Showing posts with label policy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label policy. Show all posts

Thursday, November 28, 2024

Biden Interior Dept puts together handbook to apply 'indigenous knowledge' into agency practices; Fox News, November 19, 2024

Alec Schemmel , Fox News; Biden Interior Dept puts together handbook to apply 'indigenous knowledge' into agency practices

[Kip Currier: This Fox News article on Indigenous Knowledge (IK) -- also called Traditional Knowledge (TK) -- traffics in "scare/sneer quotes" and is framed from the get-go by its author as a cautionary example of the suggested excesses and dangers of inclusion. This other-ing strategy is a frequent Fox News tactic. In this instance, that tactic seeks to undermine the legitimacy of IK by inferring that the very idea that Native Peoples might be able to contribute to the practice of science is radically unconventional.

The overall aim of the piece has one goal: to marginalize and discredit the inclusion of Native American perspectives in U.S. Interior Department decisions that impact issues like mining, timbering, and drilling on public lands and/or near national parks and wildlife areas.

The Biden administration's Department of the Interior, through the groundbreaking leadership of Deb Haaland -- the first Native American head of the department in its 175-year history -- has, for the first time, instituted policy that includes the knowledge and expertise of Indigenous Peoples. The inclusion of Native persons at decision-making tables that impact their sovereign lands is anathema to the incoming pro-drilling Trump administration because of fears that those perspectives may impede their unchecked economic agenda. As the AP reported on November 22, 2024, in nominating a pro-fossil fuel governor Doug Burghum to replace Haaland as Interior's head:

Donald Trump assigned Doug Burgum a singular mission in nominating the governor of oil-rich North Dakota to lead an agency that oversees a half-billion acres of federal land and vast areas offshore: “Drill baby drill.”

https://apnews.com/article/interior-burgum-public-lands-oil-gas-trump-97f7bc583f0a0de0fb16ea6f89bfbaf1

To better understand IK and TK, let's look at a few definitions from reputable sources. The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), an agency of the United Nations headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, describes TK as:

knowledge, know-how, skills and practices that are developed, sustained and passed on from generation to generation within a community, often forming part of its cultural or spiritual identity.

While there is not yet an accepted definition of TK at the international level, it can be said that:

TK in a general sense embraces the content of knowledge itself as well as traditional cultural expressions, including distinctive signs and symbols associated with TK.
TK in the narrow sense refers to knowledge as such, in particular the knowledge resulting from intellectual activity in a traditional context, and includes know-how, practices, skills, and innovations.

Traditional knowledge can be found in a wide variety of contexts, including: agricultural, scientific, technical, ecological and medicinal knowledge as well as biodiversity-related knowledge.

https://www.wipo.int/tk/en/tk/

The U.S. National Park Service (NPS) provides this explanation of IK (accessed on 11/26/24):

Indigenous Knowledge is a body of observations, oral and written knowledge, innovations, practices, and beliefs developed by Tribes and Indigenous Peoples through interaction and experience with the environment.11 It is applied to phenomena across biological, physical, social, cultural, and spiritual systems.12 Indigenous Knowledge can be developed over millennia, continues to develop, and includes understanding based on evidence acquired through direct contact with the environment and long-term experiences, as well as extensive observations, lessons, and skills passed from generation to generation.

https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tek/description.htm

UNESCO, a UN agency based in Paris, France, defines TK as:

Knowledge, innovations and practices of indigenous and local communities around the world. Developed from experience gained over the centuries and adapted to the local culture and environment, traditional knowledge is transmitted orally from generation to generation. It tends to be collectively owned and takes the form of stories, songs, folklore, proverbs, cultural values, beliefs, rituals, community laws, local language and agricultural practices, including the development of plant species and animal breeds. Traditional knowledge is mainly of a practical nature, particularly in such fields as agriculture, fisheries, health, horticulture, forestry and environmental management in general.

Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (SCBD), Article 8(j): Traditional knowledge and the convention on biological diversity, 2007.

https://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/traditional-knowledge#

Now, having looked at those descriptions of IK/TK, notice what the reporter does in their second paragraph, copied here:

The notion of "indigenous knowledge" puts forward that Native groups possess an understanding about the natural world that others do not, due to their ethnic background.

Observe the quotes around the phrase "indigenous knowledge", as if to call that designation into question. Note, too, the intentional selection of the word "notion", i.e. a belief about something.

The construction "Native groups possess an understanding about the natural world that others do not" neglects to acknowledge that Native Peoples have demonstrated that they do have oral and written traditions going back for generations that can offer unique insights and useful observations about this world. As just one example, a March 2024 Guardian article reported on how observations made by First Nations peoples in British Columbia, Canada enabled the discovery of a "coral reef that scientists say ‘shouldn’t exist’:

For generations, members of the Kitasoo Xai’xais and Heiltsuk First Nations, two communities off the Central Coast region of British Columbia, had noticed large groups of rockfish congregating in a fjord system.

