PeaceTech

Abstract

In recent years, the world’s enthusiasm for new technology has been accompanied by growing concern over the harmful social, environmental, and economic impacts of these same technologies. In response to what is often referred to as a “techlash” <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref1" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[1]</xref> , a new focus on “tech for good” can be found in the private sector as well as in higher education and the realm of governments. For example, Communitech, an organization dedicated to supporting tech startups in the region of Waterloo, ON, Canada, rebranded its annual tech summit around the theme of tech for good in 2018 <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref2" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[2]</xref> . This included the development and launch of the Canadian Tech for Good Declaration, an effort to build the commitment of companies to a set of six principles, including things like “leave no one behind” and “think inclusively at every stage” <xref ref-type="bibr" rid="ref3" xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">[3]</xref> .