Innovation Cultures and Theories- Module1

Opinion leaders

Opinion leaders are able to influence other individuals' attitudes towards an emerging technology, but they are NOT celebrities nor testimonials.

Heterophily vs homophily

It is in heterophilous communities that the diffusion of emerging technologies usually takes place.

09/03/2023

The Internet of things

Is technology a means to improve our lives? Is technology useful or not? Can we rely on technology that apparently is giving us advantages? Adam Greenfield is the author of a book called "Radical Technologies: the design of everyday life".

Aim of the paper: technology can greatly improve people's lives however at the same time, technology can inadvertently threaten people's lives. According to Greenfield, radical technologies are those technologies that reduce daily life to the execution of a predetermined project. They involve a number of potential problems, even if this aspect is hidden. More traditional technologies such as nuclear

Technology, which threaten our lives, is an example where the problem involved is a kind of emergency. The negative effects would happen in extraordinary cases. With technologies that are pervasive in our lives, we can't notice their impact but they are working everyday. According to Greenfield, all technologies imply a kind of risk which is not evident at first glance (for example when we delegate a bit of our effort to technology, we are also giving it a bit of our freedom). The strength and effort that we have to do to reach some goals is a form of delegating to an artifact what we should do. We are delegating technology to choose instead of doing it ourselves. It is not just a matter of Artificial Intelligence. Bruno Latour, "Where are the missing masses?": "Early this morning, I was in a bad mood and decided to break a law and start my car without buckling my seat belt. My car usually does not want to start before I buckle the belt. It first flashes a red light."

‘‘FASTEN YOUR SEAT BELT!,’’ then an alarm sounds; it is so high pitched, so relentless, so repetitive, that I cannot stand it. After ten seconds I swear and put on the belt. This time, I stood the alarm for twenty seconds and then gave in. My mood had worsened quite a bit, but I was at peace with the law—at least with that law. I wished to break it, but I could not. Where is the morality? In me, a human driver, dominated by the mindless power of an artifact? Or is it an artifact forcing me, a mindless human, to obey the law that I freely accepted when I get my driver’s license?». If we are dominated by somebody or something, we are not completely free. If an artifact constrains me to do something, I’m not responsible, I’m no more a human being. Morality is what qualifies human beings as humans. Greenfield is stressing that technologies have these characteristics and today emergent pervasive technologies are being delegated by us, human beings,

emphasis on the things that are connected in the IoT: it is a technology that enables interaction between objects, they have effects on each other without having the effect of human beings.

focus on Internet-related aspects of the IoT: it is not an expansion of Internet technology, Internet is not just connecting humans, but also non humans.

attention to semantic challenges in the IoT: semantic challenges (ICT technologists point of view): technology enables us to reach many information, capacity to get information from those big datasets.

XIA et al. (2012): «IoT refers to the networked interconnection of everyday objects, which are often equipped with ubiquitous intelligence. IoT will increase the ubiquity of the Internet by integrating every object for interaction via

embedded systems, which leads to a highly distributed network of devices communicating with human beings as well as other devices. Thanks to rapid advances in underlying technologies, IoT is opening tremendous opportunities for a large number of novel applications that promise to improve the quality of our lives». Engineers and management engineers think that IoT is the interconnection of everyday objects, referring not just to the industry, but to consumers. Devices are communicating with human beings but also from one object to another. It could definitely improve our lives. All technologies and innovations appear to be very continental when they are being developed. They are invented with the idea that they could open big opportunities, at the first moment.

Wortmann and Fluchter, 2015: IT is the addition of a digital technology (software or hardware) to normal, traditional objects. Antennas, sensors, software are being integrated in artifacts to change their performance. IoT is in:

smart home, transports, medical sector, the smart industry 4.0 and the smart city. Technology is organized on three different levels:

1. Cloud: it's the internet, so the application software and application platform, data management and process management, thing/device management.
2. Connectivity: protocols that enable communication between things and the cloud.
3. Thing/device: thing/device hardware, thing/device software, IoT components (sensors, actuators, processors, and antenna).

According to Adam Greenfield, IoT effects at three different levels:

1. Individual scale: the smart body

In the smartwatch system, wearable biometric sensors make legible the indicators of biological performance, in order to subject them to exercise, will and control. It is basically a wearable computer, collecting information about our body, a number of data regarding our health. They are used within a cultural context that stresses the concept of "monitoring yourself" in every daily moment.

Smartwatches can have effects on the state of our body (for example thanks to the app Nightwear, it's possible to improve the sleep of people that suffer from nightmares). They can also help having better experiences and performances in life.

