Draft:Mid tech
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Mid tech, also known as middle technology is a middle ground between low tech and high tech that combines the efficiency and versatility of high tech and the potential for autonomy and resiliency of low tech.[1]
Mid-tech proposes a people-centric and locally autonomous approach to designing, manufacturing, and using technological artifacts[1]. In other words, mid-tech is a method for rethinking processes around technological artifacts' lifecycle from a commons-based peer production perspective. Mid-tech is presented not as a classification of technology artifacts according to complexity levels but as a synthesis of high-tech and low-tech approaches for managing technology.
Background
[edit]Mid tech's earliest conceptual roots are found in the term 'intermediate technology' coined by Ernst Friedrick Schumacher in his book Small Is Beautiful: A Study of Economics As If People Mattered in 1973. Today, this term is also known as 'appropriate technology.' Mid-tech shares similar conceptual constructs with appropriate technology concepts but also differs from them due to its process focus and soft-technology governance aspects.[1]
Examples of such differences come from practical applications of both concepts. Since the 70s, appropriate technology applications have been deployed to address socioeconomic problems in developing economies.[2] address challenges related to access to technology, such as lack of infrastructure or access to technology,[3] and have recently entered the paradigm of ICT technologies via the open source appropriate technology (OSAT) framework.[4] Appropriate technologies are resilient, locally autonomous, low-intensity, and human-oriented artifacts of technology[5] Examples of appropriate technology applications include natural ventilation installations, filtration methods for drinking water, and low-cost, durable ICT equipment.[6]
Applications of Mid-tech methods of design and production are focused on minimal, resilient, and mindful ICT use[7] and applying human-centric governance principles to soft technology[1]. The focus on technology governance enables the mid-tech framework to depict technologies' environmental and social externalities.
Appropriate technology and mid-tech
[edit]Mid-tech and appropriate technology both share overlapping concepts in their definitions. Human centricity, local manufacturing, accessibility, and Commons-based peer production are prominent concepts in both terminologies.[1][2] Appropriate technology is often used as an umbrella term, encompassing either a subset of the principles of mid-tech or the concept as a whole, frequently using mid-tech and appropriate technology interchangeably.[6]
Mid-tech has combinatorial innovation characteristics. For example, mid-tech applications depend on open-source technology or components[4] repurposing or reverse engineering of hardware or software artifacts[4].[8] Those aspects of mid-tech relate closely to appropriate technology movement, where both approaches depend on the open sharing of design and manufacturing knowledge and access to essential building materials. Some mid-tech and appropriate technology applications incorporate open-source information dissemination as a core feature by making their design knowledge open-sourced and obtainable via the internet[1]
Kostakis et al. Has proposed the mid-tech approach for the governance of 'soft technologies,' thus tentatively pushing the concept of mid-tech beyond the borders of contextually constrained, local, and small-scale manufacturing of people-oriented technologies.[1] They propose that incorporating low-tech elements commonly found in Commons-based peer production governance, such as shared ownership, responsibility, and maintenance, into technologies such as Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) may enable better results in participation and deliberation.[1]
Connection to maker and do-it-yourself (DIY) movements
[edit]Mid-tech's fundamental conceptualizations borrow a lot from real-world applications of technology. Often depicted as case studies, such applications have demonstrated a range of possible applications of mid-tech in the real world. Examples may incorporate internet-based localized production methods powered by high-tech artifacts such as 3D printing, CAD, precision metallurgy, and open design and manufacturing knowledge sourcing.[1] efficient repurposing of private or commonly available resources to drive localized, context-dependent solutions[9] or the use of essential technological artifacts that are widely available and can be used without interdependence to complex ICT requirements to maintain and enhance local design and manufacturing solutions[1][7][9]
Although not immediately affirming all its basic suggestions, mid-tech proposes a reconciling approach with the do-it-yourself (DIY) methodology. Like DIY, individuals are empowered to collectively collectivize the building and maintenance processes relating to the technology artifact. For example, open-source robot arms produced using OpenBionics[10]' design knowledge enable individuals to be informed about the artifacts they use and maintain or otherwise repair the artifact consistently throughout its lifetime.
Critique of high-tech
[edit]Proponents of mid-tech methodology may offer critiques of high-tech design, manufacturing, use, maintenance, and disposal of technological artifacts. They specifically cite resource extraction and environmental degradation as externalities of high-tech supply chains[1] and concerns related to high-tech artifacts such as vendor lock-in, affordability, repairability, and human agency and accessibility.
Kostakis et al. Have offered criticism towards the data-driven nature of governance of 'soft technologies' that might lead to the erosion of human agency, loss of collective action, and meaningful participation. Instead, it suggests incorporating low-tech elements commonly found in the participatory nature of Commons-based peer production to strengthen the governance of common-ownership soft technologies.[1]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Kostakis, Vasilis; Pazaitis, Alex; Liarokapis, Minas (2023-01-01). "Beyond high-tech versus low-tech: A tentative framework for sustainable urban data governance". Big Data & Society. 10 (1): 20539517231180583. doi:10.1177/20539517231180583. ISSN 2053-9517.
- ^ a b Akubue, Anthony (2000). "Appropriate Technology for Socioeconomic Development in Third World Countries". Journal of Technology Studies. 26 (1). doi:10.21061/jots.v26i1.a.6. ISSN 1541-9258.
- ^ Bishop, Catherine P (2021-04-01). "Sustainability lessons from appropriate technology". Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 49: 50–56. Bibcode:2021COES...49...50B. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2021.02.011. ISSN 1877-3435.
- ^ a b c Pearce, Joshua M. (2012-06-01). "The case for open source appropriate technology". Environment, Development and Sustainability. 14 (3): 425–431. Bibcode:2012EDSus..14..425P. doi:10.1007/s10668-012-9337-9. ISSN 1573-2975.
- ^ Murphy, Heather M.; McBean, Edward A.; Farahbakhsh, Khosrow (2009-05-01). "Appropriate technology – A comprehensive approach for water and sanitation in the developing world". Technology in Society. 31 (2): 158–167. doi:10.1016/j.techsoc.2009.03.010. ISSN 0160-791X.
- ^ a b "Appropriate technology", Wikipedia, 2024-10-28, retrieved 2024-12-13
- ^ a b Yeang, Ken (2015). Designing for Net Zero Energy From Low-tech to Mid-tech to Hi-tech and to Eco-tech (1st ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781315775869.
- ^ Bishop, Catherine P (2021-04-01). "Sustainability lessons from appropriate technology". Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability. 49: 50–56. Bibcode:2021COES...49...50B. doi:10.1016/j.cosust.2021.02.011. ISSN 1877-3435.
- ^ a b Mattos, Kaitlin; Warren, John; Eichelberger, Laura; Kaminsky, Jessica; Linden, Karl G. (2021-09-24). "Pathways to the successful function and use of mid-tech household water and sanitation systems". Journal of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene for Development. 11 (6): 994–1005. doi:10.2166/washdev.2021.107. ISSN 2043-9083.
- ^ https://openbionics.org