In the July issue of TATuP, the international journal for technology assessment, Tanja Sinozic and Michael Ornetzeder from the Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) critically analyse their experiences with the Salzburg housing pilot project "Rosa Zukunft" („Pink Future“). The central question here is to what extent sector coupling can work if more experience is needed at the legislative and regulatory level in order to compensate for deficits at an early stage. Ornetzeder is also co-editor of the Special Topic "Converging Infrastructures: Amplified Socio-Technical Problems".
Clean energy for s pink future
"Sector coupling, that is the integration of different sectors to increase the production of renewable energies, is considered desirable at political level in order to mitigate the consequences of climate change. For successful implementation, however, we must be able to convince developers, industry and users at home through clear communication and an efficient strategy. The province of Salzburg is trying to do this in the "Rosa Zukunft" housing estate by using photovoltaics, electromobility and energy monitoring, among other things. However, misunderstandings arose in the initial phase: Some residents lost track of where the electricity came from and who they were paying. This shows that transparency and communication are just as important as political will and a functioning infrastructure," explains Ornetzeder.
Safety in the food sector
In a globalised world, the path of food between production and consumers is not always comprehensible, argues Mashid Sotoudeh in her contribution on food safety. Digital mechanisms such as online trading should also be treated with caution from a data protection perspective. For Sotoudeh, therefore, a new trust structure is needed between those actors responsible for product quality and data security.
5G and health
Does 5G harm our health? Karen Kastenhofer and Michael Nentwich present their current ITA study for the Austrian Parliament on "5G and Health" and further ask what role technology assessment plays within this Europe-wide development. "To what extent 5G harms or benefits us has not yet been sufficiently researched", says Kastenhofer. It would therefore be even more important to take precautionary principles such as radiation emission limits and a regular review of standards into account.