The Threat of Innovation

PI: Dr. Moran Yemini. 

Abstract:
The purpose of the research is to explain why a harmonized vision of the relations between innovation and other values cannot seamlessly follow from an unchecked assumption about the positive impact of innovation. Put simply, it will be argued that innovation, especially in the digital environment, is not always a blessing, but can also be a threat to things we have reason to value. Building on this assertion, the research will explore the place of innovation in current Internet scholarship and policy; describe its interrelations with other values, such as public security and human well-being; discuss the normative grounds for pursuing (or not pursuing) innovation as a policy objective; and suggest principles for re-defining the place of innovation in Internet policymaking.

The proposed research falls under several research themes specified in the call - both the more open-ended, normatively-based themes (e.g. cyber and the rule of law; cyber, ethics and social norms), and more concretely-defined themes (e.g. encryption regulation;
digital monitoring; cloud computing).