The Future of Socially Assistive Robotics: Considering an Exploratory Governance Framework (EGF)

Abstract

Centralized or self/peer governance approaches are major concerns and debates in modern smart cities and living. Proponents of central top-down governance approaches argued that the centralized approach supports the strong alignment of control and safety and in short, facilitating ease of national development while self/peer advocates highlight opportunities for agile responses and a capability to bridge the widening gap between technology, social acceptance and well-being. As in all modern innovative measures, the consequences of Socially Assistive Robotics (SAR), its interactions between technology and users need to be explored. This paper looks at an Exploratory Governance Framework (EGF) as a possible option to managing future innovative services and technologies with focus on the narrow domain of SAR. This research provides opportunities to incorporate concepts of coevolution of technology and governance as well as elements of design considerations to impact development of modern technologies and services and allow balanced perspective on the centralized versus self/peer regulatory options.