PD Dr.
Director
Michael Nentwich, originally a lawyer, is a science and technology scholar, a passionate technology assessor and, since 2006, the director of the ITA. His main research field in technology assessment is the Internet and its influence on society and science.
Born in 1964 and raised in Vienna, he studied economics at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration, and political science and law at the University of Vienna, where he graduated with an LL.M. in 1988, acquiring his Ph.D in 1995 with a thesis on European food law. In 1989/90 he pursued post-graduate studies at the College of Europe, Bruges (Belgium). In 2004 he received his venia docendi ("habilitation") in Science and Technology Studies (STS) from the University of Vienna on the basis of his book on the impact of the Internet on academia.
Michael Nentwich started his career as junior scientist at the Technology Assessment Unit (TAU, the predecessor of the ITA) in 1990 with projects on environmental impact assessment, loyalty cards, and telecommunication law. Between 1991 and 1996 he worked as a lecturer at the Research Institute for European Affairs of the Vienna University of Economics; in 1994/95 he spent a year abroad as a Human Capital Mobility Fellow at the Universities of Warwick and Essex (England), where he wrote a book on European constitutional development. From 1996 to 2005 he persued research as a junior, later senior scientist at the ITA, mainly in the field of the information society. A further year abroad in 1998/99 as a guest scientist at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Societies, Cologne, was devoted to his research on cyberscience.
Since 2006 he has been the director of the ITA, since 2013 member of the OeAW Commission on Sustainable Mobility. From 2011 to 2015, he was also the deputy chairman of the Conference of the Heads of Research Institutes of the OeAW. Among others he is a member of the scientific advisory board of the Journal for Technology Assessment in Theory and Practice (TATuP).
His publication list includes a number of books, among them the two volumes "Cyberscience. Research in the Age of the Internet" (2003) and "Cyberscience 2.0 –Research in the Age of Digital Social Networks" (2012), as well as numerous articles in scientific journals and edited volumes.
Soziale Medien fassen auch in der Wissenschaft Fuß, denn sie sind für die Kommunikation von Wissenschaftlern untereinander und mit der Öffentlichkeit zumindest teilweise funktional. Dieser Beitrag systematisiert den aktuellen Einsatz sozialer Medien in der Wissenschaft heute, wagt einen Blick in die nahe Zukunft und erörtert die bereits absehbaren Trends im Zusammenhang mit dem zunehmenden Gebrauch von sozialen Netzwerkseiten, Blogs, Microblogs, Wikis, Crowdsourcing-Plattformen etc. für wissenschaftliche Zwecke.
This article describes parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) in relational terms.1 We conceptualize PTA as fulfilling a mediating function between the spheres of parliament, government, science and technology, and society. This mediation is thought to take place through a set of interaction mechanisms on the institutional, organizational and/or project level that enable and constrain the involvement of actors from the above-mentioned four social spheres in shaping the practice of PTA. This enables us to model, map, and analyze how PTA in various European countries and regions is set up to interact with members of parliament, government, science and technology, and society. We found that the possible relationships between the PTA organization and each of the four social spheres have to be analyzed and carefully designed when thinking about setting up PTA. Countries with an interest in setting up PTA are not restricted to existing institutional models, but may create a model that is particularly suited to their own political and societal environment.
This article introduces an inclusive way of modelling (Parliamentary) Technology Assessment, (P)TA as developed in the European PACITA project. It incorporates interdependencies between and diversity among existing and potential (P)TA practices in a more inclusive and fine-grained way than existing literature does. We model (P)TA as a mediating function between the spheres of parliament, government, science and technology, and society. We suggest that this mediation takes place through a set of interaction mechanisms that include institutional, organizational and project dimensions. In this way, we distinguish among 15 potential interaction models for (P)TA. Our more inclusive way of modelling may be used to map and discuss fruitful evolutionary pathways for (P)TA in countries and regions where (P)TA already exists or where the ambassadorship for (P)TA is about to take off. In the conclusion, we reflect on the relevance of our modelling for the discourse on and practice of responsible innovation.
