Title: Science, technology and governance beyond complacency: the road ahead

Authors: Dimitris Kyriakou

Addresses: European Commission, Institute for Prospective Technological Studies, Joint Research Centre, W.T.C., C/ Inca Garcilaso s/n, Seville 41092, Spain

Abstract: ||Science and governance|| refers to the mechanisms, and the challenge of devising them, allowing science and decision making in society to work together in ways that are effective, credible, accountable and transparent. The importance of a successful marriage of science and governance is manifold. On the one hand Science/Technology (S/T) is substantially responsible for driving change. Moreover, S/T can help clarify the terms of the debate, the stakes and the repercussions of alternatives considered. By informing debate and the eventual policy choices, S/T helps both governance and itself. Governance and the policy choices made are legitimated in an S/T-informed process so as to become more than the arbitrary selection resulting from power struggles, untamed by facts and cool-headed analysis. On the other hand, S/T escapes both the splendid isolation of the proverbial academic ivory tower, and the crippling image of a hired gun.

Keywords: science and governance; scientific reference; technology and decision making; consensus-building process; science and technology.

DOI: 10.1504/IJFIP.2004.004963

International Journal of Foresight and Innovation Policy, 2004 Vol.1 No.3/4, pp.243 - 248

Published online: 26 Jul 2004 *

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