The Possible Role of Positive Technologies in Horizon 2020

By Giuseppe Riva

The 21st century represents a new era in which psychology and technology can interact synergistically. Curiously, existing psychology manuals do not include a single chapter on the important impact ICTs may have in this field. On the technology side the situation is not different: the recent book “Technology and Psychological Well-being” which discusses the relationship between technology and wellness, does not explore how psychology – and in particular positive psychology – may contribute to this field.

So, the main goal of this column is to highlight the urgent need to harness the power of both areas by addressing the emerging area of study – Positive Technology: the scientific and applied approach to the use of technology for improving the quality of our personal experience through its structuring, augmentation and/or replacement – that we introduced and discussed in this issue.

Obviously, it is not an easy task. As underlined by Kanis and Brinkman: “Naturally, most practitioners in the field of HCI [human-computer interaction] aim to give the user a high-quality experience with technology, but designing technology that actually contributes to people’s happiness in their everyday lives is a more complex challenge. There is clearly an oppor tunity to employ t e chno l o g y for positive change, but how this can be achieved is more difficult to determine.”

In this challenge Horizon 2020 may play an important role. Horizon 2020 will focus resources on three distinct, yet mutually reinforcing, priorities: Excellent Science, Societal Challenges and Industrial Leadership.

Specifically, inside the Excellent Science priority Horizon 2020 will fund collaborative research to open up new and promising fields of research and innovation through support for Future and Emerging Technologies (FET). More, inside the Societal Challenges priorities Horizon 2020 will fund research addressing the key theme of Health, demographic change and well-being.

The concept of Positive Technology may be a bridge between them – Excellent Science and Societal Challenges – with the goal of achieving scientific breakthroughs into innovative technologies that provide business opportunities and change people’s lives for the better.

In particular, the possible outcomes of the actualization of the Positive Psychology paradigm within Horizon 2020 may be:

1. A better communication and exchange between the psychology and the technology areas- The potential of this exchange is great: it opens totally new scenarios in which technological development is directly linked to the expression of the human potential. In this view technologies may become not only useful tools but also tools that are able to activate and sustain the personal change and improvement.

2. A general understanding of how interactive technology can be used to transform our personal experience in a tool for building new and enduring personal resources. In particular, a critical goal will be to identify a series of guidelines – describing how it is possible to use technologies to influence three specific features of our experience – affective quality, actualization, and connectedness – that serve to promote adaptive behaviors and positive functioning (Technology Engagement).

3. Improved links and interaction between patients and doctors facilitating more active participation of patients in care processes. The project realizes a “continuum of care” where the interaction between the patient and his doctor is not limited to the short ambulatory visits or to the therapeutic sessions periodically done in a clinical setting. Moreover, Positive Technology will motivate the patient to adapt his habits, how to manage daily situations at home, at work, interrelations with the other people; above all, the system will empower the patient to manage his own health.

4.Better quality of life. Positive Technologies may improve the quality of life of millions of people through:

• The improvement of their treatment and the prevention through accurate and engaging real time activities and feedbacks.

• The increase of their reassurance and motivation to a more active participation in illness prevention and care processes.

Giuseppe Riva, Ph.D.                                                                                                 Istituto Auxlogico Italiano                                                                                           Italy                                                                                                                               giuseppe.riva@unicatt.it                                                 auxo.psylab@auxologico.it