This interdisciplinary, social scientific analysis of the regulatory discourse on nanotechnology in the three German-speaking countries of Germany, Austria and Switzerland and in the EU between 2000 and 2013 has shown three distinct phases, characterised by shifts in the configuration of actors and in the thematic scope from nanotechnology to nano-materials. Compared to modes of governance based on traditional statutory law, modes of governance based on less binding forms of soft law and self-regulation (like codes of conduct, guidelines and certification systems) and newmodes of governance (like assessment studies, risk management frameworks as well as participatory and cooperative forms of communication and negotiation) have gained importance. Despite some similarities, two different cultures in governing nanotechnology can be distinguished: a product-oriented culture in statutory regulations (when speaking about products, the article is also referring to substances) and a risk-based culture in applying soft law based on new modes of governance. In addition, the different regulatory cultures have led to four strategic approaches: modes of governance mainly based on hard law and soft law at the EU level, modes of governance mainly based on cooperative and self-regulatory approaches in Germany, cooperative governance approaches in Austria and modes of governance mainly based on self-regulatory and soft law approaches in Switzerland.
With social network sites (SNS) becoming a pervasive phenomenon, already existing conflicts with privacy are further intensified. As shown in this paper, online and (once) offline contexts increasingly conflate, thereby posing new challenges to the protection of the private sphere. SNS quickly evolve their features and challenge privacy preferences, often without user consent; “social graphs” make social relations extensively transparent; social plugins interconnect user traces from inside and outside the SNS. As large amounts of personal information available in SNS are processed with rich context information, the individual’s informational self-determination is heavily strained. These data attract potential and real observers for behavioural advertising and profiling by security authorities alike. We argue that emerging SNS usage (social plugins, increasing role of biometrics, mobile computing) multiplies privacy challenges as all privacy types become affected. This raises additional demand for public policy to foster privacy-by-design combined with awareness-raising mechanisms to improve informational self-determination.
The OAW has been operating an institutional repository for years, its pub- lishing house is a Romeo green publisher and many OAW publications are freely available in digital format. In 2011 the OAW presiding committee adopted an explicit open access policy, advising its scientific staff to self-archive their publications according to the green road principle. Various organisational and technical measures aim at increasing the self-archiving rate considerably in the future.
This paper argues that the system of formal scholarly publication is entering its third phase of evolution. This phase has not yet taken full shape, but be characterised by a strong de-commodified core with only niches for commercial publishers – in contrast to phase II which was the age of increasing commodification. The main reasons for this development are economic, functional and ideational. The current economic crisis of academic publishing is driving academia to alternative models. From a functional perspective, the advent of E-publishing makes it possible that academia will take over most of what is currently done by the commercial publishers. Finally, the last decade has seen an increasing awareness of the research community that its products should not be treated as a commodity, but should instead be freely available to the whole community.
The scholarly community is witnessing a considerable increase in its daily use of information and communication technologies (ICT). The paper argues, first, that ICT affect virtually all forms of scholarly activity as well as its framework conditions; second, that the manifold developments faced by scholars do not only accelerate communication or increase the publication output, but also have the potential to lead to qualitative changes in research and its organisation.
On the occasion of its first ‘birthday’, I describe in this paper the common access point for a series of high quality online papers in the field of European integration research and its recently established policy vis-à-vis new series to be added to this archive. Reporting on our debates about this ‘enlargement policy’ gives me the opportunity to discuss the wider issue of quality filters in the digital age. I hereby develop several ideal-typical scenarios in order to analyse the balance between, on the one hand, promoting quality and, on the other, providing comprehensive access.
Bislang wurden Dienste auf Basis moderner Informationstechnologie (IT) innerhalb der Verwaltung, wie Cloudcomputing, Automatisierung und Künstliche Intelligenz, hauptsächlich aus den Blickwinkeln der technischen Machbarkeit, der BenutzerInnenfreundlichkeit und der wirtschaftlichen Effizienz betrachtet. Die Perspektive der staatlichen Souveränität, also der digitale Souveränität, steht noch aus. Dieser Artikel ist ein erster Versuch, die zahlreichen Folgen der IT für unser Verständnis der Rolle des Staates im Allgemeinen, der Plattform-Souveränität (Google) und der staatlichen Rolle als Regulator, Dienstleistungsanbieter und Käufer solcher Technologien zu überblicken. Darüber hinaus werden die gesellschaftlichen Folgen und Risiken der digitalen Technologien für politische und administrative Funktionen dargestellt und diskutiert. Die Autoren kommen zum Schluss, dass die Souveränität des Staates im digitalen Zeitalter unter großem Druck steht, sie stellen die entscheidenden Fragen, die in der Folge näher untersucht werden sollten und machen Vorschläge, wie die Gesellschaft mit dieser Herausforderung umgehen könnte.
