Future of Science and Technology in Society
Symposium in Honour of Arie Rip
June 16/17, 2011, University of Twente
Organised by the Department Science, Technology, and Policy Studies (STePS), and supported by the Institute for Innovation and Governance Studies (IGS)
While participants in the Symposium had been invited because of their earlier and ongoing collaboration and interaction with Arie Rip, their presentations and comments were contributions in their own right to the overall theme, Future of Science and Technology in Society, and the two specific themes under this umbrella, Future of Science and Innovation Policy, and Anticipation and Embedding of Science and Technology in Society, which reflect two major strands of work of Arie Rip over the last decades.
The Symposium was organized so as to stimulate interactions between participants with different backgrounds. Sessions had two, three or four brief presentations, a prepared comment, and general discussion. The atmosphere was collegial, and the presentations and discussions were inspiring. The detailed program is reproduced below.
One recurring theme was the importance of a process approach, referring back to Heraclitus (as Swierstra did) and forward to anticipatory governance (as touched upon by Barben, Robinson, Dorbeck-Jung and Grin). The complementary theme of multi-level dynamics was addressed explicitly by Larédo in his discussion of the intermediary layer in national research systems.
Anticipation (or as Anthony Giddens phrases it, the colonization of the present by the future), always precarious, and now linked to embedding of science and technology in society was discussed explicitly by Barben, Williams, and Felt. There is an action aspect as well, as in Van Lente’s call for Technology Assessment to become pro-active, and Verbeek’s comment that Constructive Technology Assessment (CTA) should continue to work along with technology developments rather than focusing on assessment per se.
Recurrent as well was the concern about how things might go better, accepting that institutions and force fields cannot be changed easily, and not by a command-and-control approach. Dorbeck-Jung quoted Max Weber: Überall ist das tatsächlich Hergebrachte (faktische) der Vater des Geltenden gewesen. But the children (and sometimes the parents as well, upon reflection) might criticize the “Geltende” and attempt changes for the better. This requires in-depth understanding of the situation and its dynamics. Such understanding was offered in all presentations, and the perspective of change for the better (whatever such “better” might be) was visible, implicitly or explicitly.
Whatever the future of science and technology in society might be, it should be informed by careful and insightful studies such as presented at the Symposium and further articulated in the discussions.
On this basis, Kuhlmann, in his concluding outlook (on behalf of the organisers), invited Arie Rip’s recent PhD candidates (of whom Krabbenborg, Parandian, Robinson, Ruivenkamp, Shelley-Egan, were present and had contributed papers), who had all worked on Constructive TA of nanotechnology and were now stepping out into the wider world, to return to Twente for another workshop in about a year’s time to reflect on what they did with CTA and what CTA did to them. All others participants were invited to come and listen, comment and expand on such a theme.
Presentations
Thursday 16 June 2011
09.15 Opening, Prof. dr. Nelly Oudshoorn
9.30-11.00 Anticipation and Embedding of Science and Technology in Society
Chair: Prof. dr. Stefan Kuhlmann (University of Twente)
1.Prof. dr. Tsjalling Swierstra (University of Maastricht): Enhancing our techno-ethical imagination: a matrix approach
2.Prof. dr. Josee van Eijndhoven (Erasmus University Rotterdam): Re-embedding science and technology for the future of society
3.Prof. dr. Daniel Barben (Technical University Aachen) ‘Embedding’ Science and Technology in Society: Ambiguities of a Metaphor
Commentator: Prof. dr. ir. Peter-Paul Verbeek (University of Twente)
11.30-13.00 Future of Science and Innovation Policy
Chair: Prof. dr. Stefan Kuhlmann (University of Twente)
1.Prof. dr. Robin Williams (University of Edinburgh): Bridging the big divide: on the uneven gaze of Technology and Innovation Studies
2.Prof. dr. Pierre-Benoit Joly (INRA and University of Paris-Est): Reinventing Innovation
3.Dr. Barend van der Meulen (Rathenau Institute): The Possibilities of Evidence Based Science Policy
Commentator: Prof. dr. Lissa Roberts (University of Twente)
14.00-15.30 Anticipation and Embedding of Science and Technology in Society
Chair: Prof. dr. Nelly Oudshoorn (University of Twente)
1.Prof. dr.ir. Harro van Lente (University of Utrecht, University of Maastricht): Co-production of novelty and needs: the case of the Digital Revolution 1990-2010
2.Prof. dr. Ulrike Felt (University of Vienna): Anticipatory moves: Citizens’ practices in assessing potential futures related to emerging technologies
3.Dr.ir. Klaas Jan Visscher (University of Twente): The interplay of technological architectures and organizational practices: A longitudinal study of ADSL-development at Alcatel
Commentator: Prof. dr. Pierre-Benoit Joly (INRA and University of Paris-Est)
16.00-17.30 Future of Science and Innovation Policy
Chair: Prof. dr. Nelly Oudshoorn (University of Twente)
1.Prof. dr. Philippe Larédo (University Paris-Est): The future of research and innovation policies: Is the intermediate layer what we thought it would be
2.Pierre Delvenne (University of Liège) Evolving trends in Latin American regimes of science, technology and innovation: the politics of the “GM soya model” in Argentina
Commentator: Prof. dr. Lissa Roberts (University of Twente)
Friday 17 June 2011
9.00-11.00 PhD-session
Chair: Prof. dr. Lissa Roberts (University of Twente)
1.Alireza Parandian (Technical University of Delft): Bridging events around Organic Large Area Electronics and Body Area Networks
2.Lotte Krabbenborg (University of Groningen): Analysis of public debates on nanotechnology: John Dewey for the 21st Century
3.Dr. Clare Shelley-Egan (Enschede): Ethics in practice: responding to an evolving problematic situation of nanotechnology in society
4.Dr. Douglas Robinson (teQnode Company, Paris): Bridging the gap between foresight and actors
5.Dr. Martin Ruivenkamp (Radboud University Nijmegen): Circulating Images of Nanotechnology
Commentator: Prof. dr. Ulrike Felt (University of Vienna)
11.20-12.30 Future of Science and Innovation Policy
Chair: Prof. dr. Rob Hoppe (University of Twente)
1.Prof. dr. Jan-Douwe van der Ploeg (Wageningen University): Interacting trajectories for techno-institutional design
2.Prof. dr. Bärbel Dorbeck-Jung (University of Twente): How Can De Facto Governance and Regulatory Pluralism Contribute to the Analysis of Technology Governance Arrangements?
Commentator: Prof. dr. Arie Rip (University of Twente)
13.30-15.30 Anticipation and Embedding of Science and Technology in Society
Chair: Prof. dr. Nelly Oudshoorn (University of Twente)
1.Prof. dr. J. Grin (University of Amsterdam): Technology Assessment in Late Modernity
2.Dr. Jan Peter Voss (Technical University of Berlin): The making of policy instruments – an emerging science and technology of governance?
3.Dr. Ellen Moors (University of Utrecht): Stakeholder governance and Responsible pharmaceutical innovation
4.Dr. Erik Fisher (Arizona State University): Future Regimes of Science, Politics and Convergence Work
Commentator: Prof. dr. Arie Rip (University of Twente)
15.30 Outlook, Prof. dr. Stefan Kuhlmann