{"id":352633,"date":"2024-04-10T15:47:58","date_gmt":"2024-04-10T19:47:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/yfile.news.yorku.ca\/?p=352633"},"modified":"2025-07-09T10:38:06","modified_gmt":"2025-07-09T14:38:06","slug":"yorks-institute-for-technoscience-society-looks-to-shape-public-debate-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.yorku.ca\/yfile\/2024\/04\/10\/yorks-institute-for-technoscience-society-looks-to-shape-public-debate-policy\/","title":{"rendered":"York's Institute for Technoscience & Society looks to shape public debate, policy"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

York University's Institute for Technoscience & Society<\/a> (ITS), established in 2022 as an Associated Research Centre of the new Connected Minds: Neural and Machine Systems for a Healthy, Just Society<\/a><\/em> initiative, is on a mission to build a global hub focused on the complex relationship between technoscience \u2013 the scientific study of how humans interact with technology \u2013 and society. In particular, the institute is committed to unravelling the configuration of social power that underpins science, medicine, technology and innovation.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

According to Professor Kean Birch<\/strong>, the inaugural director of ITS, the institute was established to cement York\u2019s international standing and reputation in disciplines such as science and technology studies, communication and media studies, design, critical data studies, the history and philosophy of science, and other related fields in which York is a global leader. Aligned with the University\u2019s Strategic Research Plan<\/a>, especially when it comes to the topics of digital cultures and disruptive technologies, its members are actively engaged in research on the social, political, and economic implications of artificial intelligence (AI) and neuroscience.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Kean
Kean Birch<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Birch is enthusiastic about the future of research in this area: \u201cWe\u2019re seeing a lot of interest in these topics,\" he says, \"especially in the societal implications of emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and other digital technologies.\"<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He insists, however, the institute's depth in expertise is not limited to those areas, extending into topics such as the history of science through games design, the global governance of biotechnology and pharmaceutical innovation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To support this diversity of knowledge, ITS is organized into the following four research clusters to help create synergies and support collaboration:<\/p>\n\n\n\n