In July 2019, Peter-Paul Verbeek, Professor of Philosophy of Technology at the University of Twente and member of the program council of NWO-MVI, was appointed chair of the UNESCO committee COMEST, of which he had been a member for several years. ‘As an independent committee consisting of international experts, we conduct studies on ethical issues related to science and technology. It is very inspiring: you are literally sitting round the table with the entire world.’

The World Commission on the Ethics of Scientific Knowledge and Technology COMEST is not widely known. That is not justified, says Verbeek. ‘In all fairness: when I was approached to join this committee a few years ago, I had never heard of it myself. That is a shame, because COMEST is a wonderful organisation that does meaningful things.’ The committee was established in 1998 as an eighteen-member advisory body to UNESCO, which ‘formulates ethical principles that could provide decision-makers with criteria that extend beyond purely economic considerations.’

Conduct studies 
‘These types of committees are often intended to initiate research in certain areas. The nice thing about COMEST is that as committee members, we conduct the studies ourselves. For example, we recently completed a study into the ethical aspects of artificial intelligence. Currently, we are working simultaneously on a study into the ethics of Internet of Things and on a study into land use, which involves topics like agriculture, water management and the built environment. Though land use is slightly further away from my own expertise, it certainly is no less fascinating.’

The commission officially acts as an adviser to the Director General of UNESCO, but in practice its studies are mainly intended to provide frameworks for the member states. ‘We are often approached by individual countries to come and explain something that could help advance their national debate.’

Raise the right questions
The committee is particularly focused on raising the right questions about a certain technology, says Verbeek. ‘It is sometimes difficult to adopt a global position on an ethical issue because the cultural differences are so big. For example, if you indicate that a certain technology should be developed according to democratic principles, immediately the question arises what the term democracy does and does not include. The real strength of a good ethical study therefore is mainly thinking through the various ethical questions and issues that a technology might lead to, and by doing so provide a solid basis for debate and policymaking.’

Blind spot
The global perspective is what Verbeek finds so interesting about his work for COMEST. ‘I thought I knew pretty much everyone in my field. But during those COMEST meetings I noticed that I had a pretty big blind spot, especially for Africa and Asia. Around the world, there exist all kinds of approaches to technology and ethics that, partly thanks to UNESCO, can now enter into talks with each other. In the West, for example, we tend to focus more on the interests of the individual, whereas in Africa people often let those of the community prevail. The world is so much richer in perspectives than the narrow image that we have here. Ethical frameworks are so much wider than your own field of vision.’

Broker
Verbeek hopes that his chairmanship of COMEST will lead to more fruitful cross-fertilizations between Dutch researchers and their colleagues worldwide. ‘First of all, I want to increase the visibility of COMEST, to enable the committee to play a greater role in the international public debate. In addition, as a chairman I want to actively act as a broker between the rich Dutch MVI community and the work of COMEST. Though we are a small country, the Netherlands is really at the forefront of research in the field of responsible innovation. We are traditionally a land of vicars; ethics is not an uncommon topic of conversation here. As a polder country, we are also good at dealing with differences. And we have four technical universities here, all of which have a department in the field of philosophy of technology, on top of which they have set up a joint centre for ethics and technology: 4TU.Ethics. You can hardly find this bundling of expertise in the field of philosophy and ethics of technology anywhere else.’

Photo credits: Olivier Middendorp