This paper is a systematic comparison of 15 institutions world-wide, which deliver technology assessment (TA) services to their respective parliaments, i.e. perform parliamentary technology assessment (PTA). The fields of comparison are: the role of the parliamentarians (members of parliament) in the TA process; the institutional location inside or outside the parliament; the competence in the parliament for dealing with TA; the type of financing of PTA activities; the mission of the (P)TA institution; its legal status; how topics are selected; whether the topics have a narrower or wider technology notion; what the time frame for the chosen topics is; the working modes; the methods; the number of staff and budget; and finally how they communicate their results.
Van Est et al. present a ‘relational’ model for analysing technology assessment (TA) institutions. Expanding on metaphor of TA as a bridge between science, society and policy, the authors describe how such bridges are established in terms of network relations. European TA institutions in various ways link parliaments and governments with civil society and science. In part, TA projects provide such linkages, but importantly, TA institutions in themselves also provide informal personal links between societal spheres. With in-depth examples from diffrent European member states, Van Est et al. provide institutional entrepreneurs with rich material for imagining institutional TA arrangements that might fi within their own national arenas.
Nentwich gives an in-depth account of developments within the TA community towards a common e-infrastructure for technology assessment (TA). The author argues that while technology development is genuinely international, there are too few endeavours to address technology assessment (TA) issues internationally; likewise, there are no sustainable online platforms for knowledge sharing, dissemination and public debate as yet. The PACITA project partners therefore worked to establish such an infrastructure by means which the article details. Creating and sustaining a strong, interactive e-infrastructure for cross-European TA is both greatly challenging and worthwhile as it would ultimately help to nuance and possibly even democratize European science, technology and innovation policy. Nentwich therefore argues for the continuation of these efforts by central actors in and supporters of TA.
Um nachhaltiges individuelles Verkehrsverhalten zu erreichen, ist es wesentlich, Probleme im aktuellen Verkehrssystem, die ein Hemmnis für nachhaltige Mobilität darstellen, zu analysieren, um entsprechende technische und organisatorische Lösungen sowie begleitende gesellschaftspolitische Maßnahmen (etwa auch zur Förderung sozialer Innovationen) vorschlagen zu können. Das vorliegende Diskussionspapier versucht dies auf folgende Weise zu erreichen: Es werden zunächst die zukünftigen Entwicklungen im Verkehrssektor und Mobilitätsbereich abgeschätzt, wobei verschiedene Facetten des Mobilitätsbedürfnisses, Fragen der Raumordnung, neue Verkehrs- und Mobilitätskonzepte und Alternativen zu gegenwärtigen Formen von Mobilität und Verkehr eine Rolle spielen. Ausgehend von der Erörterung jener Faktoren, die Mobilitätsentscheidungen und Verkehrsmittelwahl beeinflussen oder prägen und welchen Einfluss diese auf dem Weg zu nachhaltiger Mobilität und zu nachhaltigem Verkehr haben, werden anschließend Umsetzungsfragen erörtert und sowohl technologische Möglichkeiten und Wege zur Verhaltens- und Lebensstiländerung, als auch die gesellschaftlichen Kräfte, die dabei eine Rolle spielen, sowie politisch-rechtliche Rahmenbedingungen und wirtschaftliche Fragen betrachtet. Abschließend werden Lösungsempfehlungen aus dem hier gewählten Zugang und den absehbaren Trends formuliert.
Nanotechnology products, processes and applications have the potential to make important contributions to environmental and climate protection by helping save raw materials, energy and water as well as by reducing greenhouse gases and problematic wastes.
