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Up and coming: ITA continues parliamentary consultation with current topics

Electric cars are on the rise, but what to do with the batteries? The food industry is undergoing a transformation – new sources of protein will play a major role in the future. The ITA analyses all these and other pressing issues of our time assisting the Austrian parliament.

 29.11.2023
Roof of the parliament building (Photo: Parliament Directorate/Martin Steiger)

The Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences has been supporting the Austrian Parliament with external monitoring since 2017. For the report in the second half of 2023, the following six socio-technical topics were identified as particularly relevant for Austria and the Austrian Parliament

  • Brain organoids
  • Battery systems of the future
  • Protein turnaround - making widespread use of alternative protein sources
  • Forests: fires and restoration
  • Health consequences of digitalisation
  • Collaborative industrial robots

"We are particularly keen to provide the Committee on Research, Innovation and Digitalisation in Parliament with independent expertise. Democratic processes are complex, and fact-based political work is more important today than ever," emphasises ITA Director Michael Nentwich.

All the results that have already been delivered can be viewed on a dedicated space within the website of the Austrian Parliament. These include earlier topics such as "Virtual and augmented realities", "AI and democracy" and "Large heat pumps".