Workshop: Confronting and Mitigating the Negative Broader Impacts of Computing

Northwestern University, Evanston IL

Investigators

Abstract

This workshop seeks to produce transformative improvements in the computing research community's ability to understand, predict, and communicate the impacts of its contributions, both positive and negative. It also aims to identify the most effective means of incentivizing research that minimizes negative impact. In the context of current public debates about the human consequences of new information technologies, major computer science professional organizations have begun discussing how to find ways to bend the arc of computing innovation towards fewer negative impacts and more positive impacts. This workshop aims to be a broader impacts catalyst, rendering the broader impacts of many funded computing projects substantially more positive for the United States and the world than they would have been otherwise. This workshop has three co-equal objectives: (1) Determine the most effective approaches for using the research evaluation process to confront and mitigate the negative impacts of computing research, (2) determine additional approaches that can be effective in confronting and mitigating these negative impacts, and (3) improve our capacity to understand and predict computing research impact through visioning activities and the development of a research agenda. Workshop results, including articles, technical resources, and other artifacts, will be shared with the wider community, providing a formal framework for research development, but also informally helping members of the computing community articulate better broader impacts statements by providing education about how to think about the impacts of one's research. Workshop participants will be comprised of both computing researchers and experts on the societal impacts of new technologies. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.