Emphasis is often placed on the sustainable potential of nanotechnology, but this in fact represents a poorly documented expectation. Determining a product’s actual effect on the environment – both positive and negative – requires considering the entire life cycle from the production of the base materials to disposal at the end of its useful life. Only few life cycle analyses have been conducted, but some show clearly reduced environmental impacts or energy and resource savings for certain products that use nanomaterials or nanotechnology processes. Nonetheless, not every “nano-product” is a priori environmentally friendly or sustainable, and the production of nanomaterials often requires large amounts of energy, water and environmentally problematic chemicals.
There is currently no clear evidence that engineered nanoparticles (ENPs) pose a significant threat to the environment. Nonetheless, major gaps in our knowledge exist, espially in the fields of environmental analytics, ecotoxicology, evironmental exposure and fate and behavior of synthetic nanomaterials in natural environmental compartments (air, water, soil and sediment). Findings of ecotoxicological research of selected nanomaterials – carbon nanotubes (CNTs), nanosilver, nano-titan dioxide (nano-TiO2) are pointed out.
Die Analyse nanotechnologiespezifischer Regulierungsdiskurse der Jahre 2000 bis 2012 in den drei deutschsprachigen Ländern Deutschland, Österreich, der Schweiz und auf EU-Ebene hat eine thematische Einengung von Nanotechnologie zu Nanomaterialien und eine damit verbundene Verschiebung der Akteurskonstellationen über drei Phasen gezeigt. Abschätzungsstudien, informelle und selbstregulatorische Steuerungsansätze sowie partizipative und kooperative Verständigungs- und Aushandlungsformen gewannen im Vergleich zu traditionellem legislativem Handeln an Bedeutung. Trotz gewisser Übereinstimmungen und Vermischungen ließen sich zwei grundsätzlich verschiedene nanotechnologiebezogene Regulierungskulturen feststellen: eine anwendungsorientierte auf EU-Ebene, und eine risikobasierte auf Staatenebene. Die verschiedenen Regulierungskulturen führten in den untersuchten Fällen zu vier unterschiedlichen strategischen Ansätzen: gesetzliche und informelle Regulierung auf EU-Ebene, kooperativer und selbstregulatorischer Ansatz in Deutschland, kooperativer Ansatz in Österreich und selbstregulatorischer und informeller Ansatz in der Schweiz.
Kennzeichnung ist Teil des Risikomanagements. In der Regel werden damit unterschiedliche Ziele verfolgt: Einerseits sollen Kennzeichnungen den Verbraucherinnen und Verbrauchern mündige Kaufentscheidungen ermöglichen und sie vor irreführender Information schützen; andererseits sollen sie durch einen sicheren Rechtsrahmen innovative Produktentwicklung ermöglichen und fördern. Konsumentinnen und Konsumenten werden damit in das Risikomanagement verschiedener Produktgruppen mit einbezogen. Die Kennzeichnung nanomaterialhaltiger Produkte war von Anfang an Bestandteil des Nanoregulierungsdiskurses sowohl auf nationaler als auch auf EU-Ebene. Während die Mitgliedstaaten auf nationale Alleingänge bislang verzichteten, finden nanospezifische Kennzeichnungspflichten zunehmend Eingang in das EU-Recht, vorerst in den Bereichen Kosmetika, Lebensmittel und Biozidprodukte. Darüber hinausgehende internationale Initiativen zur freiwilligen Kennzeichnung konnten sich bislang nicht am Markt durchsetzen.
Cloud Computing and Social Network Sites (SNS) are some of the most controversially discussed IT developments in recent years. Huge expectations exist for Cloud Computing, providing lower costs of computing while increasing employment. However, Cloud Computing as well as the use of SNS may come with a substantial risk of losing data privacy. The project conducted on Cloud Computing Services and Social Network Sites addressed the potential and impacts of these technologies. The project report showed that (1) adequate data security and privacy are critical but difficult to achieve, that (2) more consumer protection is needed and that (3) the market for Cloud Computing is not growing as fast as initially forecast, resulting in a lower than expected increase of employment and lower contribution to GDP growth.
