Summary: *Computational infrastructures* and *POTs (Protective Optimization Technologies)*
Seda Gürses is currently [delete 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.
Seda Gürses is currently [delete currently] an Associate Professor in the Department of Multi-Actor Systems at TU Delft at the Faculty of Technology Policy and Management, a member of The Institute for Technology in the Public Interest 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.
Gürses' work provides us with handles to study computational infrastructures. The paper on *POTs (Protective Optimization Technologies)*[^pots] she co-wrote, for example, proposes forms of critical *optimization* practices. Such practices "aim at addressing risks and harms that cannot be captured from the fairness perspective and cannot be addressed without a cooperative service provider"[add page number]. The paper questions current "fairness" approaches, by questioning their limitations and creating space for community-inclusive ways to review them. Following Michael A. Jackson’s theory of requirements engineering, the paper [repetitive language use, perhaps "it"] also proposes to approach computational infrastructures as being far more than a technological system alone, thus shifting focus from the system itself to the economical, political and social context in which it operates.
@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ We will introduce the work of Seda [delete first name to be consistent with else
* 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?
* What kind of limitations do you see in the realisation of these interventions?
<!-- 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. -->
