Principles for technology co-development

1. Principles linked to Technology and Society 

- recognise the socio-technical nature of technologies

Technologies are socio-technical because their outcomes are determined by the interactions between devices and people acting in their social context. As a result, it is often not possible to address complex, locally situated challenges solely with technical fixes. Therefore, technology development needs to iteratively consider a device's technical specifications and the ways it will be used.  

- understand the local context, history and geography

Societal problems and innovations to address them do not exist in a vacuum. Historical, socio-cultural and geographic factors, including the history of technology innovation and use in a particular context, determine how people engage with technology in the present. Paying attention to historical, social, cultural, political, economic, environmental and geographic factors and collectively answering questions about how we got to where we are, opens up spaces to think differently about the future of local technology innovation.

- promote continuous improvements through iterative development and reflection processes

Technological hardware and related social institutions (the local rules that determine how technology is used) need to be iteratively developed and refined to achieve the desired outcomes. Involving users and other stakeholders in iterative technology development processes will also help them to adapt hardware and institutions to changing circumstances and new contexts beyond the duration of your project.

2. Principles linked to Knowledge and Power 

- reduce power imbalances and promote equitable outcomes

Unequal power relationships, for example between government authorities, academic and non-academic participants, lead to some stakeholders exerting disproportionate influence over technology development processes while others are excluded. The challenges, needs, wants, and knowledge of those excluded go unheard, which impacts their access to and benefits from the resulting technologies. Recognising power dynamics and promoting equal opportunities to contribute to technology innovation processes is essential to achieving equitable outcomes.

- build relationships and trust

Trust and respect for participants’ knowledge are important to collaboratively address the identified problem. For stakeholders to learn from each other and collectively create new knowledge, all participants, including those less experienced in voicing their views must feel comfortable communicating their own perspectives. This can be encouraged by building the legitimacy of different forms of knowledge, in particular those that are often not considered or valued in technology development. 

- value different types of knowledge and embrace transdisciplinary research

Academic and non-academic stakeholders have different knowledge to identify and address complex societal problems. This includes, for example, scientific knowledge, local and indigenous knowledge, practice-oriented knowledge and knowledge from the lived experience of those that are often excluded from the benefits of technology. Including non-academic stakeholders in technology development processes and valuing different types of knowledge is central to equitable technology co-development. Transdisciplinary approaches to research and technology development value and encourage diversity within and between stakeholder groups with different knowledge, skills, value systems, epistemologies and lived experiences to improve research outcomes and increase the equitable sharing of benefits.

- get help to design and facilitate transdisciplinary processes

Skilled facilitation is key to enabling collaboration between stakeholders with different knowledge, epistemologies and ontologies. Projects, therefore, benefit from including individuals with expertise in designing and facilitating transdisciplinary research processes on the team from the beginning. This allows scientists to focus on fully engaging in co-development processes alongside non-academic participants.

3. Principles linked to Individuals and Institutions

- identify networks and recognise institutions

 Stakeholders at different levels (from local to global) influence the local context. This includes policymakers at international, national and local levels, non-government or civil society organisations, private sector stakeholders and individual technology users. Communities are connected to wider actors and organisations and are regulated by institutions that shape incentives, behaviour and choice. Institutions may be formal (such as codified laws or policies) or informal (such as social norms, customs or traditions). Facilitating the development and spread of technologies, therefore, requires understanding the networks of diverse actors, organisations and institutions connected to end users. 

- collaborate across different levels

It is usually not possible to collaborate with all stakeholders at all stages of a project. While representatives of technology users engage in co-development throughout a project, other stakeholders can be involved at key stages of the technology design process. Non-academic stakeholders at different levels provide different perspectives on your research and may be able to influence policy and support project outcomes beyond the duration of your project. The knowledge of stakeholders at levels beyond the local level of governance may also assist you in translating case-specific innovations for use in other contexts.

 - produce shared benefits

Equitable technology co-development processes should be relevant to and have benefits for academic and non-academic participants involved in the project and aim to produce benefits to society including those groups and individuals within society that are usually excluded from the benefits of technology.