How to Make Sure Digital Technology Works for the Public Good

The Internet of Things (IoT) is completely enmeshed in our daily lives, a network of connected laptops, phones, cars, fitness trackers—even smart toasters and refrigerators—that are increasingly able to make decisions on their own. But how to ensure that these devices benefit us, rather than exploit us or put us at risk? New work, led by Francine Berman at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, proposes a novel framework, the “impact universe,” that can help policymakers keep the public interest in focus amidst the rush to adopt ever-new digital technology. “How,” asks Berman, Stuart Rice Honorary Chair and Research Professor in UMass Amherst’s Manning College of Information and Computer Sciences (CICS), “can we ensure that technology works for us, rather than the other way around?” Berman, lead author of a new paper recently published in the journal Patterns, and her co-authors sketch out what they call the “impact universe”—a way for policymakers and others to think “holistically about the potential impacts of societal controls for systems and devices in the IoT”.