Preface & Introduction (Dr. J.J.C.H. Ryan)

Preface and Introduction

By Dr. J.J.C.H. Ryan

It is impossible to look around the globe today and not see the anguishing needs of people who need help. From the scourge of wars and the cruelty of unjust governance to the implacable pace of climate change and the surprising viciousness of natural disasters, suffering surrounds us.

As technologists, scientists, and engineers, the question arises: how can we use technology to ease at least some of this suffering? What technological advances are on the horizon that could dramatically improve people’s lives? More specifically, how can we harness the power of technology for humanitarian purposes?

It was considering this question that this book was conceived.

This book is the culmination of five years of effort by a dedicated team of authors committed to bringing accessible knowledge about emerging issues to anyone interested for free. Working with the New Prairie Press at Kansas State University, this team has previously published eight books on subjects including unmanned vehicles, space systems, cyber-human systems, and disruptive technologies. The focus in this latest effort changes from exploring the technologies to how they can be used for good, precisely humanitarian good.

In this book, you will be treated to an analysis of social media, artificial intelligence, and many other specific technologies. Still, you will also be invited to consider the systemic effects of injecting change into a system. The concept of Balanced Humanitarian Technology Security (B.H.T.S.) is used as a framework for understanding the goals of using technology to help humans in need, invoking the humanitarian aspirations of technology usage.

B.H.T.S. focuses on three elements: the humanitarian aspiration of making life better for the targeted population, the requirement to analyze the system dynamics of the population’s reality to understand the likely effects of technology insertion, and the implications of insertion of advanced technology into the poor, marginalized, or needy communities. It includes these six propositions:

— the technology must provide some benefit to humankind

— the technology must be available to the targeted population, either in situ or through proxy use (for example, remote sensing products that are provided to the people)

— the technology must be affordable to the targeted population

— the technology must be acceptable in the culture of the targeted population

— the technology must be useable and useful

— the technology must not create systemic disruptions that create more harm than good

We hope that this text will serve as an inspiration to the policymakers, the technologists, the scientists, and the engineers who are working to make this world a better place. And it is with our most sincere appreciation for their efforts that we consign our work to their study and use.

On behalf of the authorship team,

Julie Ryan

Pasadena, Maryland