Title: Introduction: Harms in Computational Infrastructures
Slug: 01-s2-introduction
Date: 2020-11-01 12:00
Summary: How to correct, shift or expose harms in computational infrastructures?
<!-- > Our concern is that the computational infrastructures are far more than a technological ecosystem alone. Like all infrastructure, they incentivize us to embed their values, and therewith much of their politics in the lower layers of the technology stack. Comparable to the cables and control equipment in electrical networks that determine what can and cannot be connected to it, computational infrastructures embed constraints on what can and cannot be built on top of it, as well as what is accessible to those needing to audit or validate its functionality.[^progammableinfrastructures] -->
What are computational infrastructures?
Who designs them? What values do they embed into digital systems?
The work of Seda Gürses provides us with handles to XXX [unpack, look closer into, study, explore] computational infrastructures. Throughout her work she has questioned the notion of "fair" technologies, how such "fair" practices are XXX [formulated, reasoned upon, shaped] and who is involved in reviewing the "fair" impact of digital systems. An important factor in her work is to approach computational infrastructures as systems that are far more than a technological ecosystems alone.
Seda is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Multi-Actor Systems at TU Delft at the Faculty of Technology Policy and Management, and an affiliate at the COSIC Group at the Department of Electrical Engineering (ESAT), KU Leuven. Beyond her academic work, she also collaborated with artistic initiatives including Constant vzw, Bootlab, De-center, ESC in Brussels, Graz and Berlin.
<!-- They effect different externalities, operate on the basis of specific embedded values and define restrictions of what can be built on top of the infrastructure and what not. -->
<!-- Through the work of Seda we can understand computational infrastructures as complex entities. -->
Three works that particulary connect to *digital infrapunctures* are her work on *POTs (Protective Optimization Technologies)*[^pots], *Programmable Infrastructures*[^progammableinfrastructures] and *The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest*[^titipi]. Links to these works are included at the bottom of this page.
<!-- How can we recognize harm in these digital systems? -->
<!-- And how to possibly correct, shift or expose these harms? -->
This section contains five video contributions in which she will unpack how computational infrastructures operate and what impact that has on the digital systems that are being built on top of them.
We invited her to respond to the following questions:
* What are computational infrastructures?
* What are elements that shape (or are shaped by) computational infrastructures?
* How can we understand the harm caused by computational infrastructures and the systems which deploy them?
* What interventions are possible to mitigate or eliminate this harm?
* What kind of limitations do you see in the realisation of these interventions?
<!-- Her work focuses on privacy enhancing and protective optimization technologies (PETs and POTs), privacy engineering, as well as questions around software infrastructures, social justice and political economy as they intersect with computer science. -->
<!-- We propose Protective Optimization Technologies (POTs). POTs, provide means for affected parties to address the negative impacts of systems in the environment, expanding avenues for political con- testation. POTs intervene from outside the system, do not require service providers to cooperate, and can serve to correct, shift, or expose harms that systems impose on populations and their environments. We illustrate the potential and limitations of POTs in two case studies: countering road congestion caused by traffic-beating applications, and recalibrating credit scoring for loan applicants. -->
[^progammableinfrastructures]: Seda Gürses, Roel Dobbe, Martha Poon "Seminar on Programmable Infrastructures" (2020). <https://www.tudelft.nl/tbm/programmable-infrastructures/>
[^titipi]: Miriyam Aouragh, Seda Gürses, Femke Snelting, Helen Pritchard "The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest" (accessed on 2020) <http://titipi.org/>
