AN ECOSYSTEM FOR TECHNICAL INNOVATIONS WITH AN IMPACT ON SAFETY

Technology has brought our society much prosperity and safety. How can we ensure that this trend continues and that the negative impacts of new technological developments are kept to a minimum? In this essay I argue for the creation of an ecosystem of scientists, designers, ethicists, economists and entrepreneurs who jointly come up with new innovations that increase safety.

The number of accidents in our society has been steadily decreasing over the years. Think of the number of fatal traffic accidents, safety against natural hazards, accidents on construction sites, etc. Technology makes an important contribution to this. Materials are becoming stronger, control systems are becoming more robust, and sensors are becoming increasingly powerful to detect potential danger. Technology also ensures that the human factor is facilitated as much as possible in making difficult decisions and reducing human error. Finally, management systems ensure that there is sufficient training, inspection, standardization and maintenance. The traditional engineer is a highly educated technician who studies these three factors in conjunction (technology, people and organisation) and designs innovations in such a way that society becomes a little safer.

Unfortunately, technology has sometimes taken a wrong turn in the past and jeopardised safety in society. Think of the development of chemical and nuclear technology, initially for societal purposes, but where the use for military applications was also immediately visible; the so-called dual-use technologies.

Current technologies such as robotics, remote sensing and artificial intelligence are wonderful technologies that can significantly increase safety. Occupations that risk your own life can be replaced by automated systems. From space, satellites, or closer to home, drones, can make observations to detect dangerous situations in time. However, a dual-use story can also be told here. Technology can also be used against us. Automated weapons that make their own decisions, or drones with dangerous substances that are used by terrorists on soft targets.

How can we avert these dangers as much as possible? The ideal image: developing new technologies in a diverse ecosystem, starting with young engineers in training, who learn to incorporate non-functional ethical values ​​in the design of the new technology, in addition to the functional values. If this is ‘baked in’ in the design, the technology can later be used less easily for negative purposes. This applies not only to the hardware - but also to the software technology and the storage of data, where ‘safety-by-design’, ‘security-by-design’, and ‘privacy-by-design’ are important design methodologies.

The role of economists and entrepreneurs is essential in the ecosystem. Safety is seen by some as a value that can be cut. Economic cost-benefit analyses are useful in themselves to weigh the costs of safety measures against the risk reduction that these measures bring about. Sometimes a measure is so expensive and the safety gain so marginal that it can be a rational choice not to pursue the small increase in safety when choosing this measure. This should not be a reason to immediately accept the current level of risk. This is a challenge for engineers to develop smart innovations in such a way that safety can still be increased while limiting costs. Economists can come up with economic incentives that will allow safety innovations and entrepreneurship to thrive as best as possible. Or new tax structures that will tax externalities that cause unsafety for others (so-called Pigovian taxes).

The desired ecosystem should ultimately lead to governments and companies whose mission is to see safety as an inviolable, non-negotiable value. Also referred to by some as a zero-tolerance policy regarding accidents. We are on the right track and the new technology that is emerging is ideally suited to developing safety innovations. Vigilance remains essential. By imposing strict safety requirements, especially in the design of these new innovations, negative impacts in the long term can be ruled out as much as possible.

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