Social network sites (SNS) have not only become a fundamental part of the Web, but also increasingly offer novel communicative and networking possibilities for academia. Following a short presentation of the typical functions of (science-specific) SNS, we firstly present the state of knowledge regarding academic usage practices, both in general purpose SNS and in science-specific SNS. Secondly, we assess potential impacts by addressing identified key issues such as privacy, the role of pseudonymity, and the specific form of informal communication in question. In particular, we focus on the issue of network effects and the challenge of multiple channels, which presents itself as a major hurdle for an effective implementation of SNS in academia. Despite hese difficulties, we come to the conclusion that SNS are, in principle, functional for scholarly communication and that they have serious potential within academia.
Social network sites (SNS) have become a fundamental part of the Web. These sites offer novel communicative possibilities; above all they link-up its members and map their offline networks. This paper discusses their potential for academic communication. First we focus on academic usage practices both in general purpose SNS, such as Facebook, and in science-specific SNS, such as Research-Gate. Second, we assess potential impacts by addressing issues such as privacy, the role of pseudonymity, the impact on informal communication, and the need to observe multiple channels. Our case study shows that SNS are, in principle, functional for academic communication and that they have a serious potential in academia, despite some hurdles and as yet only cautious use by researchers.
Das Internet mit seinen Potenzialen an digitaler Vernetzung, Publikationsmöglichkeiten und Kommunikationsformen verändert die Forschung und ihre Ergebnisse nachhaltig. Wissenschaftler und Wissenschaftlerinnen twittern und bloggen, arbeiten in spezialisierten digitalen Netzwerken zusammen und nutzen Wikipedia. Zugleich dringen große Internetakteure wie etwa Google immer mehr in den akademischen Sektor ein. Das Buch analysiert die aktuellen technisch-sozialen Entwicklungen im Internet sowie ihre Auswirkungen auf die Arbeit von Wissenschaftlern.
The vision of drone-based delivery is not without presuppositions. To realise it, many technical and regulatory obstacles have to be overcome. Given the considerable depth of engagement – considering that the airspace around us, which was so far used by birds and occasional helicopters only, would change profoundly – a number of typical technology assessment (TA) questions are on the table: Are there safety concerns? Are there environmental risks? Could criminals or terrorists misuse the technology? Are we in the face of a societal conflict given the divergent interests involved? Does the current regulatory framework suffice, or do we need new rules?
Cloud computing and social network websites (SNS) are part of the same societal transformation prominently exemplifying a paradigm shift stating that “the network is the computer”1. While cloud computing includes a variety of technical concepts, SNS represent a broad scope of services and applications addressing mostly end-users. Interrelations are particularly given as regards privacy and security challenges. This is also a core part of this report as privacy is among the heavily debated concepts of our contemporary societies – highlighted in particular by SNS.
The report is structured in four main parts: The first part (Sections 1-3) gives a broad overview on the evolution of SNS describing the main stages in the development process, the major factors determining the current state-of-the-art including insights into user motivations. Section 3 presents the main driving factors determining the current SNS, their main characteristics as well as core functionality of SNS. Based on these elaborations the second part (Section 4) gives an overview on the spectrum of identified societal impacts, discusses the role of SNS as a form of a (digital) semi-public space, as well as their potential for political participation and knowledge production. Section 5 analyses in more depth the privacy implications of SNS including some technical aspects and privacy-by-design concepts. The final Section 6 summarizes the key findings and draws conclusions referring to possible options to address the challenges identified.
Cloud Computing and Social Network Sites (SNS) are among the most controversially discussed developments in recent years. The opportunities of using powerful computing resources on demand via the web are considered as a possible driver for the growth of the European economy. However, there are also critics arguing that economic, social and technical risks prevail or even dismiss the potentials of Cloud Computing and SNS. This project sheds light on these aspects and analysed more specifically, the latest technological and economic developments, driving factors and barriers in Europe, the main actors and their respective interests, the impacts on citizens, business and public administrations and, a broad range of technical, economic, cultural, legal, regulatory issues and their impacts. It showed that at the moment, there is a chance to achieve multiple Cloud Computing and SNS related goals simultaneously. There are no contradictions between assuring European citizens, secure, privacy aware, legally certain and fair use of Cloud Computing and SNS and in increasing the competitiveness of European ICT industries. Moreover it is possible to exploit the potential of Cloud Computing and SNS to the benefit of both the European economy and society at large. Based on this a set of options for European policy makers grouped into four themes with in total 16 options was derived.
