Policy Research Centres und Technikfolgenabschätzung. Bestandsaufnahme und Analyse

In many western countries progress is being made in building up a politically independent system of institutions for 'technology assessment'. It has been possible, more frequently than in the Federal Republic of Germany, to establish at universities a number of interdisciplinary policy research centers for this purpose which - concern themselves with the interactions of technology, economy, society and policy, - attempt an interdisciplinary integration of economic, technological, sociological and in some cases ecological expert knowledge, - put their analytical results at the disposal of the policy administration system in order to facilitate or improve the technology-related decision processes, - as institutions within or associated with the universities, pass on their knowledge to students and younger scientists. At present there is a growing interest in Germany in promoting the formation of such institutes. The Federal Ministry for Research and Technology had entrusted the Fraunhofe r Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (FhG-ISI) with the task of carrying out an exploratory study on 'policy research centers and technology assessment.' The report provides detailed insights in important examples of this type of institution in Europe and the USA. It gathers information on tasks, working methods, organization, incorporation into research and teaching, inclusion of research results in the processes of policy decision-making. The report ends up with some considerations and recommendations as to the possibility of transfering some of the experiences with policy research centers and technology assement into the German university system