Newly published: Value Sensitive Design and power in socio-technical ecosystems

14 October 2021

This paper by Mattis Jacobs, Christian Kurtz, Judith Simon and Tilo Böhmann was published on September 30, 2021 in Internet Policy Review Journal. Abstract: Recent European policy papers call for the consideration of human values in the design of information technology. Value Sensitive Design (VSD) provides a framework for systematically accounting for values in the design of technical artefacts. This paper examines how the distribution of power within socio-technical ecosystems poses a challenge for the application of VSD. It identifies four crucial factors determining the effect of the distribution of power on VSD: the level of decentralisation of the ecosystem; if VSD is applied at the core or periphery; when power can be exercised (temporality); and the phase of VSD (conceptual, empirical, and technical) that power can be exercised in. Based on these factors, it outlines how the challenge of accounting for power can be addressed.

Jacobs, M. & Kurtz, C. & Simon, J. & Böhmann, T. (2021). Value Sensitive Design and power in socio-technical ecosystems. Internet Policy Review, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.14763/2021.3.1580 [pdf]

This paper is part of Governing “European values” inside data flows, a special issue of Internet Policy Review guest-edited by Kristina Irion, Mira Burri, Ans Kolk, Stefania Milan.