Handbook of Technology Assessment: (Research Handbooks in Science and Technology Studies series)

This Handbook provides a comprehensive overview of technology assessment (TA) practices, theories, methods and cultures across the globe. Highlighting the significant influence of rapidly changing technology on human life and development, it examines diverse perspectives on how TA can be developed to better meet the challenges of the future. Covering both theory and methodology, expert contributors analyse the deep changes caused by technological advances at the individual, collective and global level. They identify approaches and methods that can lead to informed, considered decisions on technology and responsible handling of their consequences. Chapters explore a wide range of TA applications across different cultural contexts as well as in various fields including AI, climate engineering, healthcare and work. Drawing on extensive practical experiences from a global movement, this Handbook is an invaluable resource for scholars and practitioners of technology assessment. It is also an important guide for students of science and technology studies, the ethics of technology, risk assessment, and responsible research and innovation.

Table of Contents:
Contents Preface xxii 1 Introduction to the Handbook of Technology Assessment 1 Armin Grunwald PART I THE CONTEXT OF TA 2 Technology policy and governance 12 Jakob Edler and Florian Wittmann 3 Technoscience: changing relationships between science, technology and society 22 Bernadette Bensaude-Vincent 4 The changing nature of innovation 32 Harro van Lente and Alexandra Supper 5 Demands for, and motivations of, technology assessment 42 Michael Decker and Armin Grunwald PART II TA PRACTICE FIELDS SECTION IIA INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS 6 Viewing technology assessment as science advice 54 Chris Tyler and Armin Grunwald 7 Participatory technology assessment: TA and the public 64 Lars Klüver 8 Technology assessment in science and engineering: theory, policy and practice of integration research 77 Mareike Smolka and Erik Fisher SECTION IIB CASE STUDIES: TECHNOLOGIES 9 Nuclear power: technology assessment and ethics of technology in interaction 90 Behnam Taebi, Vincent Lagendijk, Romy Dekker and Rinie van Est 10 Autonomous vehicles and autonomous mobility 100 Torsten Fleischer and Jens Schippl 11 Assessing chatbots from a sociotechnical perspective 111 Rinie van Est, Linda Kool and Lambèr Royakkers 12 Genome editing for human health 121 Steffen Albrecht and Arnold Sauter 13 Technology assessment for health and care 131 Armin Grunwald 14 Climate engineering: how to present unbiased information to policymakers and the public through technology assessments 141 Katrina Pekar-Carpenter and Karen L. Howard 15 Assessing technologies in industrial production: from old to recent controversies 151 Bettina-Johanna Krings and António Moniz SECTION IIC CASE STUDIES: STATES AND REGIONS 16 Technology assessment in the United States: reinvention and reinvigoration 163 Timothy Persons 17 Parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) in Latin America 174 Raimundo Roberts 18 China’s progress in technology assessment: a systematic review 184 Lei Huang, Liang Mei, Miao Liao and Yandong Zhao 19 The institutionalisation and practice of technology assessment in India 192 Aviram Sharma and Poonam Pandey 20 Technology assessment and TA-like activities in Japan 201 Hideaki Shiroyama and Makiko Matsuo 21 Technology assessment in Central and Eastern Europe: patterns and catalysts 210 Tanja Sinozic-Martinez, Titus Udrea and Michael Nentwich 22 Technology assessment in engineering education in Russia 219 Elena Seredkina, Elena Gavrilina, Natalia Cherepanova and Liliya Tukhvatulina 23 Technology assessment in Africa: capacity needs and opportunities 228 John Ouma Mugabe and Josephine Kaviti Musango PART III TOWARDS A TA THEORY SECTION IIIA ELEMENTS OF TA THEORY 24 Epistemology: knowledge of and for technology assessment 239 Stefan Böschen, Gabriele Gramelsberger and Jan Cornelius Schmidt 25 Ethics and technology assessment 249 Sven Ove Hansson 26 Technology assessment and democratic theories: a critical review 259 Pierre Delvenne and Céline Parotte SECTION IIIB THEORY-GUIDED TA APPROACHES 27 Constructive technology assessment: supporting the reflexive co-evolution of technology and society 270 Douglas K.R. Robinson 28 Hermeneutic technology assessment 281 Wenzel Mehnert and Armin Grunwald 29 Techno-anthropological technology assessment 291 Lars Botin and Tom Børsen 30 Design for values 301 Ibo van de Poel 31 Technology assessment in innovation systems 310 Ingrid Ott PART IV THE TA METHODOLOGY SECTION IVA TA AS A PROCESS 32 Technology assessment and evaluation 324 Christine Rösch 33 Beyond systems analysis to a multidimensional approach in technology assessment 332 Roh Pin Lee and Witold-Roger Poganietz 34 Multidirectional knowledge transfer in various technology assessment practices 343 Constanze Scherz and Anne-Floor Scholvinck 35 Technology assessment as transdisciplinary research 354 Antonietta Di Giulio and Rico Defila SECTION IVB TECHNIQUES FROM THE TA TOOLBOX 36 Participation and engagement 366 Phil Macnaghten 37 Future-oriented technology assessment (FTA): developments via foresight and anticipation 376 Fabiana Scapolo, Cristiano Cagnin, Lucia Vesnić-Alujević, Alexandre Polvora and Susana Nascimento 38 Digital methods for technology assessment 387 Pauline Riousset, Anders Koed Madsen, Nicolas Baya-Laffite and Lionel Villard 39 Hermeneutical understanding 397 Nina Janich PART V NEIGHBOURS 40 Responsible research and innovation 409 Alexei Grinbaum 41 Impact assessment versus technology assessment: distant relatives or different species? 418 Alan Bond, Jiří Dusik and Miltos Ladikas 42 Exploring synergies: comparative analysis of technology assessment and RRI in European industrial contexts 430 Emad Yaghmaei, Zenlin Kwee, Martijn Wiarda and Steven Flipse PART VI EPILOGUE 43 Technology assessment for a ‘good’ Anthropocene 441 Armin Grunwald Index 451

About the Author :
Edited by Armin Grunwald, Professor of Philosophy and Ethics of Technology and Director, Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS), Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, and Director, Office of Technology Assessment, German Bundestag, Germany

Review :
‘There is no sector of science and technology so specific that major questions do not arise about which directions to prioritise for progress. Key queries are more about values, interests and politics than technical expertise. To resist authoritarian technocracy, deliberate efforts are essential to balance the powerful forces and privileged interests presently shaping innovation. For decades this has been the core challenge of technology assessment. Here, there could be no better collection of editor, chapters and authors than those behind this rich and authoritative overview of the state of the art.’ ‘Editor Armin Grunwald has assembled a “who’s who” of technology assessment scholars and practitioners for this first, amazingly comprehensive international Handbook of TA. This reflection on and guide to TA could not have arrived at a better time than this moment, disturbed as it is with technological and environmental challenges and the rumblings of world-wide anti-democratic forces. Better TA, as outlined in this volume, could help make a better Anthropocene.’ ‘Modern societies have largely failed to take seriously the challenges of governing technological change for human good. This Handbook provides an essential resource for beginning to redress this failure, by assembling the intellectual building blocks of a technology assessment endeavor that could advance the reconciliation of human ingenuity and collective well-being.’ ‘This is a stunning collection of narratives, analyses, methodologies, and critical philosophical takes on technology assessment theory and practice across as many venues as can be imagined. Impossible to offer any future discourse without referencing this volume.’