DeTeCT is an interdisciplinary research group that focuses on the study of technology and design as social phenomena. Drawing on the theoretical, conceptual, and methodological resources of the social sciences, DeTeCT researchers investigate technological and design innovation in relation to society. They consider these innovations to be both expressions and materialisations of specific historical and social arrangements and processes, as well as sources of intended or unintended effects that are more or less desirable from a social and cultural perspective.The group’s approach is therefore oriented toward critical thinking, understood as an unbiased investigation of the mechanisms that govern and influence the processes of research, design, and dissemination of new artifacts.

More specifically, DeTeCT focuses on the study of socio-technical phenomena across several domains:

• material artifacts, to understand the role and extent of material agency in their functioning;
• digital artifacts, to examine their increasingly pervasive impact on privacy, security, autonomy, freedom, and people’s lifestyles;
• communicative artifacts, to analyze how innovations are represented and how they influence and transform social relations;
• cognitive and cultural artifacts (such as science, fashion, art, etc.), to study the social dynamics involved in the creation and circulation of products.

DeTeCT aims to provide the Design system of the Politecnico di Milano - across education, research, and third mission activities - with conceptual tools and empirically grounded knowledge, fostering an articulated, critical perspective on research and design processes and their social implications.