Cybernetic Governance
Description
Andrej Zwitter:
"The concept of cybernetic governance can be understood as a merger between the fields of cybernetics and governance. While both fields concern themselves with the control over systems, they have historically occupied different academic fields of inquiry, cybernetics being particularly relevant in engineering and the hard sciences and governance occupying predominantly the field of the social sciences.The need for developing the concept of cybernetic governance as a merger between these disciplines stems from novel technological developments that mirror such a merger through the convergence of otherwise separate but adjacent fields also in our daily life. This convergence can be identified in discussions surrounding the increasing augmentation of daily practices through AI, increasing integration of digital technologies in daily practices, and issues emerging from so-called cyborgs (Barfield & Williams, 2017) and the human being as a technology platform."
(https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09763-9)
More information
* Article: Cybernetic governance: implications of technology convergence on governance convergence. By Andrej Zwitter. Ethics and Information Technology, Volume 26, article number 24, (2024)
URL = https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10676-024-09763-9
"Governance theory in political science and international relations has to adapt to the onset of an increasingly digital society. However, until now, technological advancements and the increasing convergence of technologies outpace regulatory efforts and frustrate any efforts to apply ethical and legal frameworks to these domains. This is due to the convergence of multiple, sometimes incompatible governance frameworks that accompany the integration of technologies on different platforms. This theoretical claim will be illustrated by examples such as the integration of technologies on the “human platform” as it is referred to in the case of enhanced soldiers. Hence, successful governance might require new approaches borrowed from a distant relative, namely cybernetics. Insights gained from cybernetics for governance theories might be able to give guidance for a more efficient and adaptive governance approach that is able to deal with increasing complexity caused by technology and governance convergence. While cybernetics itself might be considered a governance approach, it has had surprisingly little reception in the wider field of governance within the area of social and political sciences. This article will develop cybernetic governance as a set of expandable governance principles that are applicable to an increasingly complex digital and smart society. It thereby tries to further galvanise what could be termed cybernetic governance theory as a subject of worthwhile insights from the combination of otherwise largely the disjoined fields of cybernetics and governance."