In 2021, researchers and the First Nations, in collaboration with the Canadian government, deployed a remote-controlled submersible to probe the depths of the Finlayson Channel, about 300 miles north-west of Vancouver.

On the last of nearly 20 dives, the team made a startling discovery – one that has only recently been made public.

“When we started to see the living corals, everyone was in doubt,” says Cherisse Du Preez, head of the deep-sea ecology program at Fisheries and Oceans Canada. “Then, when we saw the expansive fields of coral in front of us, everybody just let loose. There were a lot of pure human emotions.

The magnitude of this discovery in Canada is unprecedented:

The following year, the team mapped Lophelia Reef, or q̓áuc̓íwísuxv, as it has been named by the Kitasoo Xai’xais and Heiltsuk First Nations. It is the country’s only known living coral reef.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/15/canada-moves-to-protect-coral-reef-that-scientists-say-shouldnt-exist

 

However, the extraordinary find of Canada's "only known living coral reef" should not be seen as an isolated one-off; rather, it is another exemplar of ways that IK can work in complementary fashion with Western research to yield advancements in knowledge. As the 2024 coral reef discovery article explains:

The discovery marks the latest in a string of instances in which Indigenous knowledge has directed researchers to areas of scientific or historic importance. More than a decade ago, Inuk oral historian Louie Kamookak compared Inuit stories with explorers’ logbooks and journals to help locate Sir John Franklin’s lost ships, HMS Erebus and HMS Terror. In 2014, divers located the wreck of the Erebus in a spot Kamookak suggested they search, and using his directions found the Terror two years later.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/15/canada-moves-to-protect-coral-reef-that-scientists-say-shouldnt-exist

 

Furthermore, the Fox News reporter's phrase "due to their ethnic background", arguably, seeks to portray IK/TK as an example of "woke-ness". It's an effort by the reporter to trigger listeners/viewers to dismiss the value of knowledge that derives from Native Peoples. The writer's chosen language strives to depict Native Americans as exceptional from other peoples; this too is another well-used Fox News play: pitting groups against each other to foster divisiveness and distrust.

The bottom line of my critique of this reporter's take on IK/TK is that no one credibly is suggesting that IK/TK must or should supplant Western-based science. Rather, IK/TK is knowledge that can complement other types of science. Indeed, the abstract of this 11/22/24 peer-reviewed article "Rethinking natural hazards research and engagement to include co-creation with Indigenous communities" underscores the value of what the researchers refer to as "bi-lateral knowledge exchange":

Indigenous peoples are widely affected by natural hazards and their history and knowledge can directly inform on past events and mitigation strategies. Here we show how effective co-creation of resources and bi-lateral knowledge exchange between natural hazard researchers and local Indigenous communities provides an effective, equitable, and sustainable way to conduct research.

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44304-024-00034-7 


The phrase "bi-lateral knowledge exchange" sheds light on one more of Fox News' game tactics: rather than "and" Fox wants its viewers to see everything as an "either/or" end game. In other words, not Western science and Indigenous Knowledge. But rather either Western science or Indigenous Knowledge. Co-existence is possible, and exchanges of knowledge can even be advantageous.]


[Excerpt from Fox News article]

"Officials at the Department of the Interior are pushing to finalize a new "implementation handbook" to guide agency decision makers on how to "apply indigenous knowledge" in their day-to-day work. 

The notion of "indigenous knowledge" puts forward that Native groups possess an understanding about the natural world that others do not, due to their ethnic background.

The aim of the new chapter in the agency-wide manual is to "equitably promote the inclusion of indigenous knowledge," but this new supplemental handbook lays out methods for "applying" indigenous knowledge into departmental practices, such as scientific research, environmental compliance work, community resiliency and more...

The nearly 150-page handbook includes a litany of other "approaches" to applying indigenous knowledge into the agency's practices, including how to create "an ethical space to receive indigenous knowledge" and information about how to shield "sensitive" indigenous knowledge from public disclosure laws."

Friday, June 14, 2024

Ethical considerations for the age of non-governmental space exploration; Nature, June 11, 2024

Nature; Ethical considerations for the age of non-governmental space exploration

"Abstract

Mounting ambitions and capabilities for public and private, non-government sector crewed space exploration bring with them an increasingly diverse set of space travelers, raising new and nontrivial ethical, legal, and medical policy and practice concerns which are still relatively underexplored. In this piece, we lay out several pressing issues related to ethical considerations for selecting space travelers and conducting human subject research on them, especially in the context of non-governmental and commercial/private space operations."

