The Ethics of Innovation

Author Christopher Fabian co-founded and co-leads UNICEF’s Innovation Unit. This interdisciplinary, global team works to identify, adapt, and scale solutions to the most pressing issues affecting women and  children. We’re proud to have UNICEF as a Global Washington member.

By Chris Fabian & Robert Fabricant

Technology is all about making new stuff, agility and adaptability, and knowing what’s next. It’s fast. It’s cool. It wears a hoodie.

International development deals in systems and measurements to help shift government policies. It’s slow. It’s big. It wears cufflinks.

Each field has its own language and ethics. How do you work with beneficiaries (or users)? How do you conduct monitoring and evaluation (or A/B tests)? What does it mean to implement (or deploy)? These lexicons don’t always connect—and when they don’t, we see wasted effort and the potential to lose real global change.

Read more: http://www.ssireview.org/blog/entry/the_ethics_of_innovation