Architecture and Responsible Technology

GOTO Copenhagen 2024

Responsible technology is having its time in the sun currently. Concerns about misinformation, bias, data privacy, cybersecurity risks, and accessibility issues, to name just a few of the concerns, seem to appear everywhere in the media. Who is the latest organization to be breached? Which airport is recovering from an "incident" - that wonderfully vague word?

Delivering technology in a responsible manner includes considering all the stakeholders to the solution, not just the obvious ones. The various flavors of architects operating across a solution (perhaps just a small number of people wearing different hats) must attempt to bring the perspectives of other stakeholders into the discussion surrounding features, targets, security requirements, and more. Making this work can be a challenge for teams.

In this talk, I will first discuss some principles of responsible technology and describe the various ways that making tech responsible generates value for organizations. I will then discuss how various aspects of responsible tech intersect with our good friends the -ilities. Finally, I will describe some techniques that can be used to support teams on their way to building responsible technology.