Technology assessment and technology foresight are two different disciplines that together provide complementary tools that can provide strategic intelligence to policymakers wishing to improve strategic planning and develop capacity for anticipatory technology governance.
While complementary, they developed within largely separate communities of practice as separate disciplines. They have nevertheless converged to some degree and increasingly share some common analytical tools.
Technology assessment (TA) investigates the economic, social and environmental, as well as ethical, legal, regulatory and cultural implications of developing or adopting specific technologies.
It is typically applied to new or emerging technologies. There are many subcategories of TA, which means that it is not a completely uniform discipline.
- Technology foresight (TF) is a participatory process that explores long-term technological developments, socio-technical contexts and policy options to inform decision-making and enhance the preparedness of policymakers for technological change.
This report outlines their development and discusses how they have been used by countries, and how they can contribute to strategic planning and anticipatory technology governance.
It also makes recommendations for how to support the wider diffusion of these tools across more countries, particularly developing countries.