What is Responsible Technology?

When we talk about responsible technology, what do we really mean? It’s a term that gets thrown around a lot in tech ethics and policy circles, but at its core, it’s about making sure technology does more good than harm (ideally no harm at all). It’s about designing and implementing tools that benefit society while minimising risks and unintended consequences.

Designing the Toolkit

At OCL, we set out to create a toolkit that would give our design team a practical guide for building civic technologies in South African cities. What started as an extension of our Gender Equality and Social Inclusion (GESI) framework grew into something bigger. We realised this toolkit could be useful for community-driven technologists, organisations, teams, and even individuals outside of OCL who are exploring ethical and responsible tech. 

Instead of just adding another PDF to the internet’s ever-growing pile of unread documents, we asked ourselves: how can we make this toolkit actually useful? Four key questions guided our thinking:

1. Can technology be responsible?
2. What does responsibility actually look like in tech design, procurement, and implementation?
3. Who is responsible for ensuring technology is ethical and just?
4. How can we turn responsibility into real, actionable steps?

The Toolkit in Action

Think of responsible technology like cooking a great meal. First, you decide what to make… perhaps based on a craving, a need, or an occasion. Then, you gather your ingredients. Finally, you may follow a recipe to bring it all together. If you skip a step or forget an ingredient, you might end up with a disaster in the kitchen.

Now, imagine justice in technology as the final dish. Responsible tech principles are the ingredients, and this toolkit? It’s the cookbook that helps you pull it all together. 

Can technology Be Responsible?

To answer this, we dug into the principles that help build just civic technologies. These principles serve as a kind of checklist, ensuring that tech isn’t just “doing no harm”, but is actively working to address societal inequalities.

Every decision matters, from the first idea to the final code and hardware. We need to ask tough questions: What impact will this have in the real world? How will it affect the most marginalised communities? And how do we balance ethical considerations with stakeholder interests?

Guiding principles help keep us accountable. They push us to reflect on:

• Who holds power in this process?
• What are they trying to achieve? 
• Who are we advocating for?
• How does this technology shape our urban spaces?

Check out the full toolkit and guiding principles here.

What Does Responsibility Look Like in Civic Tech?

If responsible technology principles are the ingredients, then this toolkit is the cookbook. But how do we turn principles into practical steps? We broke the process down into key stages of tech development: from project initiation all the way to Monitoring, Reflection, Evaluation, and Learning (MREL). 

At each stage, we provide:

• A simple definition
• Key action points
• Practical tips for development teams
• Case studies to illustrate real-world examples
• Tools and skills to support responsible decision-making

We wanted to make sure responsible tech isn’t just a theory, it’s baked into the development process in a way that’s easy to understand and apply.

Who is Responsible for All This?

Great question! Responsibility doesn’t mean much if no one is held accountable. If we don’t know who’s supposed to be making sure everything comes together, then it’s impossible to track progress, or to fix things when they go wrong.

Accountability in responsible tech is about making sure everyone involved – developers, policymakers, community representatives, funders – understands their role. The Governance Framework in our toolkit breaks down:

• Who takes ownership when ethical concerns arise?
• What mechanisms are in place to ensure underserved communities are prioritised?
• How responsibilities are distributed across terms and processes

Check out the governance framework here.

Let’s Keep the Conversation Going

We’d love to hear from responsible tech practitioners, designers, policy folks, and anyone else working in this space:

• How would you define responsible technology?
• Are there any key processes or principles we’ve overlooked?
• What would you add or change in this toolkit? 
• Can you recommend any case studies to help illustrate our approach?
• How have you handled accountability in your own work?

Just like a great recipe, responsible technology is always evolving. There’s always room for improvement, new ingredients to consider, and better ways to bring everything together. This toolkit isn’t the final word, it’s a starting point. Your insights can help refine it, making it even more useful for those working to build ethical, just, and impactful tech.

Let’s build better tech together! Feel free to reach out to us at info@opencitieslab.org, we’d love to keep the conversation going.