Digital Policy Technology & Innovation
Report March 7, 2024

Policy on a spectrum: Guiding technology regulation through value tradeoffs

By Steven Tiell and Lara Pesce Ares

In a digital era where the constant flux of technology challenges our norms, “Policy on a Spectrum: Guiding Technology Regulation Through Value Tradeoffs” is a clarion call for discernment and action. Innovation and Data Ethics in the age of Generative AI is a delicate balance. Using values as a common foundation, the authors distill complex interactions between technology and society into a comprehensive framework. Concrete examples, such as tradeoffs between data protection and public security, illustrate the spectrum of policy decisions that routinely bombard our digital world.

The narrative draws on expert practitioner insights to dissect these trade-offs, providing leaders with a compass to navigate this terrain. For instance, different approaches to notice & consent in data collection are discussed, along with a spectrum of related concepts. The analysis extends to how emerging technologies, such as Generative AI are governed, debating the tradeoff between automation and human agency. The need for policies that foster ethical practices in research, innovation, and deployment is highlighted throughout.

“Policy on a Spectrum” is an invitation to proactive engagement, urging stakeholders and policymakers to shape a technology regulatory landscape that’s both equitable and accountable, measured and risk averse, and bipartisan and values based. It pushes beyond mere regulation, advocating for a future where technology amplifies our collective welfare, not undermines it. The authors aim to influence the current policy discourse while laying the groundwork for a future where tech governance is as dynamic as the technologies it seeks to manage. It’s a handbook for those ready to embrace the nuanced challenges of our times and an insightful resource for those who will architect the digital world of tomorrow and are unwilling to have an innovation tradeoff.

About the authors

Lara Pesce Ares is a Responsible Innovation consultant at Accenture focusing on the design, development and implementation of emerging technologies in a responsible way.

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The GeoTech Center champions positive paths forward that societies can pursue to ensure new technologies and data empower people, prosperity, and peace.

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