Traces & Technology
Working Group Leadership
Dr Nikita Chiu Senior Lecturer in Innovation Policy, University of Exeter, UK/ Ad Astra Distinguished Fellow in Robotic and Outer Space Governance, Space Engineering Research Center, US
Dr Ivan Šulc Assistant Professor, University of Zagreb, Croatia
Call for Submission – Special Section
Tracing the Future(s) – Tracing our legacies to shape a more inclusive future
This special collection of Policy Insights explores how tracking historic traces of the past constitutes a way to tracing a potentially regenerative and more inclusive future in regional developments and major scientific projects. It is designed to explore the interplay between technology legacy, commercialization, and visions for regenerative and inclusive futures. (Vargas et al., 2022; Sullivan and Sahasrabudhe, 2016)
Governments, industry, and academia have increasingly turn to the rapid collection of big data to inform policy developments, particularly for technology and innovation projects. (Giest, 2017; Janssen and Kuk, 2016) The commercialization of digital technologies has enabled policy-makers to quickly generate, assess, and/or analyze a wide variety of data, including personal data and preferences (Koponen, 2010), as well as real-time information (Tapio, 1996). The emergence of such a trend could risk neglecting contextualized knowledge (e.g. historic legacy and perception of technological uses, missing demographic data) while advancing technology-driven futures, leading to the possibility of (mis)interpreting data in a vacuum, and missing valuable lessons that could be learned from historic contexts. (Criado-Perez, 2019)
Anchored on debates and discussions explored at the Cornwall Symposium of Traces and Technologies, this special section will discuss the challenges and potentials of technologically-driven initiatives, including but not limited to regenerative development projects in regions tackling with the legacy and decline of specialised technological developments (e.g. mining, polar and space science). Through studying technological evolution, this special collection seeks to highlight and critically evaluate how diverse scientific practices in capturing, analysing, and interpreting historic traces and data informed conception of technology-driven futures. It seeks to investigate how the use of past traces shapes future-looking societal efforts, such as regional development plans and global scientific projects. The special section will capture significant insights into future uses of technologies (e.g.AI) in arts, as well as the policy dynamics and interplay between local, national, and international norms and policy. There is currently a literature gap in synthesizing knowledge from disciplines that are traditionally considered to be past-focused (e.g. heritage and museum studies) with those that are often seen as future-focused (e.g. science of emerging technologies). The special section hopes to develop a foundation on which dialogue and engagement between STEM and SHAPE subjects can be sustained to envision a more sustainable and inclusive future. In doing so, it aims to contribute to shaping a new interdisciplinary body of work in understanding futures through looking into the pasts.
For those interested in contributing, please contact Nikita Chiu at sze.w.chiu@durham.ac.uk
Working Group 4 inspired by the vision behind Zagreb’s original Museum of Broken Relationship.
THE SPIRIT of Working Group 4
Working group 4 consists of a eclectic mix of STEM, social and applied scientists, artists, as well as arts and humanities scholars interested in investigating the interplay between society, traces, innovation, and technologies. As a diverse group, it is Working Group 4’s principle and vision to always include a group visit to a museum unique to its host city. This creates a unique opportunity for group members to get out of their usual habitat, to exchange cross-disciplinary ideas while enjoying a shared museum experience.
Museums that the group visited in the past years include:
2021-2022
Bill Douglas Cinema Museum, Exeter, Devon, United Kingdom
The museum hosts one of UK’s largest collections related to moving images, including curated items related to the prehistory of cinema. Working Group 4 is pleased to announce that – Marcin Nowicki (WG4 member) – has been elected for a Visiting Fellowship at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum at the University of Exeter.
2022-2023
The State Homer Tactile Museum, Ancona, Italy
One of the world’s most unique tactile museums that traces with touches.
The Museum of Broken Relationship, Zagreb, Croatia
Created by two founders who were ex-partners, the museum was conceptualized when the co-founders decided to exhibit and curate items related to their broken relationship. The museum has since attract donated items tracing broken relationships from all over the world.
Cornwall Symposium on Traces and Technology 22-24 February 2024
The Cornwall Symposium is pleased to announce its Keynote Speaker – Prof Martin Siegert. For further information, please go to the Symposium’s dedicated page.
