Meeting 3 Notes

Co-ordinator = Pete Barnsley

PARTICIPANTS

• We could continue our exploration in this topic by finding specific examples of CVC. These examples may include the identification of signs in public places and new technologies available. Then we can generate a model to understand role of values in the light of practical study.
• We can look for some examples where ICT has been used in particular situations and model these to understand the role of values in the light of a practical study. In particular to see which forms of modern technology gives additional support and stability to that situation. In other words, we need to get a better understanding of how values manifest themselves through ICTs.
• We have also to re-examine the issues of privacy and respect as instances of core or essential values (remember the example of the issue of mobile phones).
• We could even use our universities as a place to test these values. For example observing the use of technology in the process of learning, what sort of values is reinforced? 
• We want to observe a number of different situations by approaching them by using the same basic structure, and then this structure can help us in the discussion and debate. We can also approach other structures and models to inform our study.
• We will apply the model we have being developing during these meetings to different situations. Looking at issues of conflicting values could be useful. A methodological question, however, is how should we make observations of choices and translate them into values? Do we look for mechanisms? Do we run workshops? We can test people's responses to different situations and also look for subtle as well as textual symbols of collective values.
• It seems important to see the relationship between the design of ICT products (i.e., the particular values underlying this design) and the values that they enable. This fact points to the need of having a sort of an ethical concern during the design process of ICT.
• We also need to explore the connection of this design with regulation because most of the design process is done with market and economical considerations and some of them will have unintended consequences seen as non desirable to some stakeholders. Regulation appears as a natural way to resolve these conflicts.
• Somehow the idea of developing a methodology is encompass what we have been discussing. This methodology may help designers of ICT to understand the sort of ethical issues that its use could generate and therefore anticipate them and, if perceived as undesirables, then redesign them. In order to develop this methodology we can start a process of learning through real case studies. We could have a sort of "Soft System Methodology".
• Text messaging could be a good case study.

CRITICS

• I have two points:
  1. How are you going to observe the change in values in your case studies? How can you do it in the example of the train you have been discussing? 
  2. You have been talking mainly about how ICT influence human behaviour but it seems important to look at the other way around as well. In other words, if you are going to take co-evolution into account you have to consider how does human action (using ICT) have some impact on the design of ICT?
• Regarding your model, I think that you need to develop it a bit more and expand its conceptual framework before testing it through observations. Regarding these observations you may find useful to stick to methodologies particularly relevant for this kind of work like interactive planning or SSM.
• I have two comments:
  1. It could be a gap between preferred revealed values and real inside values. Freedom of action is an issue here; people do not always act out how they feel.
  2. Do you think trust could be an important issue for you? Could it be related to fundamental values? It is clear hoe trust can be affected by the communication through Internet.

PARTICIPANTS

• There are some emerging values in current affairs. Some have proposed that a current emerging new value is the speed of response, this is still open for debate but there is agreement in that privacy is an emergent value that is very important nowadays for the increasing use (abuse?) of ICT.
• If there can be a mismatch between espoused values and real values again it is important to have a way to observe those real values in people's behaviour of choice. We are assuming that those real values are always revealed by their behaviour. Here behaviour should be understood in context.
• Our aim is just to provide some useful insight to the relation among ICTs, values and desirability. Perhaps we need to take into account some psychological theories as well.