Make security a commodity
1. Support the development of open and secure software and hardware and encryption methods.
2. Encourage the use of checklists and security certifications.
3. Assess the economic viability of large hardware security modules.
4. Initiate a dialogue on the structure and governance of the Future Internet.
Establish privacy as a location advantage
5. Proceed with the modernization of data protection.
6. Establish the principles of security and privacy by design.
7. Support the creation of a European Data Protection Board.
8. Ensure the extrate
Cloud Computing and Social Network Sites (SNS) are among the most controversially discussed developments in recent years. They are both part of the same societal transformation referring to a paradigm shift stating that “the network is the computer”. The opportunities of using powerful computing resources on demand via the web are considered as a possible driver for the growth of the European economy. Especially cost savings as well as increased productivity and mobility are seen as key elements by many experts. However, there are also critics arguing that economic, social and technical risks prevail or even dismiss the potentials of Cloud Computing and SNS. This project sheds light on these aspects and analyses the potentials and impacts of these developments. This includes a review of the technological and economic developments Cloud Computing is based on, an identification of driving factors and barriers for Cloud Computing in Europe as well as of main actors and their interests; and an analysis of impacts on citizens, business (including the IT industry itself) and public administration including a broad range of technical, economic, cultural, legal, regulatory issues and the impacts on society and economy as a whole. Cloud Computing not least includes a variety of technical concepts that alter computing infrastructures. SNS represent a prominent phenomenon grounding on Cloud Computing with a wide array of services and applications mainly focussed on end-users. Particular interrelations are given in terms of privacy and security challenges which are main issues addressed by the analysis of SNS related impacts.
-> Electromagnetic fields have already been considered a potential health risk with previous generations of mobile radio communication. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified mobile phone radiation as “possibly carcinogenic”. To this day, experts continue to discuss this topic with much controversy. -> 5G, the latest generation of mobile phone networks, promises to transmit larger amounts of data with lower latency. Industry 4.0, augmented reality games or the Internet of things rely on such higher performance. -> The assessment of risks and gaps of knowledge enables precautionary regulation and a prudent approach to 5G
-> Digitisation also changes politics and the state. State sovereignty is massively challenged, especially with regard to administrative action, digital infrastructure, and democratic processes.
-> Digital sovereignty refers to the exclusive self-determination of legal entities such as states and natural persons under the conditions of digitisation.
-> In order to (re)establish digital sovereignty, it is necessary to act consistently on various levels (national and international), both in technical, organisational and regulatory terms, and not least in public discourse.
Digitalisierung verändert auch Politik und Staat. Die staatliche Souveränität ist massiv herausgefordert, insbesondere im Hinblick auf das Verwaltungshandeln, die digitale Infrastruktur und demokratische Prozesse.
Digitale Souveränität bezeichnet die ausschließliche Selbstbestimmung von Rechtssubjekten wie
Staaten und natürlichen Personen unter den Bedingungen der Digitalisierung.
Um digitale Souveränität (wieder) herzustellen, ist konsequentes Agieren auf verschiedenen
Ebenen (national und international) notwendig, sowohl in technischer und organisatorischer als
auch in regulativer Hinsicht und nicht zuletzt im öffentlichen Diskurs.
-> Große Online-Händler, Postunternehmen und zahlreiche Startups weltweit entwickeln und testen die Lieferung von Paketen mittels Drohnen.
-> Obwohl die Technologie noch nicht ausgereift ist, ist es machbar. In den meisten Ländern erlaubt das Gesetz allerdings keine autonom fliegenden Drohnen; spezifische Luftverkehrsregeln müssten noch erarbeitet werden.
-> Ein Himmel voller Drohnen hätten eine Reihe von Folgen für Umwelt und Sicherheit, sowie gesellschaftliche und ethische Auswirkungen. Daher besteht öffentlicher Diskussionsbedarf über Umsetzung und Regulierung.
-> Worldwide, large online retailers, postal operators and numerous start-ups are developing and testing drone-operated parcel deliveries.