WG4 Announces The TECHnaissance Museum Collection – a Toolkit Framework to Raise Awareness of the Potential and Challenges that Science & Technologies Bring to Societies
Exeter, July 2023
WG4 gathered in Zagreb in Croatia on 30 June and 1 July and explored the policy and societal implications associated with the increasing commercialization of technologies. The group identified that technologies increasingly interface with societies rapidly. For example, the increasing uses of touch screen technologies had facilitated innovation and the creation of new waves of digitalization. However, the proliferation of touch screens also rendered it more difficult for people with a visual impairment to access services than before. The introduction of satellites give us cost-effective to essential data and information that are otherwise difficult to secure, such as monitoring of oil spill, over-tourism, and climate modeling (50% of climate essential data can only be observed from space). Nevertheless, the explosion of space activities pose increasing risk of space debris, satellite competitions, and frequency interference. To further advance a shared understanding of best practices in managing rapid technological developments, the group devised the TECHnaissance Museum Collection – a framework which would allow the archiving of past lessons learned regarding science and technologies (S&T). Each virtual museum is envisioned to provide updated annual recommendations to local, national, and international policy stakeholders base on the curation of its collection. Working Group 4 looks forward to engaging you in expanding its museums’ collections!
The Museum of Techno Utopia/Dystopia captures traces of technology-driven, optimistic utopian attempts in advancing societies that led to unintended dystopia, e.g. the commercialization of social media and increasing concerns of data sales and surveillance.
The Museum of Hacked Technologies traces the appropriated uses of technologies that may not be the technology’s original intended purposes, with a focus on social “hacks”. e.g. the uses of plastic bottles in furniture-making, urban mining, etc.
Working Group 4 Delivered Capacity Training on Technology Policy with European Space Agency’s Expert
Ancona, December 2022
Dr Nikita Chiu, Working Group Lead, joined hands with Piero Messina from the European Space Agency in developing and delivering training on Technology Policy for early to mid-career researchers. The training school, entitled “Technology Policy – Capacity Building for Advancing Interdisciplinary Enquiry”, was hosted at the Università Politecnica delle Marche in collaboration with Museo tattile statale omero (Homer Tactile Museum), located at the historic pentagon of Mole Vanvitelliana.
Interdiscplinary scholars explore the interplay between technological transformation and memories at Exeter
A team of interdisciplinary scholars, artists and specialists recently explored the interplay between rapid technological advances and practices of memories at a workshop convened at Exeter Business School. The workshop – “Technologies and Traces of Memories” — is part of a wider international project entitled TRACTS – Traces as Research Agenda for Climate Change, Technology Studies, and Social Justice, and is funded by COST – European Cooperation in Science and Technology.
The workshop brought together an eclectic team of visual artist, curator, geoinformatics specialists, education and global governance scholars for a day of intensive discussions and foresight exercises in which they critically assessed and reflected on the socio-economic impact brought by the increasing commercialization of future and emerging technologies, such as AI and satellite constellations.
Themes examined at the workshop include an artistic critique of misinformation brought by AI-enabled visual images, challenges associated with forgotten/untrackable technologies in orbits, immersive museum experience enabled by virtual reality (VR), as well as the tracing of tourism activities through geoinformatics.
It also highlighted how significant technological advances had increasingly blurred the boundaries of reality, perception, and memories, particularly in the area of Deepfake. The commercialization of emerging technologies (e.g. big data, AI, earth observation satellites) was also an area of focus because of its ability to enable the collection of a vast amount of historic data. While these information can help advance disease prevention, crime monitoring, and early warning of natural disasters, there is a need for the development of governance frameworks to ensure the responsible and sustainable growth of societies.
The exploratory workshop was concluded with a tour curated by Dr Phil Wickham at the Bill Douglas Cinema Museum. The Museum, based at the University of Exeter’s Streatham Campus, is home to a rich collection of memorabilia and technologies that marked significant moments in our collective memory of the moving image, including one of the original Cinématographe Lumières, and the camera which is believed to have captured the Battle of the Somme.
For further information, please go to the Meeting’s dedicated page.