Learning to understand tech and inequality

Digital social media are controlled by algorithms, artificial intelligence in job placement, internet filters under the pretext of protecting minors: Digital technologies influence our lives whether we realize it or not. When designing and regulating technologies, technology impact assessments are used to determine whether individual rights are being curtailed, but not whether new technologies are having an impact on the fairness of opportunities or social inequalities. The concept of technology assessment needs to be thought of and applied more broadly than it has been in the past: instead of limiting itself to climate impacts, workers' rights or the health effects of new technologies, a holistic approach is urgently needed to capture the effects of these technologies on the major issue of inequality. Only then can we push for digital technologies to be future-proof and crisis-resistant.

The project examines how an intersectional technology assessment can be designed, which formats and methods it can use and how it can influence socio-political debates. The idea of an intersectional technology assessment is aimed at civil society actors who want to position themselves in terms of digital policy. Superrr Lab is also addressing political decision-makers who want to apply this approach in their work and exchange ideas with civil society organizations. Public administration is also working closely on tech through the implementation of central digital services, a very critical process which should be done well. We want to enable both groups to evaluate digital policy decisions in terms of their opportunities and risks for society as a whole and to reveal how viable policy and regulatory drafts written today are with regard to the future.

In the context of "promoting ideas", Superrr Lab primarily tests the hypotheses: Are problems affecting society as a whole really being recognized too late, and if so, which ones? Where do we need a change in practice to anchor technology assessment in society as a whole? Which bodies are most receptive to this, and which bodies do we urgently need to convince because this is where the greatest impact is achieved? Superrr Lab is testing these hypotheses on selected digital policy projects at German and EU level. The organization is developing formats for how such a society-wide technology assessment can succeed and documenting them for others. To ensure that we live up to their intersectional claim, Superrr Lab never conducts its work alone, but rather cooperates with experts from different fields; bring essential perspectives to the digital debate.