BISS Takes Part in SIENNA Project

Dr. Darian Meacham

Associate Professor of Philosophy

Darian Meacham is a philosopher with particular interests and expertise in the societal impacts of emerging technologies. He is an Associate Professor of Philosophy at Maastricht University, Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences (FASoS).

Darian has worked as the Director for Responsible Research and innovation at BrisSynBio (a synthetic biology research centre at the University of Bristol, UK) since 2014, and has previously collaborated with the Bristol Robotics Laboratory to explore ethical issues concerning the use of social and industrial robotics.

At BISS, Darian will be working with data scientists, industry, citizens, and other stakeholders to understand the impact of data-driven technologies in the workplace and across society more broadly. The aim is to ensure the responsible implementation of these technologies across the board, making sure that the benefits and risks that they bring are distributed in a fair and equitable manner.

Dr. Robert Gianni

Researcher

Robert is a researcher at BISS. His aim is ensure that the different phases of technology development are ethically and democratically sound. In addition, he wants to enhance democratic practices within scientific research and innovation. Key research questions are ‘How can we implement a legitimate and efficient process of co-construction when designing new technologies?’ and ‘How can ethics and responsibility play a positive role enabling a meaningful interconnection between different spheres of society?’, but also ‘How can we radicalize democracy through its extension in domains that are not limited to the one of political democracy?’.

He works with stakeholders, end-users and other scientists to understand the different roles of technology on democratic practices and how they can be mutually beneficial.

Keywords:

• research
• ethics
• democracy
• co-construction