IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2016 - 26

President of Ireland, Michael D.
Higgins focused on technology
and innovation within
requirements of social justice
and human rights

President Higgins' erudite and in-
spirational address discussed the
"profound and far reaching global
implications" of technology and its
central and positive role in society. He
positioned 2015 as a critical moment
in world history with major internation-
al summits on development (launch
of the Sustainable Development
Goals), and climate (COP21), setting
"the agenda for the next century in
meeting humankind's greatest chal-
lenges." In his concluding remarks,
President Higgins acknowledged that
the "work of organizations such as the
IEEE Society on Social Implications of
Technology is vital to the crafting of
the ethical global society."
The diversity of social, cultural,
and ethical implications of technology
addressed by the IEEE SSIT commu-
nity is illustrated by the overlapping
topics (global development, biomet-
rics and security, autonomous systems,
ethics, and privacy) addressed by the
eight revised and blind peer reviewed
papers featured in this IEEE ISTAS
2015 Special Issue.
Three of these articles specifi-
cally focus on societal and ethi-
cal implications of technology in a
developing country context, while
the remainder also address either
very specific or broad societal and
ethical implications of wider tech-
nology adoption and take-up. This
increasing focus within the IEEE SSIT
community on social implications of
technology in a global development

26

context is very welcome.
There are often additional
complexities in terms of cul-
tural, ethical, and societal
implications of technology
adoption in such environ-
ments that must be care-
fully considered to avoid or
minimize unintended con-
sequences. The IEEE SSIT
SIGHT was established in
2015 to implement cross-
border global development
interventions addressing a number
of Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs), including healthcare and
education, in IST-Africa Partner
Countries (www.IST-Africa.org). It
aims to provide a model for the co-
design, replication, and adaptation
of multi-stakeholder interventions,
and sharing of good practices in
developing country contexts.
Two featured papers in this issue
focus on different aspects and
applications of biometrics, while
three discuss social and ethical im-
plications associated with autono-
mous systems. One of these papers
addresses autonomous weapons
systems while another discusses
self-driving cars. The wider adop-
tion of intelligent body-implantable
networked devices could be consid-
ered a future form of autonomous
system with significant risks - the
least of which is privacy. The final
article takes a somewhat dystopian
perspective when discussing inher-
ent conflicts of interests between
individuals and corporations related
to personal data and privacy.
M. Cunningham shares insight
into a recent study of influences on
the wider adoption and take-up of
technology-enhanced learning (TEL)
by universities in Nairobi, Kenya. It
is clear informants believe there
are significant institutional as well
as instructor benefits of leveraging
TEL techniques. The findings high-
light a number of actionable rec-
IEEE Technology and Society Magazine

ommendations to support a more
conducive environment for tech-
nology-based teaching and learn-
ing. These relate to infrastructure,
skills development, institutional
policy, strategic implementation
planning for content development,
review of assessment policies, and
change management. As education
is a silver bullet that is particularly
important for developing econo-
mies, this paper addresses a very
timely topic.
Deardan and Tucker discuss
challenges and opportunities as -
sociated with the participation of
international researchers in imple-
mentation, research and innovation
projects in developing countries.
While geographically distributed
activities can play a critical and
positive role, this article focuses
on discussing risks associated with
so called "bungee jump" based
research. The authors recommend
developing collaboration models
"emphasizing long term partner-
ship and continuous engagement"
and suggest NGOs and aid agencies
place greater emphasis on building
local capacity.
In the next article, van Greunen
discusses the use of biometrics by
the South Africa Social Security
Agency (SASSA) to reduce fraud and
increase convenience for beneficia-
ries. There are technical and ethical
challenges associated with using
biometrics to identify children. This
article discusses issues of univer-
sality, distinctiveness, permanence,
collectability, performance and ac-
ceptability related to ten potential
biometric identifiers, and explains
why facial recognition as a biometric
technique is recommended for use
with children.
Corcoran and Costache discuss
the potential role of consumer elec-
tronics in biometric based solutions
to cyber-security problems. They dis-
cuss the dystopian and surveillance
∕

september 2016
http://www.IST-Africa.org
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - September 2016
