Democratising Technology

Digital technology is starting to connect together new aspects of life, from automated monitoring in care homes to voting by text message. “Networks of things” that add tangible layers of information to our environments are being developed. In a democracy, the use of these technologies could be the responsibility of everyone to decide: they have huge implications for the shape of society – the amount of personal data that changes hands, for instance. But the social potential remains hard for people to envisage - even with the computer labs where developments are going on.

This project recognises the challenge mounted for people with little technical knowledge – but who will have to live with the design consequences - and seeks to equip them with the envisioning skills that underpin participation in design decisions about how technology will be used.

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