Designing LABORe: a Platform for the Collaborative Assessment of Technological Change in the 4th Industrial Revolution

In the long run, technologies positively impacted work and, in general, brought benefits to society as a whole. However, history also shows that the first generations coexisting with new technologies had their jobs profoundly impacted both in terms of quantity and quality. As we enter the 4th Industrial Revolution, computing has been one of the key technologies that impact work and its advancements must be accompanied with special care. Computation not only impacts work but is also a powerful tool to support the construction of knowledge and proposition of actions on the technologies that disrupt work. This paper proposes the development of a computer system that allows workers themselves to evaluate the technologies that will impact work in the future. We present each stage of the application of the Design Science Research methodology for developing the system. The artificial evaluation of the resulting prototype shows its utility and opportunities for improvement.