openTA - Fachportal Technikfolgenabsch�tzung

Technological progress has a massive impact on the way we live together on Earth.
This affects people and nature. Time to take a closer look.

Identifying the opportunities and risks of technologies.

Technological progress has massively changed us as individuals, society as a whole, but also the planet itself. It enables modern lifestyles and creates prosperity, for example, through new technologies in the fields of energy, digitalization, mobility, and medicine.

However, the consequences are not only positive: Think of climate change, the debates about the final disposal of radioactive waste, or the spread of manipulated information on the internet.

But how can we recognize the effects of technology in good time? What do we need to pay attention to when dealing with the many possible futures? And how can this knowledge be communicated in such a way that it can be used for the good of all?

This is where technology assessment ? often abbreviated to ?TA? ? comes in. It is motivated by the desire to use scientific methods to identify the opportunities and risks of new technologies before they take effect.

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Key features of technology assessment

The subject of its research is all areas of scientific and technological progress and the associated social developments.

It employs scientific methods and bases its analyses on findings from research.

It is concerned with research for action that supports public opinion forming and political decision making with its findings.

It aims to help shape future technologies and innovations in line with social values such as democracy and sustainable development.

It conducts forward-looking research, that is, it uses future-oriented approaches and methods.

Its approach is inter- and transdisciplinary, which means that researchers from different disciplines work hand in hand and also involve citizens and practitioners.

It understands technology consequences not simply as the consequences of technology, but as the interplay of technology and people. Ultimately, it is people who develop and use technologies.

With newly developed degree programs and the possibility of doing a doctorate and habilitation, technology assessment is gradually developing into an academic discipline.

However, its orientation makes it much more than a purely academic subject. Because in addition to scientific quality, the effectiveness of its findings has always been part of TA?s self-image.

Methoden f�r die Technikfolgenabsch�tzung

Bew�hrte Praxis, aktuelle Herausforderungen, neue Chancen

Methoden sind f�r die Technikfolgenabsch�tzung (TA) von zentraler Bedeutung. Wissen �ber Folgen und Risiken von Technik muss erzeugt, diskutiert, bewertet und vermittelt werden. Die TA greift dabei auf eine Vielzahl von wissensgenerierenden, kollaborativen und kommunikativen Methoden zur�ck, wobei sich diese st�ndig weiterentwickeln und neue Methoden hinzukommen. Das Buch reflektiert den aktuellen Stand der Methodendiskussion in der TA und diskutiert zuk�nftige Herausforderungen. In f�nf thematischen Abschnitten werden die Themen ?Anspruch der Methoden in der TA?, ?konzeptionelle �berlegungen?, ?k�nstliche Intelligenz als Thema und Methode der TA?, ?Methoden im Transformationskontext? sowie ?methodische Innovationen? behandelt. Die Beitr�ge in diesem Sammelband zielen darauf ab, die methodischen Grundlagen in der TA weiterzuentwickeln und damit ihre Bedeutung f�r die Gestaltung der Zukunft zu st�rken.

Technikfolgenabsch�tzung

Handbook for science and practice

The complexity of socio-technical challenges and the uncertainty of decisions are increasing, and so is the need for knowledge-based and optional assessment and advice. Technology assessment (TA) can provide alternative approaches and perspectives on current decision-making situations.

Open Access

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.

Wissenschaftliche Technikfolgenabsch�tzung

Technology assessment has diversified considerably since its beginnings and has become a broad field, ranging from the organization and documentation of expert hearings within parliaments to basic research. TA conducted at scientific institutions, in particular, is diverse. This article attempts to describe and categorize this diversity of scientific TA and draw conclusions for practice.

Open Access

Technikfolgenabsch�tzung

Introduction

Among other things, the textbook shows how Technology Assessment (TA) can contribute to the responsible, democratic and sustainable design of technological progress in a forward-looking and participatory way, which profoundly and rapidly changes life, society and the environment. Digitalisation, the energy transition and genetic engineering are some examples.

Technological progress has a massive impact on the way we live together on Earth. This affects people and nature. Time to take a closer look.

Identifying the opportunities and risks of technologies.

Key features of technology assessment

Technological progress has a massive impact on the way we live together on Earth.
This affects people and nature. Time to take a closer look.