-> Despite technology not having been fully developed, feasibility has been demonstrated. However, in most countries, the law does not yet allow autonomous drones; specific air traffic rules would have to be developed.
-> Omnipresent drone flights would have a series of environmental, safety, ethical, and societal implications that stipulate a need for public debate before implementation and regulation.
-> Electromagnetic fields have already been considered a potential health risk with previous generations of mobile radio communication. In 2011, the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified mobile phone radiation as “possibly carcinogenic”. To this day, experts continue to discuss this topic with much controversy. -> 5G, the latest generation of mobile phone networks, promises to transmit larger amounts of data with lower latency. Industry 4.0, augmented reality games or the Internet of things rely on such higher performance. -> The assessment of risks and gaps of knowledge enables precautionary regulation and a prudent approach to 5G
-> Digitisation also changes politics and the state. State sovereignty is massively challenged, especially with regard to administrative action, digital infrastructure, and democratic processes.
-> Digital sovereignty refers to the exclusive self-determination of legal entities such as states and natural persons under the conditions of digitisation.
-> In order to (re)establish digital sovereignty, it is necessary to act consistently on various levels (national and international), both in technical, organisational and regulatory terms, and not least in public discourse.
Digitalisierung verändert auch Politik und Staat. Die staatliche Souveränität ist massiv herausgefordert, insbesondere im Hinblick auf das Verwaltungshandeln, die digitale Infrastruktur und demokratische Prozesse.
Digitale Souveränität bezeichnet die ausschließliche Selbstbestimmung von Rechtssubjekten wie
Staaten und natürlichen Personen unter den Bedingungen der Digitalisierung.
Um digitale Souveränität (wieder) herzustellen, ist konsequentes Agieren auf verschiedenen
Ebenen (national und international) notwendig, sowohl in technischer und organisatorischer als
auch in regulativer Hinsicht und nicht zuletzt im öffentlichen Diskurs.
-> Große Online-Händler, Postunternehmen und zahlreiche Startups weltweit entwickeln und testen die Lieferung von Paketen mittels Drohnen.
-> Obwohl die Technologie noch nicht ausgereift ist, ist es machbar. In den meisten Ländern erlaubt das Gesetz allerdings keine autonom fliegenden Drohnen; spezifische Luftverkehrsregeln müssten noch erarbeitet werden.
-> Ein Himmel voller Drohnen hätten eine Reihe von Folgen für Umwelt und Sicherheit, sowie gesellschaftliche und ethische Auswirkungen. Daher besteht öffentlicher Diskussionsbedarf über Umsetzung und Regulierung.
-> Worldwide, large online retailers, postal operators and numerous start-ups are developing and testing drone-operated parcel deliveries.
-> Despite technology not having been fully developed, feasibility has been demonstrated. However, in most countries, the law does not yet allow autonomous drones; specific air traffic rules would have to be developed.
-> Omnipresent drone flights would have a series of environmental, safety, ethical, and societal implications that stipulate a need for public debate before implementation and regulation.
-> Robots are expanding beyond factory spaces for car assembly or product delivery into transportation, healthcare and housework.
-> Rapid progress in software algorithms allows the automation of tasks in middle-income jobs that originally required human training, practice and knowledge.
-> Online platforms are shifting firm and sectoral boundaries, and opening them up to more competition under much less regulation.
-> These changes hold opportunities for domestic industries; however, there are uncertainties in the degree to which this will affect overall employment.
-> What do governments need to do to ensure that these changes raise, rather than lower, economic and social well-being?
-> Roboter verbreiten sich über die Fahrzeugfabriken und Logistikzentren hinaus in die Bereiche Verkehr, Pflege und Haushalt.
-> Der schnelle Fortschritt bei Softwarealgorithmen erlaubt die Automatisierung von Aufgaben, die früher menschliches Wissen, Erfahrung und Training erforderten.
-> Online-Plattformen durchdringen Firmen- und sektorale Grenzen und öffnen Märkte für mehr Wettbewerb bei weniger Regulierung.
-> Diese Entwicklungen versprechen Chancen für die heimische Industrie; das Ausmaß der Folgen für den Arbeitsmarkt ist jedoch noch unklar.
