Efficiency and Madness

'This essay is a kind of call to action to experts from different disciplines, and to techies and non-techies alike, to find different ways of thinking about data-driven technologies and how they change the way we live. It is a call to approach them with both enthusiasm and caution, to recognise them as both efficiency and madness and to see them as an integral part of broader politics, power dynamics and worldviews.' Efficiency and Madness

Commissioned and published by the Heinrich Böll Foundation and written by Tactical Tech co-founders Stephanie Hankey and Marek Tuszynski, this essay explores the concept of 'technofixes' - using digital technologies and data to solve the world’s biggest problems.

Starting with a broad conceptual analysis of the field as it stands, the essay then takes a more detailed look at data-driven technologies and how they are being used to solve problems. To conclude, it makes a case for why we cannot leave the challenges posed by data-driven technologies to technologists.

The essay can be downloaded as a free PDF here.