Abstract
This paper provides an overview of emerging information and communication technologies (ICTs) that can be expected to become socially relevant in the next 10 to 15 years. It describes the results of a dual discourse analysis of publiccations on emerging ICTs. Sources were, on the one hand, government/policy publications and, on the other, publications by research institutions. This discourse analysis led to the identification of 11 emerging ICTs. For each of these ICTs, defining features were collected. In order to gain a larger scale understanding, the defining features were then regrouped to assess which likely effect they might have on the relationship between humans and their environment. These features are then interpreted and investigated with regard to what they betray about the implied assumptions about individuals, society and technology. The paper ends by critically reflecting the chosen approach and asking how this research can help us develop technology in desirable ways.
Chapter PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bijker, W.E.: Of Bicycles, Bakelites, and Bulbs: Toward a Theory of Sociotechnical Change. MIT Press, Cambridge (1997)
Cadili, S., Whitley, E.A.: On the Interpretative Flexibility of Hosted ERP Systems. J. of Strategic Information Systems 14(2), 165–195 (2005)
Cuhls, K.: From Forecasting to Foresight Processes: New Participative Foresight Activities in Germany. J. of Forecasting 22(2/3), 93–111 (2003)
Dusek, V.: Philosophy of Technology: An Introduction. Wiley, New York (2006)
Floridi, L.: A Look into the Future Impact of ICT on Our Lives. The Information Society 23(1), 59–64 (2007)
Georghiou, L., Harper, J.C., Keenan, M., Miles, I., Popper, R.: The Handbook of Technology Foresight: Concepts and Practice. Edward Elgar Publishing Ltd, Cheltenham (2008)
Grint, K., Woolgar, S.: The Machine at Work: Technology, Work and Organization. Polity Press, Cambridge (1997)
Howcroft, D., Mitev, N., Wilson, M.: What We May Learn from the Social Shaping of Technology Approach. In: Mingers, J., Willcocks, L.P. (eds.) Social Theory and Philosophy for Information Systems, pp. 329–371. Wiley, Chichester (2004)
Huxley, A.: Brave New World. HarperCollins Publishers, New York (1998)
Latour, B.: Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor Network Theory. Oxford University Press, Oxford (2007)
Law, J., Hassard, J.: Actor Network Theory and After. Wiley, Chichester (1999)
Olsen, J.B., Pedersen, S.A., Hendricks, V.F.: A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology. Wiley, Chichester (2009)
Stahl, B.C., Heersmink, R., Goujon, P., Flick, C., van den Hoven, J., Wakunuma, K., Ikonen, V., Rader, M.: Identifying the Ethics of Emerging Information and Communication Technologies: An Essay on Issues, Concepts and Method. International J. of Technoethics 1(4), 20–38 (2010)
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2011 IFIP International Federation for Information Processing
About this paper
Cite this paper
Stahl, B.C. (2011). What Does the Future Hold? A Critical View of Emerging Information and Communication Technologies and Their Social Consequences. In: Chiasson, M., Henfridsson, O., Karsten, H., DeGross, J.I. (eds) Researching the Future in Information Systems. IFIP Advances in Information and Communication Technology, vol 356. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21364-9_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-21364-9_5
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-21363-2
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-21364-9
eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)