The myth of techno-governance. It’s one thing to name it and quite another to describe it. I studied governance during my master’s at McMaster. Specifically, top-down urban planning and the myth of Richard Florida’s creative class theory in relation to post-industrial cities around the world. It is only fitting therefore that I bring this exact exercise (although if I’m lucky, perhaps better executed) to tech.
Tech has so encroached upon our communities that I would already describe it as hegemonic. The allure of tech and its purported solutions is so strong that no one yet knows how to manage how it changes our communities. We are too caught up in its promises.
It’s one thing to communicate with others around the world at light-speed. It’s quite another to upend governance, laws, and even truth. To begin, then, I suggest a preliminary examining of the myth of tech. The lens with which we solve software challenges is at risk of being applied to many more aspects of society at a much larger scale. My intention is to identify and describe the assumptions with which this lens is forged to that we can more intentionally choose them for matters of governance and leadership.
Claire Atkin 