Call for Papers on Responsible Standardisation - Where Standardisation and Responsible Innovation meet

In collaboration with the journal Ethics and Information Technology

Largely inspired by the work done for the NEN Co-Change lab, TUDelft is leading a topical collection, together with SciencesPo, for the journal Ethics and Information Technology on the emerging research topic of Responsible Standardisation.

Standardisation addresses situations where stakeholders prefer a shared solution for a common problem. These common solutions – henceforth standards – include, amongst others, regulations, guidelines, and dominant designs. Standards greatly impact society and promote certain values in information technologies and society at large. That is why it is crucial that standards are well-aligned with stakeholder values.

A perspective of Responsible Innovation raises ethical questions of the process of the development of those standards and their societal impacts. The multitude of ethical theories indicate that there is no single best way in which Responsible Standardisation can be considered. Therefore, this topical collection of Ethics and Information Technology invites pluralistic insights into the relationship between Responsible Innovation and standardisation.

We invite literature reviews, empirical and conceptual contributions (max. 8000 words excl. references), and perspectives papers (max. 5000 words excl. references) from different fields, including ethics, STS, management, and innovation sciences. Submissions may focus on a wide range of standard types, including but not limited to guidelines, regulations, voluntary standards, and dominant designs. This topical collection focuses on information technologies (e.g., AI, quantum technologies), but is open to domain-agnostic contributions that advance Responsible Standardisation more broadly. Exemplary topics include:

• Standardisation and Responsible innovation
• Principles like transparency, accountability, and justice vis-à-vis standardisation
• Technology assessment, impact assessment, and anticipatory ethics of standards
• The ethical assessment of standards
• The social acceptability of standards
• Values, value conflicts, and value-sensitive design of standards
• Inclusion, diversity, and equity in standardisation

Deadline: 31^st of October 2024