Testing for the Technocracy in the age of the Pandemic

Reading like the script of some apocalyptic movie, the Pandemic hurdled our already climate fragile world in a crash course with serious health, economic and technological consequences. One consequence that carries both advantages and disadvantages is the all-encompassing use of IT as the “New Normal” for nearly all transactions in our society.

With the Digital Transformation rushed in Hyper-drive, we all know as Testers the risks that arise when the pace of Testing cannot keep up with the pace of research and development. Serious errors are bound to be overlooked with potential detrimental consequences. When these errors are simply functional or performance related, this presents enough challenge, but when the Technology Itself is rushed without considerations of the impact on its end users and protective boundaries are ignored, this poses a real threat to humanity in the form of exploitation of personal privacy, infringement of rights, possible misuse of data and even direct health risks for end users.

In these cases, and you may have been or are in such a situation currently you might consider a shift and become more “Authentic and Aware” (A&A) Testers that look out after our end users in new and broader ways. These are Ethically and Morally engaged Testers that carry testing to a new level of not only asking

• “Are we building the right systems according to the requirements?” or
• “Are we building the system right as per our processes” but we can also ask
• “Is the system itself we are building right in terms of how this impacts our end users and the world as a whole”?
• Are Democracies shifting into “Technocracies” in this guise of “Digital Transformation”?
• And if so, what can we as properly aware Testers do for our part in that process to protect our end users?

We want to look at both sides of the "New Normal" and see how testing can play a critical role. A Question every tester might want to ask is, if I was the End User, would I be safe and secure in the use of this system in terms of my data used and for what purposes? Is there a way to test Ethical attributes of systems and if so, how are these added to your testing scope without contradicting Companies business goals and objectives?

This session will hopefully awaken a new way of looking at testing and help you consider your part in this mental shift in becoming a more "Authentic and Aware" Tester. Which Technocracy are you planning on Testing For? The choice is Yours. The choice is Ours. The Responsibilities are Yours and Ours as Well. Let's make the Right Choice for our End Users. They Need us now more than ever.