three distinct research disciplines, namely; information systems, bioethics and education studies. The paper then incorporates a social mechanisms approach to inform the design of a corresponding method for integrating foresight into CDR practices. Lastly, I propose an action design research study to build and apply the method in an organisational setting, ancillary to an organisation’s existing CDR framework.
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