Technology assessment in Australia: the case for a formal agency to improve advice to policy makers

Abstract

The pace and reach of technological change has led to calls for better technology policy and governance to improve social outcomes. Technology assessment can provide information and processes to improve technology policy. Having conducted a review of international best practice, we established a set of quality criteria for TA. In effect, good technology assessments are systematic, broad, inclusive and well resourced and are conducted by organisations that are trustworthy and influential. Although not having a formal TA agency, Australia does have a number of recent examples of TA-like activities in the form of ad hoc processes (such as reviews and inquiries) and within other organisations. Drawing on reports, commentaries, discussions and our observations as participants, we have assessed these activities and processes against our quality criteria. Our findings indicate that TA capacity in Australia is fragmented, uncoordinated and variable in quality and impact. We conclude that a formal TA agency could improve Australian technology policy and capacity for technology governance that would be more in line with other nations, notably in Europe.

Enhancing innovation in agriculture at the policy level: The potential contribution of Technology Assessment

“…Originating in the 1960s, this applied field of research and practice has developed over time, and is institutionalised in many countries in Europe where it makes a positive contribution to parliamentary decision-making, to technology governance, and facilitates societal discussions about new technologies. We argue that there would be advantages in many other countries (and in our context, Australia) adopting a formalised, institutionalised form of TA (see Russell et al, 2011). In effect, it could be argued that TA can be conceived as an innovation in governance, and that Australia is being a laggard in not adopting this effective policy tool.…”

“…TA could be delegated to an independent statutory authority, especially where the role of the agency was to facilitate public debate. The Netherlands Rathenau Institute is an example of this, as was the Australian Commission for the Future in its time (Slaughter, 1992(Slaughter, , 1999Russell et al, 2011). Potentially an NGO could undertake a similar function, and such a role would not be beyond the scope of a national Consumer Association, for example.…”

“…Unlike many OECD countries where TA is wellestablished, Australia has not had a formal technology assessment process or agency, although it does have a fragmented approach to managing new technology (Russell et al, 2011). We believe that a strong case exists for a systematic approach to considering the social consequences of new technology and in having a formalised TA process to assist in technology governance (Russell et al, 2010(Russell et al, , 2011. A similar call is being made for re-establishing TA in the United States, where arguably TA began (Erikson, 2010;Sclove, 2010).…”

Public Engagement in Prioritizing Research Proposals

“…Researchers have criticized a lack of genuine public participation in Australian processes for regulating biotechnology (Schibeci & Harwood, 2007) and nanotechnology (Lyons & Whelan, 2010). The Australian Government has supported workshops to try and address this (Bowman & Hodge, 2007;Cormick, 2009), while researchers have called for a participatory technology assessment agency such as those trialed in Europe (Russell, Vanclay, Salisbury, & Aslin, 2011).…”

Towards the institutionalisation of parliamentary technology assessment: the case for Ireland

“…While the requirement to implement institutionalised forms of PTA is clearly an important part of any national PTA landscape, there are considerable variations in the sources of expertise used and the relationship to parliament/parliamentarians inherent in the different PTA institutions across Europe (Vig, 1992, or very recently, EPTA, 2012. Assuming that all modern democracies should have a PTA function, one is left with the critical issues of trying to decipher the contingencies that apply to the design of the "best fit" PTA approach for a given national setting (Russell et al, 2011). It is assumed that certain institutional arrangements can improve the impact of PTA on informed policy-making involving science, technology and innovation (STI) arena.…”