Saturday, April 6, 2024

Where AI and property law intersect; Arizona State University (ASU) News, April 5, 2024

  Dolores Tropiano, Arizona State University (ASU) News; Where AI and property law intersect

"Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool that has the potential to be used to revolutionize education, creativity, everyday life and more.

But as society begins to harness this technology and its many uses — especially in the field of generative AI — there are growing ethical and copyright concerns for both the creative industry and legal sector.

Tyson Winarski is a professor of practice with the Intellectual Property Law program in Arizona State University’s Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law. He teaches an AI and intellectual property module within the course Artificial Intelligence: Law, Ethics and Policy, taught by ASU Law Professor Gary Marchant.

“The course is extremely important for attorneys and law students,” Winarski said. “Generative AI is presenting huge issues in the area of intellectual property rights and copyrights, and we do not have definitive answers as Congress and the courts have not spoken on the issue yet.”"

Wednesday, August 9, 2023

Film and music industries on edge: AI's growing influence stirs fear of job displacement, copyright issues; KATU2ABC, August 8, 2023

 KONNER MCINTIRE and JANAE BOWENS , KATU2ABC; Film and music industries on edge: AI's growing influence stirs fear of job displacement, copyright issues

"Currently, the Orrin G. Hatch-Bob Goodlatte Music Modernization Act provides some protection to musicians. It was made law in 2018 and helps to ensure musicians are fairly compensated by publishers.

The law directly addresses piracy which has cost artists billions of dollars.

Five years later, Congressional leaders, including Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.,who serves as the Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property, and the Internet, are concerned the law will not protect musicians against AI.

“For Congress, we’re now looking at old challenges with new dangers, including the ever-present threat of piracy as well as artificial intelligence, which pose still unknown questions for intellectual property protection efforts even as they open doors to a new world of technological capability that is, at present, limitless,” the congressman recently wrote in an op-ed.“If we don’t get AI right, it could very well render not only the Music Modernization Act obsolete – but also the policy choices we make next.”"

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

Learning the Art of Civil Discourse; Ole Miss University of Mississippi News, October 22, 2021

,  Ole Miss University of Mississippi News; Learning the Art of Civil Discourse

Students apply ethical theory for decision-making and policy


"The Department of Philosophy and Religion at the University of Mississippi is offering two events in the next few weeks exploring the ethical issues of timely topics.

Just Conversations is a fun event run by students from the Ethical Policy Debates class to explore ethical issues and think about potential solutions through low-key conversation on two hot-button issues. The event is an in-person reception from 5 to 6:30 p.m. Monday (Oct. 25) in the Bryant Hall Gallery. Register by 5 p.m. Friday (Oct. 22) at https://forms.gle/xCS1QNTpZvnvtxQv9.

The second event, The Great Debate of 2021, poses the question “Should patents be waived on COVID-19 vaccines to increase global vaccination rates?” The virtual event on Nov. 11 features presentation of a debate followed by a Q&A between the teams, expert panelists and the audience. All are welcome to attend virtually, especially members of the campus community.

“The Dialogue and Deliberation Initiative events, both Just Conversations and The Great Debate of 2021, bring people together to discuss ethical problems that involve multiple perspectives, competing interests and complex empirical issues in a civil format for productive outcomes,” said Deborah Mower, a UM associate professor of philosophy and the Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Hume Bryant Associate Professor of Ethics.

“We will be focusing on three topics from the slate of fall 2021 Regional Ethics Bowl cases.”

Ole Miss students are conducting research to prepare for discussions about rock climbing on federally protected indigenous cultural sites, the Disney company image and COVID-19 vaccine patents.

“There is no better educational model than the Ethics Bowl for teaching students how to apply ethical theory for decision-making and policy while at the same time fostering skills crucial for civil dialogue,” Mower said."

Thursday, April 18, 2019

Ethics Alone Can’t Fix Big Tech Ethics can provide blueprints for good tech, but it can’t implement them.; Slate, April 17, 2019

Daniel Susser, Slate;

Ethics Alone Can’t Fix Big Tech


Ethics can provide blueprints for good tech, but it can’t implement them.



"Ethics requires more than rote compliance. And it’s important to remember that industry can reduce any strategy to theater. Simply focusing on law and policy won’t solve these problems, since they are equally (if not more) susceptible to watering down. Many are rightly excited about new proposals for state and federal privacy legislation, and for laws constraining facial recognition technology, but we’re already seeing industry lobbying to strip them of their most meaningful provisions. More importantly, law and policy evolve too slowly to keep up with the latest challenges technology throws at us, as is evident from the fact that most existing federal privacy legislation is older than the internet.

