Shaping Science and Technology Policy


Book Description

With scientific progress occurring at a breathtaking pace, science and technology policy has never been more important than it is today. Yet there is a very real lack of public discourse about policy-making, and government involvement in science remains shrouded in both mystery and misunderstanding. Who is making choices about technology policy, and who stands to win or lose from these choices? What criteria are being used to make decisions and why? Does government involvement help or hinder scientific research? Shaping Science and Technology Policy brings together an exciting and diverse group of emerging scholars, both practitioners and academic experts, to investigate current issues in science and technology policy. Essays explore such topics as globalization, the shifting boundary between public and private, informed consent in human participation in scientific research, intellectual property and university science, and the distribution of the costs and benefits of research. Contributors: Charlotte Augst, Grant Black, Mark Brown, Kevin Elliott, Patrick Feng, Pamela M. Franklin, Carolyn Gideon, Tené N. Hamilton, Brian A. Jackson, Shobita Parthasarathy, Jason W. Patton, A. Abigail Payne, Bhaven Sampat, Christian Sandvig, Sheryl Winston Smith, Michael Whong-Barr




Shaping Science


Book Description

In Shaping Science, Janet Vertesi draws on a decade of immersive ethnography with NASA’s robotic spacecraft teams to create a comparative account of two great space missions of the early 2000s. Although these missions featured robotic explorers on the frontiers of the solar system bravely investigating new worlds, their commands were issued from millions of miles away by a very human team. By examining the two teams’ formal structures, decision-making techniques, and informal work practices in the day-to-day process of mission planning, Vertesi shows just how deeply entangled a team’s local organizational context is with the knowledge they produce about other worlds. Using extensive, embedded experiences on two NASA spacecraft teams, this is the first book to apply organizational studies of work to the laboratory environment in order to analyze the production of scientific knowledge itself. Engaging and deeply researched, Shaping Science demonstrates the significant influence that the social organization of a scientific team can have on the practices of that team and the results they yield.




Science and Technology Policymaking: A Primer


Book Description

Contents: Overview of U.S. Science and Technology Policy; What are Some Perspectives on Science and Technology Policy?; Who Makes Decisions Regarding Science and Technology Policy in Congress?; Who Makes Decisions Regarding Science and Technology Policy in the Executive Branch?; Who Makes Decisions in the Judicial Branch Regarding Science and Technology Policy?; What Organizations Provide Science and Technology Advice to Policymakers?; What Are the Opportunities and Challenges of the Current Science and Technology Policy Decisionmaking Process?. Charts and tables.




Science and Technology Policy in the United States


Book Description

During the latter half of the twentieth century, federal funding in the United States for scientific research and development increased dramatically. Yet despite the infusion of public funds into research centers, the relationship between public policy and research and development remains poorly understood. How does the federal government attempt to harness scientific knowledge and resources for the nation's economic welfare and competitiveness in the global marketplace? Who makes decisions about controversial scientific experiments, such as genetic engineering and space exploration? Who is held accountable when things go wrong? In this lucidly-written introduction to the topic, Sylvia Kraemer draws upon her extensive experience in government to develop a useful and powerful framework for thinking about the American approach to shaping and managing scientific innovation. Kraemer suggests that the history of science, technology, and politics is best understood as a negotiation of ongoing tensions between open and closed systems. Open systems depend on universal access to information that is complete, verifiable, and appropriately used. Closed systems, in contrast, are composed of unique and often proprietary features, which are designed to control usage. From the Constitution's patent clause to current debates over intellectual property, stem cells, and internet regulation, Kraemer shows the promise-as well as the limits-of open systems in advancing scientific progress as well as the nation's economic vitality.




Going Digital: Shaping Policies, Improving Lives


Book Description

This report identifies seven policy dimensions that allow governments – together with citizens, firms and stakeholders – to shape digital transformation to improve lives. It also highlights key opportunities, challenges and policies related to each dimension, offers new insights, evidence and analysis, and provides recommendations for better policies in the digital age.




Shaping Technology, Guiding Policy


Book Description

This text evolved from the European COST A4 Action on the Social Shaping of Technology 1991-9, a coordinated effort of national scientific and technical research conducted on a European level. In this collection of 13 essays, 15 international scholars explore several issues regarding social shaping technology (SST), including the development of SST as a research area; the main concepts and approaches emerging within the area of SST; the new explanatory frameworks, concepts and tools which have recently emerged; and how these findings contribute to policy and public and commercial intervention around technological innovation. For academics and researchers in science and technology studies, technology policy, and the management of technology, and for technology policymakers and practitioners. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR







Shaping the Message, Distorting the Science


Book Description




Navigating the Maze


Book Description

Navigating the Maze: How Science and Technology Policies Shape America and the World offers a captivating deep dive into the inner workings of the world of public policy. Written by prominent science advocate and renowned physics researcher and educator, Michael S. Lubell, this valuable book provides insights and real-world examples for anyone looking to understand how policy works in reality: for students, scientists, and the public. Well-organized and featuring a compelling historical narrative, this unique resource will enable researchers, educators, elected officials, industrialists, financial managers, science lobbyists, and readers in general to easily navigate the complex world of science and technology (S&T) policy. As science communication and STEM policy occupy rapidly growing areas of interest and provide important career paths, this book provides invaluable insights into the public policy arena, as well as lessons for effective science advocacy. Presents compelling narratives about Climate Change, the Internet, the Human Genome, the BRAIN Initiative, the Manhattan Project, the Science Stimulus, the origin of the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation, and more. Provides insights into the future of S&T through a 225-year American policy retrospective, highlighting impacts on health and medicine, STEM education, economic growth, energy, defense, innovation, and industrial competitiveness. Illuminates the role of S&T on the global stage, from diplomatic engagement to military intervention and from scientific collaboration to technological competition.




Science, Technology, and Public Policy


Book Description

Examining the formulation of American public policies on scientific and technological issues, Barke poses and answers three questions: How do scientific issues become matters of public concern and debate? How is scientific information used in policymaking? and How does the public sector manage scientific endeavors? He uses a general framework of four types of constraints to explore the characteristics of science and technology policies. He applies the framework to Congress, the President and the Executive Office, the bureaucracy, the courts, the public, and scientists as participants in the science and technology process, and discusses the powers, limitations, and interactions with other participants. The author also assesses proposed reforms, and includes case studies covering legislation on hazardous wastes and the Space Telescope, scheduled for launch in l988. ISBN 0-87187-394-X: $10.95.