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Our research on Covid-19

Since 2020, the world has been confronted with a pandemic of unprecedented proportions. The scientific community is involved in tackling the complex challenges posed by the corona crisis. The Institute of Technology Assessment (ITA) of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) is dealing with issues at the crossroads between science, politics and the public. Our goal is to promote a development that is also societally acceptable.

 07.12.2020

International Cooperation

The ITA is part of the transnational initiative "ROCOCO - Research for orientation and cooperation after the COVID-19 crisis", supports the Dutch Rathenau Institute in setting up an online review service on Covid-19 tracing apps on behalf of the European Commission, and participated in the organisation of the "Living with Corona" conference at the Austrian Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS). ITA staff members also act as experts in the public domain and publish scientific publications.

The City of Vienna and Corona

ITA researchers have also participated in Covid-19 specific funding calls by submitting project proposals and have already started a first Covid-19 specific research project on behalf of the City of Vienna.

Navigating a crisis through expertise

More than ever before, new questions concerning the corona pandemic require interdisciplinary expertise. At the theoretical level, the ITA has special competence in questions of quality assurance of evidence-based policy and the specific role of experts, the consideration of knowledge gaps, uncertainties and normative ambivalences. On the methodological level, the ITA is characterised by special competence in the organisation of expert, stakeholder and public participation. Thematically, it is concerned with the evaluation and socially acceptable development of technological solution components (such as tracing apps), and with the consequences of the Covid 19 pandemic on politics and the field of technological innovation.  (KK, DR)