-> Was müssen Regierungen tun, um sicherzustellen, dass sich diese Veränderungen positiv auf Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft auswirken?
Um die Sichtbarkeit von Technikfolgenabschätzung in der Wissenschaft und der interessierten Öffentlichkeit zu erhöhen, wurde Ende 2012 das DFG-geförderte Projekt »Kooperativer Aufbau eines Fachportals Technikfolgenabschätzung auf Basis dezentraler Informationsressourcen«, kurz openTA, begonnen. Auf europäischer Ebene verfolgt das EU-Projekt »Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment« (PACITA) das Ziel, die Kapazitäten und institutionellen Voraussetzungen für wissensbasierte politische Entscheidungsfindung zu erweitern und die parlamentarische TA in Europa zu fördern. In diesem Zusammenhang ist das PACITA TA-Portal entstanden, das in gewisser Weise die europäische Sicht auf TA im Web ergänzt. Entwicklungsstand und Nutzungsmöglichkeiten beider Portale sind Gegenstand dieses Beitrags.
-> „Responsible Research and Innovation“ (RRI), also der Anspruch, Forschung, Technologie und Innovation (FTI) verantwortungsvoll zu gestalten, steht ganz oben auf der Tagesordnung der europäischen Forschungspolitik.
-> FTI-AkteurInnen sollen wesentlich zur Lösung der großen gesellschaftlichen Herausforderungen beitragen. Neben dem ökonomischen soll insbesondere der gesellschaftliche Nutzen von Technologien berücksichtigt werden.
-> Für den Erfolg von RRI müssen EntscheidungsträgerInnen den Rahmen für FTI-Politik neu ausrichten. Die EU hat hierfür einige Vorschläge ausgearbeitet. Diese sollten jedoch weiterentwickelt und an nationale Bedingungen angepasst werden.
-> Nowadays, social network sites (SNS) such as Facebook or Twitter are ubiquitous. They increasingly develop into platforms combining many services.
-> SNS endanger privacy to a large extent as the relationships, contents and interactions displayed there can be matched to individuals.
-> The right of informational self-determination – that is the right to decide oneself about the disclosure and usage of one’s personal data – can hardly be exercised in a world characterised by SNS. In addition, this is aggravated by providers’ terms of use and business models, which favour large-scale linking-up.
-> Not least the recently discovered surveillance scandals underline the pressing need to design SNS in a privacy-enhancing manner. Privacy-by-design is essential when it comes to re-establishing the trust of the users.
-> Soziale Netzwerkseiten (SNS) wie z.B. Facebook oder Twitter sind heute allgegenwärtig. Sie entwickeln sich zunehmend zu Plattformen, die viele Dienste miteinander verknüpfen.
-> SNS berühren in hohem Maße die Privatsphäre, da die darin abgebildeten Beziehungen, Inhalte und Interaktionen Individuen zugeordnet werden können.
-> Das Recht auf informationelle Selbstbestimmung – also das Recht, selbst über die Preisgabe und Verwendung seiner personenbezogenen Daten zu bestimmen – ist in einer durch SNS geprägten Welt schwer durchsetzbar. Zusätzlich erschweren das die auf breite Vernetzung ausgelegten Nutzungsbedingungen und Geschäftsmodelle der Anbieter.
-> Dies, sowie die jüngst bekannt gewordenen Überwachungsskandale, machen den dringenden Bedarf nach einer die Privatsphäre fördernden Gestaltung von SNS („Privacy-by-Design“) deutlich. Privacy-by-Design ist entscheidend, um das Vertrauen der NutzerInnen wiederherzustellen.
-> Today, the Internet is an important working environment for all scientists and researchers. They also increasingly use Web 2.0, mainly on an experimental basis. There are also research-specific services with special features for closed groups. By now, some of these platforms have more than a million members worldwide.
-> Web 2.0 has the potential to change science and research: the relationship with the public is redefined; written micro-communication is intensified; web activities affect the standing of the scientists.
-> Using Web 2.0 services intensively leads to par- tial loss of control over information input and a possible information overload for the individual.
Tel.: +43 1 515 81-6583
Fax: +43 1 515 81-6570
Apostelgasse 23, 1030 Vienna
mnent(at)oeaw.ac.at
