Indeed, the very timing of the emergence of these words to describe the increasingly explicit systemic function is a testament to its emergence as complexity and risk in our designed machines was increasing exponentially. But killswitches’ function is longer-standing, and more central to human ordering than simply a button or trigger on a machine, despite the close connection to short-circuiting otherwise automated processes. Killswitch governance can thus range from fully automated to highly distributed, with a host of costs and benefits to each protocol specification. In a world whose organizational processes are increasingly automated and distributed, this makes the presence of killswitch protocols within complex networked organizations more relevant, although whether or not these protocols are appropriately designed and included is a separate but important question we hope to provoke with this analysis. Killswitches are increasingly central to protocol design due to their role in ensuring true distribution of governance authority, yet this increased prevalence will carry with it a concomitant vulnerability to special interest capture and attack.

Bio

Eric Alston is a Scholar in Residence in the Finance Division at University of Colorado Boulder. Eric’s research is grounded in the fields of institutional and organizational analysis & law and economics, and explores constitutions, economic rights on frontiers, and digital governance specifically. Eric is also currently engaged in governance design for several distributed network projects. www.colorado.edu/business/leeds-directory/faculty/eric-c-alston

For any questions or access to the Zoom link, please contact Ellie Rennie: ellie.rennie@rmit.edu.au