Ethics and governance in the digital age

Abstract

This article argues that ethics need not be toothless or side-lined in the technology governance debates. Rather, moral evaluation is necessary, even when legal compliance is already possible. Moral evaluation supplies answers not only to what is legal or illegal, but also to what is good and better for society. The article first defends a pragmatist ethics approach to uncovering the inevitability of values and norms embedded in digital technologies and related to their design and use. It then makes the case for policymakers engaging in the anticipatory ethics of technology. This approach provides a toolbox to tackle moral dilemmas and better understand what trustworthiness and ethics mean in certain contexts. The convergence of ethics and policy is not only worth pursuing but a necessity for good technology governance if we are to achieve a Europe fit for the digital age.