IEEE Technology and Society Magazine - Winter 2014 - 75

but alert integration of technical and
human dimensions in the already inextricable nodes of actants (deterministic,
mechanistic action) and agents (nondeterministic, creative, self-reflexive
action). For instance, in IoT this is
the difference between a completely
automated process using a pre-defined
set of technical policies and a process
guided and customized by human
choice considering a set of policies for
each particular use case. Therefore, IoT
governance should encompass a mixture of technological and human-based
approaches, integrating and complementing technological determinants
with human(ness) skills, awareness
raising, education, and learning, making space for social relationships.
We argue that the overall system
of interactions can sustain confidence
and trust only if the human-andartefact mix relate to each other in a
way that preserves the potential for
intentional human choices and decisions within the architectures, as well
as awareness and alertness towards
unintended changes and threats. If
delegation of powers can remain
an act of choice, trust, as previously
defined, becomes the outcome of a
continuous process where the conditions for confidence are constantly
redefined, renegotiated, renovated,
quantified when appropriate, so that
trust itself is recursively re-established in the IoT systems.
Merging technical solutions (e.g.,
by-default certifications and selfcertifications) with trust-generating
human behaviors (direct repeated
experiences, prolonged relationships and reliability, feed-back from
already trusted social groups or institutions, available information and
reputation, etc.) can lead to "more
robustly" trusted and effective digital relationships - together with
new learning experiences and skills
as well as the development of skills
to live in the physical-digital world.
Moreover, an integration of human
and technological dimensions in the
governance of IoT is not only more
legitimate (ethically and democratically), but it may also prove more

effective. In the face of scientific
uncertainties and unpredictable impacts from emerging technologies,
the idea of socially robust knowledge has been introduced in Science and Technology Studies (STS)
as a descriptive-normative concept
aimed at producing a more trusted
social context for science and scientists, especially where policy decisions are involved. According to [8],
"The reliability of scientific
knowledge needs to be complemented and strengthened
by becoming also socially robust. Hence, context-sensitivity must be heightened and its
awareness must be spread. The
necessary changes pertain to
the ways in which problems are
perceived, defined, and prioritized, which has implications
for the ways in which scientific
activities are organized."
Simply described, the development
of software encompasses necessarily
a front end, commonly described as
a user interface and the (often black)
"box" that it accesses. Opening up of
those "black boxes" is a long-standing
argument; even Open Source code
does not translate to an understanding
of what the box actually does, unless
examined by a software developer.
This is not any different in IoT; perhaps in IoT it is even more complex.
Black-boxing needs to be opened up
through structural spaces to allow
individual personal decisions to be
made. It should be also made clear to
users/citizens,in a usable and understandable manner, what threats and
risks are implied by these systems.
The normative (ethical and legal) insight conveyed by the flexible technological and human-based
approach proposed here consists
of showing that, rather than a mere
technological fix or an undefinable
human feeling, trust can be expressed
and practiced as a complex process.
It is sustained by reliably performing technologies, interpersonal and
social relations, new knowledge and

IEEE TECHNOLOGY AND SOCIETY MAGAZINE

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WINTER 2014

learning experiences, where history,
positive feedbacks, high quality technical standards, and human commitment keep merging in different ways.
In our proposed approach, human
agents are enabled and empowered
"by-design" [9] to make their own
choices and changes "in-design"
[10], namely to decide and modify -
even case-by-case - the conditions
for providing/not providing access to
third parties, for sharing/not sharing
powers and controls, for authorizing
or not authorizing certain actions, and
to specify the obligations that should
be fulfilled by the parties after access
to their data is granted. These choices
can also be made with respect to trust
assessment, considering the situations or conditions that affect the level
of trust assigned to an entity, and the
evolution of this trust level over time.
The framing of the user as a citizen has a specific meaning within this
framework. Indeed, from the point of
view of the market, it is quite conceivable that - as already happened for
a variety of environmentally-friendly
or cruelty-free products - products enhancing and supporting these
citizens' rights to their free ethical
choices can attract wider audiences.
However, and even more, as technologies are increasingly in charge
of normative functions, the creation,
within digital architectures, of spaces
for expressing human agency, for
freedom of choice, for conferring of
removing powers, and for performing controls is rapidly becoming the
main place for exercising several
rights. Complex technologies such
as IoT are becoming "civic spaces"
where citizens are living increasing
portions of their lives.
This means that IoT deserves
spaces for debate that include citizenry
and not only the promoters, developers, vendors of this vision. What is
needed is much more than education:
it is engagement. Persons using these
technologies should be entitled to have
a say in what values and by what social
norms they want to live in the future
and what legacy they wish to leave
for others who will come. This should
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