Isaac Oluoch, MSc

University of Twente
Section: Ethics of Technology
Faculty: Behavioural Management and Sciences

Having come from a humanities background in philosophy and comparative literature, I transitioned to analyzing the ethical and economic impact of Industry 4.0, Big Data and AI as a research assistant. I have come to appreciate and be concerned with what the future of society and humanity is going to be as we become more technological. Will we use the resources at our disposal to engineer a brighter world, and what guidelines need to be developed for this to happen? Answering this is the focus of my research. I am currently a PhD candidate in the FRAME-PRO project, founded up a growing awareness of the ethical challenges of geo-data (such as privacy, access to data and surveillance), and the need for a better understanding of the societal role emerging technologies can play in acquiring geo-data. Building on insights from Philosophy of Technology as well as Spatial Humanities and Critical Geography, the primary premise is that technologies are not neutral tools but shape the ways in which we perceive and act in the world. This project will assess the use of geo-data technologies (e.g geo-information systems, mapping and sensor technologies) with links to global policy goals of promoting public health (SDG-3), access to water (SDG-6), and building inclusive, safe, resilient, and sustainable cities (SDG-11). And the research output of the project, shall be to build a framework to evaluate geo-data technologies used in day-to-day management of cities, mapping of deprived urban areas and in hazard response situations. The framework shall be a tool to identify the relevant stakeholders in geo-data acquisition, processing and geovisualization to address the distribution of responsibility in the global use of these technologies.