The way forward is to see these strategies as complementary, each offering distinctive and necessary tools for steering new and emerging technologies toward shared ends. The task is fitting them together.

By its very nature ethics is idealistic. The purpose of ethical reflection is to understand how we ought to live—which principles should drive us and which rules should constrain us. However, it is more or less indifferent to the vagaries of market forces and political winds. To oversimplify: Ethics can provide blueprints for good tech, but it can’t implement them. In contrast, law and policy are creatures of the here and now. They aim to shape the future, but they are subject to the brute realities—social, political, economic, historical—from which they emerge. What they lack in idealism, though, is made up for in effectiveness. Unlike ethics, law and policy are backed by the coercive force of the state."

Wednesday, January 2, 2019

Experts Reveal Their Tech Ethics Wishes For The New Year; Forbes, December 30, 2018

Jessica Baron, Forbes; Experts Reveal Their Tech Ethics Wishes For The New Year

"We can only hope that 2019 will be the year when the ethics of emerging technologies becomes a central part of discussions on innovation and progress.

Below, I've asked some prolific tech ethicists about their hopes for the upcoming year and to share with readers what they would like to see people and policy bodies pay more attention to before the opportunity passes us by.

Their answers cover a wide range of topics from AI to the Arctic.

Here's what they had to say:"

Sunday, September 16, 2018

Publishers Call Out Target for 'Censoring' Book Descriptions; Publishers Weekly, September 13, 2018

Claire Kirch, Publishers Weekly; Publishers Call Out Target for 'Censoring' Book Descriptions

"According to Ohio State University Press director Tony Sanfilippo, Target’s move might be a well-meaning policy gone awry. “I understand that they might want to avoid controversy. But if they want to keep Nazis off their site, or Nazi-themed products out of their search results, there are ways of doing that that don’t censor. If you can’t say 'Nazi,' you can’t stop Nazis. And if you can’t search for books about the trans community and trans issues, your search engine and your corporate philosophy are morally flawed.""

Wednesday, April 11, 2018

It’s not just America: Zuckerberg has to answer for Facebook’s actions around the world; The Washington Post, April 10, 2018

Karen Attiah, The Washington Post; It’s not just America: Zuckerberg has to answer for Facebook’s actions around the world

"In many countries around the world, Facebook is the Internet. And with little ability to influence how the social media site operates, such nations are vulnerable to any policy action — or inaction — the company decides to take.

So while Zuckerberg struggles to answer for how his company is affecting Americans, let’s not forget that he has a lot more to answer for...

Time will tell if countries outside of the United States will ever be able to compel Zuckerberg to appear before their citizens and lawmakers to answer for Facebook’s actions. He may never appear in say, Germany, India, or Nigeria on his whirlwind apology tour. Nevertheless, he should not be absolved from the global consequences of the digital empire that he has built."

Tuesday, March 6, 2018

The dangers of digital things: Self-driving cars steer proposed laws on robotics and automation, ABA Journal, March 2018

Victor Li, ABA Journal; The dangers of digital things: Self-driving cars steer proposed laws on robotics and automation

"Some states are standing in a legal gray area. Pennsylvania, for example, is a training ground for Uber’s collaboration with Carnegie Mellon to deploy autonomous vehicles throughout Pittsburgh. At press time, Pennsylvania did not have a statute that speaks to the legality of driverless cars.

However, Roger Cohen, policy director at the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, says the state has long operated under the assumption that autonomous cars are allowed on public roadways—as long as a human driver is at the steering wheel ready to take over. PennDOT has taken the lead in promulgating policies relating to autonomous vehicles with the goal of their formal adoption into law.

“That policy was deemed to be a more effective tool for the public oversight of testing operations because of its ability to be flexible and nimble and rapid in responding to what are fast-moving, unpredictable, hard-to-anticipate new developments,” Cohen says.

As with Michigan, Cohen says time is of the essence, adding that although Pennsylvania’s regulatory structure has an important purpose, it generally takes one to two years to process feedback and review the rules. “That was deemed to be ineffective for emerging technology,” Cohen says.

Instead, PennDOT has been freed up to develop policies while collaborating with a wealth of stakeholders—including academics, sister agencies, lawyers, technology companies and members of the automotive industry. Cohen says bills are pending in both state legislative houses, and he is optimistic that they’ll be passed.

“When it comes to car accidents, we must drive down the death rate toward zero, which is our goal,” Cohen says. “We have a technology that gives us our best chance to do that. I think there are real issues concerning data ownership, data privacy and cybersecurity. But there’s every reason to be optimistic.”"