"In order to achieve these goals, four different work streams were conducted.
Firstly, cases of use of human enhancement technologies that were discussed in the press were investigated. These cases were chosen to capture cases of enhancement in the workplace, and cases of enhancement for individual purposes and outside of work, as well as cases where the enhancement technology is available widely for sale. The results were published in Technology and Society, and Human Behavior and Emerging Technology. They show that the use of enhancement technology is deeply rooted in personal history when it comes to individual enhancement. However, when it comes to enhancement in the workplace, there is a tension between one’s beliefs and the image that one wants to project, so that the consent to using the technology is tainted by the decision of individuals in the group around.
Secondly, a case was created, which involved the introduction of a wearable to increase awareness and eventually manage stress in nurses in health care institutions in Italy and in the Netherlands. Managerial considerations were captured, and the device was used by nurses. This case reveals that enhancing individuals in the workplace is not a form of individual enhancement, as employees are bound to be influenced by their peers but also perform tasks in group. They are affected by those who decide to use the technology. Their autonomy and ability to consent is all relative, even if the employer might think the use of the technology is ethical if employees were asked for consent. Preliminary results appear in Lecture Notes in Business Information Systems. The implementation of the device also reveals the risk to worsen already existing power imbalances in the workplace, as some populations can avoid the technology while those who do not have much power might be less conscious of its risks and less able to refuse it. Preliminary results were presented at the Institut d’Études Avancées of Nantes, the University of Nantes, and EXOBerlin in 2019. Another point of consideration is how is the data collected by enhancement technologies managed and to whom they belong, which will be the object of a chapter in the forthcoming book ""Big Data and Democracy"".Before implementing the devices, the researcher had also used them to assess the risks that could come out of the experimentation. To that purpose, an original methodology was developed. Results were presented at the conference of the International Society for the Scientific Study of Subjectivity in 2018 and 2019.
Thirdly, citizens’ opinions were surveyed during the European Researchers’ Night in Brussels in 2018. It appears that those rejecting enhancement technologies do so by fear that there might be undesirable managerial consequences, which need to be regulated. Partial results are published in Qualitative Research Journal.
Fourthly, a theoretical analysis took place in order to identify points of ethical consideration which were dismissed by individuals and propose a theory of enhancement of organisations.
Besides being featured in research journals, the project and results were disseminated to the public via participation in the Dutch and European Researchers’ Night, the Breaking Wall event in Brussels, publication in university press (U-Today), and work with schools in the USA. The results and know-how gained on this project were also shared with other European projects such as the MCSA-ITN Affectech, the EU2020 SIENNA and SHERPA projects. Methodological knowledge was shared with members of the MIDAS project."
