Index for detecting techwashing level in Chilean technology startups

Purpose – Communication in technology is complex. The trend of companies exaggerating technology development, known as techwashing, creates mistrust and affects their reputation. This research aims to promote ethics and transparency by designing an index from a questionnaire for startups. This index will help stakeholders, including customers, users, and investors, in decisionmaking and evaluating technology companies.
Design/methodology/approach – The assessment identifies the potential absence of techwashing using five binary and depth indicators from existing literature. Companies are categorized based on their scores, ensuring a balanced, representative, clear, simple, granular, and easily interpretable selection of indicators and scoring framework.
Findings – Analysis of existing literature reveals that techwashing is widespread across various sectors and technologies. It involves promoting excessive optimism about technological solutions to divert attention from issues, enhance organizational and political images, attract investment, and gain credibility. Its ethical implications highlight the need for promoting ethical and transparent practices. Although research has explored various factors of techwashing, the lack of a tool to measure it directly underscores the necessity of its development.
Research limitations/implications – Accessing comprehensive information on techwashing is challenging, given the difficulties in obtaining detailed practices. Companies are unlikely to reveal information that could harm their reputation. Therefore, developing a tool that encourages organizations to publicly evaluate themselves is crucial.
Originality/value – The hypothesis proposes that it is possible to develop an index to detect the potential absence of techwashing in Chilean technology startups.

Techwashing, Artificial Intelligence, Transparency, Startups.