Varia: Why could the development of each technology profit from technology assessment?

Technology assessment (TA) is a problem-oriented research and advice practice. It tries to analyze and evaluate impacts of new technologies and innovations for society and the environment. The aim is to communicate the results to the relevant audiences in society or politics to orientate decisions and actions in the present, which influence the ways technologies get developed and implemented in society. Because positive and negative impacts of technologies in development will only be visible in the future, Technology Assessment needs to gain future-oriented knowledge. Therefore, we developed several anticipatory methodologies.

Which concepts and methods do we develop and apply? These methods are equally traditional mainly qualitative social and cultural science methods such as expert-interviews, discourse analyses, narration analysis and specific anticipatory methods such as Scenario-Building, Vision Assessment (to mention an original ITAS approach), but also interactive and participatory methods such as Citizen Dialogues, visioning-workshop with stakeholders and practitioners or real-world laboratories. The interactive and participatory formats at the same time produce knowledge for us, which we can not only gain by scientific research and include non-scientific actors in the process of the development of new technologies. Research in TA is inter- and transdisciplinary organized.

But how do we apply our concepts and methods in practice? How do we specify our research and advice design related to the context of the technologies? It makes a difference, if we assess impacts of technologies such as 3D printing or robotics in the medial or health sector? The implementation of smart grids in the energy system, or if we assess potential impacts of mobility futures in a city (e.g. autonomous driving), impacts of generative AI in work spaces or overall, the potentials of digitalization for a more sustainable transformation of our society in light of the climate crisis or strengthening social inequalities and un-justice worldwide.

My input and the discussion will give an insight in the challenges and problem solutions of the anticipatory TA research and advice based on different application cases and experiences of my and other research groups at ITAS.

Lecturer: PD Dr Andreas Lösch (KIT)

Everyone is welcome – just come and join us!
The event is held online:
https://tu-darmstadt.zoom-x.de/j/69663137514?pwd=aKwiTaFt6uisacc9sCDjF8F6PsxZUe.1
Meeting ID: 696 6313 7514
Access code: 480222

About 'Meet your Peers!'

'Meet your Peers!' is the perfect opportunity to be inspired, gain new perspectives and strengthen your network within the Graduate School. Whether it is about scientific content or dealing with the challenges of interdisciplinary teams – here you will find inspiration, expertise and practical insights.

An exciting impulse awaits you in every appointment:

• either from technical experts who provide practical tips for your research or
• of peers who offer valuable suggestions for "daily doing" in interdisciplinary collaboration

Participation in the event requires a doctoral project or ongoing doctoral procedure (e.g. an industrial doctorate) at TU Darmstadt in the fields of energy and the environment.