INTERVIEW WITH MARK ABBOTT, P.ENG. MANAGING DIRECTOR OF ENGINEERING CHANGE LAB & TECH STEWARDSHIP

Mark Abbott is an engineer and systems change leader. He believes that engineering has made – and continues to make – enormous contributions to society. Planes and cars transport us quickly across vast distances. Telephones and the internet allow us to communicate with anyone in the world almost instantaneously. Prosthetic limbs help injured people function more independently. Technologies created through engineering have fundamentally changed the way we live. However, he also recognize that, increasingly, those changes aren’t always positive. These days, the news is full of stories about technology gone wrong – with problems affecting things as fundamental as our climate and our democratic systems. Such issues are set to become even more complex as boundaries between digital, physical, and biological technologies increasingly blur. These problems point to a critical gap in engineering – that it does not pay enough attention to the social implications of technology. The Engineering Change Lab is working to address this gap by promoting a new focus for engineering: technological stewardship. Technological stewardship is behaviour that ensures technology is beneficial for all. We are catalyzing changes aimed at making technological stewardship a critical part of engineering culture. We break down barriers that separate engineering from conversations and efforts about the societal implications of technology. By better connecting engineering, we can influence how technology is understood and designed—and get to the core of ensuring technology is beneficial for all.