From 2 to 4 June, the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences, together with the Global TA Network, is hosting the first worldwide TA conference in Vienna. The programme features more than 80 presentations, workshops and discussion panels, with topics including current research on digitalisation, quantum technology, hypes in the technosciences and climate-relevant technologies.

Researchers from the USA, Canada, Latin America, Africa, Asia, Europe, Australia and even Oceania participate on-site as well as remotely. "Although technology assessment originated in the Western world, came from the USA and established itself in Europe, it has now become a global trend. The great interest in this conference shows the demand for science-based policy advice on technology issues from different perspectives and in different cultures and political systems", says ITA director, Michael Nentwich, who is organising the event together with his local team and an international advisory board.

Creating impact, but how?

How is technology assessment, that is, science-based policy advice on issues related to emerging technologies, practiced worldwide? How are international organisations involved, and what conditions ensure that TA succeeds in various geopolitical contexts as well as on a global scale? Insights on these and other topics will be provided by Julia Hahn (Germany), co-founder of the globalTA network, science-diplomat Krishna Ravi Srinivas (India), Karen Howard (USA), director of the US parliamentary TA institution, Mahlet Teshome (Ethiopia), who works at the African Union, and Peta Ashworth from Curtin University (Australia), who has been observing the international TA scene for a long time. Another highlight will be a keynote given by the Chilean expert on parliamentary TA, Raimundo Roberts, who will shed light on TA from the perspective of Latin America. Other interesting formats include, for example, a workshop on effective communication or a presentation on the development of global strategies for problems such as food shortages or pandemics.

Challenges of Digitisation

Numerous lectures address structures, standards and regulations needed to prevent negative effects of digitalisation, particularly in the context of global impact chains and regional value systems. Maria Maia and Claudia Brädle (Portugal/Germany) have organised a session on ethics within European research on artificial intelligence in health and healthcare, but also genome editing and biobanking, that is the collection of biological materials. Astrid Mager, a long-standing TA expert at ITA and co-founder of the Commission ‘Democracy in Digital Societies’ (DEMGES) at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, adds insights on reconciling regional value systems and universal standards in a global context. Christoph Henrich (Fiji) reports on climate technologies in the Pacific, and Marko Monteiro (Brazil) looks at system resilience using the example of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Let’s discuss!

Sessions on hypes and their impact on technology development and TA and quantum technologies also promise to be exciting. An interactive panel explores which instituional structures are necessary for a successful assessment. The event will conclude with a round table discussion with experts from international organisations, chaired by Douglas Robinson (OECD).

"We are very pleased that we have succeeded in bringing TA experts from around the world to Vienna for this exciting event. It will always be important for a democratic societies to assure that socio-technical innovation benefits people and the environment. But we still have a lot to learn about how to fully address its global dimensions. This is why face-to-face interaction on an international level is so important", says Karen Kastenhofer, co-organiser of the conference and deputy director of the ITA.