Ethics, Society, & Technology Case Studies

At the McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society, we believe that researchers, founders, and technologists—present and future—should be expected to confront and gain a deeper understanding of the ethical, social, and political dimensions of technologies. We aim to prepare the next generation of leaders to take on these challenges by integrating ethical and societal implications into the development, deployment, and governance of technology. 

To support this mission, the Ethics, Society, and Technology Initiatives are creating a high-quality production of open-source ethics, policy, and technology case studies for use in university and industry settings. Through the Ethics, Society, and Technology (EST) Case Study Program a talented team of case writers develop and prototype case studies that address pressing ethical and sociotechnical issues in the technology field by drawing on secondary and primary sources of research materials. 

EST case studies explore written stories that wrestle with business decisions, design and technical implementation, regulatory compliance and limitations, and individual participation in the technology industry and workforce. These stories can range from real-life scenarios to fictionalized ones based on composite experiences and stories. 

Previous and current projects include: 

If you use any of these case studies and have feedback on them, please feel free to send the case writing team an email at estinitiatives [at] stanford.edu (estinitiatives[at]stanford[dot]edu).