Science on the Offense: Technology Assessment, Anticipatory Governance and the Future US Innovation System

Shortly after assuming office, President Obama pledged to “restore science to its rightful place” raising but not settling the question of either restoration or place. Fourteen years and two administrations later, we find policies that place science not where it is shielded from all its influences, but rather where it is the heart and center of a national renewal. The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, and the 2022 CHIPs and Science Act, dramatically increase public funding for research and development, create new institutions and linkages and explicitly call on science to address the most vexing policy challenges from reducing dependence on fossil fuels and creating a 21st century workforce, to combating climate change, to ending cancer as we know it and winning global competitions on technological innovations.

Join the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes on Jan. 23 at 3 p.m. for a discussion about what challenges and opportunities come with this new placement of science and how new policy tools for responsible and anticipatory governance could lead to a more inclusive, robust, and globally competitive innovation ecosystem.

The panel will address core questions including how key elements of the US innovation system—science-based industries, universities, government labs, the intellectual property system and entrepreneurial communities—can incorporate otherwise ignored communities and minority perspectives. Panelists will describe case studies ranging from the Nanoscience in Society initiative to biomedical technology development where real-time technology assessment, citizen forums and participatory technology assessment helped advance more inclusive and responsive development of innovative services and products. Attendees will be invited to contribute their perspective on how to implement a more robust and inclusive innovation system.

The panel will also launch the newest volume of the Rightful Place of Science series. CSPO’s Rightful Place of Science: New Tools for Science Policy, Volume II speaks to the policy and governance challenges posed by new and emerging technologies. Both policymakers and technology innovators will find the volume useful as they work to meet the needs of a rapidly changing world.

Panelists

• David Guston, Julie Ann Wrigley Global Futures Laboratory, Arizona State University
• Dahlia Sokolov, US House of Representative Committee on Science, Space and Technology,
• Angela Bednarek (pending), Evidence Project, The Pew Charitable Trusts,
• Moderated by Arthur Daemmrich, Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, Arizona State University

An informal networking reception will follow the panel. Copies of the Rightful Place of Science: New Tools for Science Policy, Volume II and the winter 2023 Issues in Science & Technology issue will be available for in-person attendees.