Abstract:

The dwindling informal care support structure for the older population and the shortage of skilled nursing care staff propelled the rise of robotics and autonomous systems as potential solutions to meet the rising demands in long-term care. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic further accelerates the salience of robotics and autonomous systems in healthcare to manage the risks arising from person-to-person interaction as governments enforce various social distancing measures. However, the nascent development in the regulations of these novel technologies could predispose care providers and recipients to the negative ramifications of a range of technological risks and ethical issues. Using a combination of primary and secondary research design, this research analysed various technological risks, ethical challenges, and their paradoxical interactions in deploying robotics and autonomous systems in long-term care. The research further delved into the governance strategies for capacity-building in novel technology implementation by examining Singapore’s experience in deploying robotics and autonomous systems as a response to its ageing population. Findings shed light on the need to consider safety, privacy, liability, and effects to the incumbent workforce as technological risks, as well as autonomy, social connection, deception, and social justice as bioethics issues in the design and implementation of robotics and autonomous systems for an ageing population. In addressing these issues, governments’ capacity-building strategies will need to account for technology literacy, acceptance, and preferences from the citizens to maximise political buy-in.

About the speaker:

Si Ying Tan graduated with a PhD in Public Policy in 2019, and is currently a Research Fellow at the Leadership Institute for Global Health Transformation (LIGHT) at the Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health, National University of Singapore. Previously, she was appointed as a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore (2019-2020). Her research interests intersect healthcare, ageing and technology policy adoption in Asia. Her work focuses on policy implementation of novel technologies and the governance of their ethics and risks from a multi-stakeholder perspective. Her research has been published in leading public policy and technology policy journals which include “Technological Forecasting & Social Change”, “Government Information Quarterly”, and “Policy & Society”.