NSF, Partners Announce Funding To Prioritize Ethical And Social Considerations In Emerging Technologies
Government
The Responsible Design, Development and Deployment of Technologies (ReDDDoT) program aims to help create technologies that promote the public's wellbeing and mitigate potential harms.
The ReDDDoT program invites proposals from multidisciplinary, multi-sector teams that examine and demonstrate the principles, methodologies and impacts associated with responsible design, development and deployment of technologies, especially those specified in the "CHIPS and Science Act of 2022."
In addition to NSF, the program is funded and supported by the Ford Foundation, the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, Pivotal Ventures, Siegel Family Endowment and the Eric and Wendy Schmidt Fund for Strategic Innovation.
The broad goals of ReDDDoT include:
- Stimulating activity and filling gaps in research, innovation and capacity building in the responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies.
- Creating broad and inclusive communities of interest that bring together key stakeholders to better inform practices for the design, development, and deployment of technologies.
- Educating and training the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce on approaches to responsible design, development, and deployment of technologies.
- Accelerating pathways to societal and economic benefits while developing strategies to avoid or mitigate societal and economic harms.
- Empowering communities, including economically disadvantaged and marginalized populations, to participate in all stages of technology development, including the earliest stages of ideation and design.
Phase 1 of the program solicits proposals for Workshops, Planning Grants, or the creation of Translational Research Coordination Networks, while Phase 2 solicits full project proposals . The initial areas of focus for 2024 include artificial intelligence, biotechnology or natural and anthropogenic disaster prevention or mitigation. Future iterations of the program may consider other key technology focus areas enumerated in the CHIPS and Science Act.