Greenfield focuses on the American movement called "the quantified self" which uses self tracking tools, sharing the same desire of quantizing the body data. Who enjoys the effects of such a lifestyle? What are the values promoting the use of smartwatches? Their usage implies the goal of improving yourself, your performances and so your body. The idea behind is the value of productivity (in sport, at work, in general). Who enjoys the idea of improving his/her performances to be productive? IoT devices, such as self-tracking tools, can inadvertently promote a lifestyle based on values (self-mastery) that benefit the economic system to the detriment of individuals' explicit values and interests. Late capitalism led to over

productivity, competition between companies, overconsumption, bringing people to do what is important for the production system. Nowadays, in a capitalistic society, it is important for us as individuals to understand and agree on the values of the production system. Why should we improve our performances instead of our otium (not having to work, use time for ourselves)? "It's clear that the appeal of this is overwhelmingly to young workers in the technology industry itself, the control they harvest from the act of quantification intended to render them psychophysically suitable for performance in a work environment characterized by implacable release schedules and a high operational tempo. And of course what is most shocking about all of this is that it is undertaken voluntarily. Here, a not-insignificant percentage of the population has so decisively internalized the values of the market for their labor that the act of resculpting themselves to better meet its needs feels likeauthentic self-expression (Greenfield).

2. Domestic environment: the smart home

Within the smart home field, the case addressed by Greenfield is about the DASH button. It is basically a button that you can push to buy specific items that you need on Amazon (Alexa replaced it). This device has the aim of allowing consumers to purchase, accomplish commercial transactions without the intervention of conscious thought, so without the contribution of conscious decisions. Of course the single moment in which we push the button is not an ethical problem, it's not harmful, but if we think of it as a system, the final effect is a thoughtless life (radical point), it's a trend. As a coherent effort to transform our intimate spaces in a site of continuous technological upgrade, the smart home is a promise of effortless convenience. The aim of "smart home" efforts, i.e. convenience, implies to as nearly as possible short-circuit the process of reflection that stands betweenone's recognition of a desire and its fulfillment via the market. This kind of technology is reducing the space for rational, conscious thought to determine our behavior. Who takes advantage of this? Companies. They are stimulating the consumers to arise a need, it's because of the industrial system. This system that enables us to improve our lifestyle, is based on suggesting our needs, influencing as much as possible our perception of needs. We feel we need what they need to sell. Today we finally become aware that we produce too much, consume too much energy, resources and the consequence is a great amount of waste. 3. Urban experience: the smart city 10 Greenfield arguments about the description of a smart city made by key protagonists of this technology. Siemens Corporation is one of the principal developers of IoT, they are envisioning how a smart city could be. "Several decades from now cities will have countless autonomous, intelligently functioning IT systems that will

Definition of a Smart City

A smart city is a city that utilizes technology to have perfect knowledge of users' habits and energy consumption, and provide optimum service. The goal of such a city is to optimally regulate and control resources by means of autonomous IT systems.

In the Siemens definition of a smart city (2008), there is the "implicit theory" of IoT:

1. Thanks to technology, we can have perfect knowledge of humans and society. Currently, we are collecting a lot of data which is not really useful for the understanding of humans and society. These data are simple, easy, and cheap to measure, such as position, movement, and biometrics, but not states of mind, emotions, or other data more related to humans. In the future, we should use technology to measure this kind of data.
2. Human problems and needs have a single optimal solution, and this solution can be provided by technical systems. However, there is not a singular optimal solution for human problems and needs, so democracy has been developed to find the balance. Politics is in charge of finding solutions.

to create a sustainable and efficient urban environment. The smart city concept aims to leverage technology and data to improve the quality of life for its residents, enhance resource management, and promote economic development. In order to achieve these goals, public policy plays a crucial role in implementing the necessary infrastructure and regulations. This includes the deployment of sensors and connectivity to collect and analyze data, the integration of various systems and services, and the establishment of governance frameworks to ensure privacy and security. By harnessing the power of technology, smart cities can optimize energy consumption, reduce traffic congestion, enhance public safety, and provide better access to essential services such as healthcare and education. Additionally, smart cities can foster innovation and entrepreneurship by creating an ecosystem that supports the development and adoption of new technologies. However, it is important for public policy to strike a balance between technological advancements and the needs and values of its citizens. This includes addressing concerns related to data privacy, cybersecurity, and social equity. Public engagement and participation are crucial in shaping the direction and priorities of smart city initiatives. In conclusion, public policy plays a critical role in shaping the development and implementation of smart city initiatives. By leveraging technology and data, smart cities have the potential to create sustainable and efficient urban environments that improve the quality of life for their residents. However, it is important to ensure that these initiatives are inclusive, transparent, and aligned with the values and needs of the community.