Innovation Talk with Roba Abbas
The Relationship Between Public Interest Technology (PIT) and Socio-Technical Ecosystems: An Emergent Framework and its Operationalization Presented by Roba Abbas Designing and developing technology in the public interest requires recognition of socio-technical systems components and interactions and stakeholder engagement in the attainment of co-design. This talk provides an overview of research projects that coalesce the public interest technology (PIT) philosophy and socio-technical approach. A framework for designing complex ecosystems is presented, and elements of this framework and its operationalization are discussed. Areas for future research will also be proposed. Roba Abbas is a senior lecturer (Operations and Systems) and academic program director with the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and a visiting professor with the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, USA. She is also a co-editor of IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society and former associate editor of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. Roba has a PhD in location-based services regulation and industry experience in web design and development. She primarily researches methodological approaches to complex socio-technical systems design, emphasizing transdisciplinarity, co-design and the intersection of society, technology, ethics, and regulation. Roba has received grants for research addressing global challenges in areas such as robotics, social media, and other emerging technologies using approaches in socio-technical systems and operations management. She has published in the Proceedings of the IEEE, Information Technology and People, the Computer Law and Security Review and the International Journal of Information Management, and more recently led a special issue trilogy on socio-technical design and public interest technology. Roba has appeared on international panels, delivered talks and co-organized events for Yale University, The Alan Turing Institute, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Association of Geographers (AAG), among others. She is committed to the extension and operationalization of socio-technical systems theory, advocating for human-centered, consultative approaches to systems design in the public interest.
The Relationship Between Public Interest Technology (PIT) and Socio-Technical Ecosystems: An Emergent Framework and its Operationalization Presented by Roba Abbas Designing and developing technology in the public interest requires recognition of socio-technical systems components and interactions and stakeholder engagement in the attainment of co-design. This talk provides an overview of research projects that coalesce the public interest technology (PIT) philosophy and socio-technical approach. A framework for designing complex ecosystems is presented, and elements of this framework and its operationalization are discussed. Areas for future research will also be proposed. Roba Abbas is a senior lecturer (Operations and Systems) and academic program director with the Faculty of Business and Law at the University of Wollongong, Australia, and a visiting professor with the School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University, USA. She is also a co-editor of IEEE Transactions on Technology and Society and former associate editor of IEEE Technology and Society Magazine. Roba has a PhD in location-based services regulation and industry experience in web design and development. She primarily researches methodological approaches to complex socio-technical systems design, emphasizing transdisciplinarity, co-design and the intersection of society, technology, ethics, and regulation. Roba has received grants for research addressing global challenges in areas such as robotics, social media, and other emerging technologies using approaches in socio-technical systems and operations management. She has published in the Proceedings of the IEEE, Information Technology and People, the Computer Law and Security Review and the International Journal of Information Management, and more recently led a special issue trilogy on socio-technical design and public interest technology. Roba has appeared on international panels, delivered talks and co-organized events for Yale University, The Alan Turing Institute, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the American Association of Geographers (AAG), among others. She is committed to the extension and operationalization of socio-technical systems theory, advocating for human-centered, consultative approaches to systems design in the public interest.