Bridging the Gap Between Innovation and ELSA: The TA Program in the Dutch Nano-R&D Program NanoNed

Arie Rip, Harro van Lente*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

The Technology Assessment (TA) Program established in 2003 as part of the Dutch R&D consortium NanoNed is interesting for what it did, but also as an indication that there are changes in how new science and technology are pursued: the nanotechnologists felt it necessary to spend part of their funding on social aspects of nanotechnology. We retrace the history of the TA program, and present the innovative work that was done on Constructive TA of emerging nanotechnology developments and on aspects of embedding of nanotechnology in society. One achievement is the provision of tools and approaches to help make the co-evolution of technology and society more reflexive. We briefly look forward by outlining its successor program, TA NanoNextNL, in place since 2011.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)7-16
Number of pages10
JournalNanoEthics
Volume7
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Apr 2013
Externally publishedYes

Keywords

  • Constructive technology assessment
  • Nanotechnology
  • Reflexivity
  • Responsible innovation
  • CONSTRUCTIVE TECHNOLOGY-ASSESSMENT
  • SCIENCE

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