Modern technology and engineering were shaped by specific historical, political, and economic forces rather than developing independently or neutrally.
Many of the systems, standards, and methodologies used today were built within and influenced by colonial power structures that prioritised Western worldviews, extraction, and control.
These foundations continue to affect who is recognised as an expert, whose knowledge is valued, where technologies are designed, and who benefits from their deployment.
Acknowledging this history is essential to understanding why many technological systems reproduce inequality rather than reduce it. This is why decolonisation matters.
What Decolonisation Means in Tech and Engineering
Decolonisation in tech and engineering is the active challenge to the dominance of Western, colonial worldviews that still define:
- What counts as ‘expertise’?
- Who gets to design solutions?
- Which problems are worth solving?
- Who benefits?
- Who bears the cost?
A decolonised approach aims to create systems that are:
- Equitable
- Inclusive
- Culturally grounded
- Globally relevant
This is not theoretical. It has real consequences for safety, sustainability, trust, and justice.
Key Principles of Decolonising Tech & Engineering
1. Valuing Indigenous and Local Knowledge
Long before modern engineering disciplines existed, communities developed sophisticated systems for:
- Sustainable agriculture
- Climate-adaptive architecture
- Resource management
Decolonisation means recognising this knowledge as expertise.
2. Designing With, Not For
Decolonised engineering is built on collaboration. In practice, this means:
- Designing alongside affected communities
- Letting cultural, social, and historical context shape decisions
- Defining success locally – not just through efficiency, profit, or scale
3. Addressing Algorithmic and Data Bias as Structural
Bias in technology is not accidental. From facial recognition systems that fail darker skin tones to language models that exclude non-Western languages, these harms reflect historical power imbalances embedded in data and design choices.
Decolonising data requires:
- Ethical and consensual data collection
- Community ownership and governance
- Fairness designed in from the start
4. Democratising Access to Tech Education
Colonial legacies still shape who gets to produce knowledge:
- Elite institutions dominate research and innovation.
- Barriers continue for people in the Global South and marginalised communities.
- Informal and alternative learning pathways are undervalued.
A decolonised approach supports:
- Open-source tools and shared knowledge
- Community-led education models
- Recognition of diverse routes into tech and engineering
What Decolonisation Looks Like in Practice
Decolonisation is reflected in concrete decisions and accountability at every level of technology and engineering.
It includes engineers using inclusive design approaches in projects, tech teams critically auditing products for racial, cultural, and geographic bias, and organisations examining their supply chains, labour practices, and data sourcing through ethical and historical means.
It also involves universities rethinking engineering and technology curriculum to challenge whose knowledge is explored.
This work requires discomfort, humility, and a genuine willingness to redistribute power rather than simply diversify appearances.
Decolonisation is often misunderstood, sometimes deliberately. It isn’t anti-science or anti-technology, about lowering standards or branding exercise. It is about raising ethical, social, and human standards.
Our Position at Inclusioneering
For us, decolonisation is not an optional add-on to inclusion work. It is foundational.
Decolonising tech and engineering means rethinking who leads, who decides, who benefits, and who is protected from harm.
That is the work we are committed to.
