Changing Behaviour to Save Energy: ICT-Based Surveillance for a Low-Carbon Economy in the Seventh Framework Programme

Cakici, Baki and Bylund, Markus. 2014. Changing Behaviour to Save Energy: ICT-Based Surveillance for a Low-Carbon Economy in the Seventh Framework Programme. Proceedings of the 2014 conference ICT for Sustainability, 2, pp. 165-170. ISSN 2352-538x [Article]

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Abstract or Description

In research and development of information and communication technologies for sustainability, there is a strong belief that human behaviour can be monitored at the individual level to generate different signals, and that these signals can be used to influence individuals to behave differently. We analyse Seventh Framework Programme policy documents published by the European Commission, and descriptions of research projects granted funding from it, to highlight the uncritical development and application of surveillance technologies to change human behaviour. We argue that EU-financed projects dealing with sustainability and information and communication technology use models of social change that have been widely criticised as unlikely to lead to substantial changes in resource consumption. Additionally, we show that these texts discuss only the potential positive effects of technological surveillance, but neither acknowledge nor require the handling of the potential negative effects of surveillance.

Item Type:

Article

Identification Number (DOI):

https://doi.org/10.2991/ict4s-14.2014.20

Keywords:

surveillance, sustainability, behaviour, policy,design, FP7

Departments, Centres and Research Units:

Sociology

Dates:

DateEvent
July 2014Published

Item ID:

11139

Date Deposited:

17 Jan 2015 09:48

Last Modified:

11 Oct 2019 11:19

Peer Reviewed:

Yes, this version has been peer-reviewed.

URI:

https://research.gold.ac.uk/id/eprint/11139

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