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Technology Assessment: Creative futures
268
BOOK
REVIEWS
Mark A. Boroush, Kan Chen, and Alexander N. Christakis, Editors, Technology Assessment: Creative Futures, Elsevier North Holland, New York, 1980, $39.00.
In October 1976, the International Society for Technology Assessment (ISTA) held its Second International Congress on Technology Assessment at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Congress was at once the most intellectually satisfying meeting on technology assessment (TA) held up to that time and the swansong for the now defunct ISTA. Unlike ISTA, the Congress lives on. This volume constitutes a record of the Congress and its intellectual aftermath covering the waning years of TA’s first decade. Boroush, Chen, and Christakis have elected a mode of presentation that, unlike a simple addition of conference papers with an introduction and conclusion, integrates themes and links them with the broadest ongoing concerns of the TA community. This mode of presentation is more stimulating and coherent than the pure proceedings. Its drawbacks are that the choice of emphasis rests with the editors (who in this case are as much authors as editors), and it has taken more time to bring it to publication. These potential drawbacks have been largely overcome by a sound choice of emphasis and by relating the conference papers to many of the important current themes of TA. The book is divided into three parts. Part I (drafted by Christakis) presents an introduction to the issues which currently dominate TA. Part II (organized by Boroush) structures many of the presentations and discussions around the themes of TA and planning, TA’s institutional roles, and the development of TA methods. Part III (written largely by Chen) comprises several essays that seek to provide a synoptic view of TA. This conference marks a definite point in the maturation of TA practice from a set of techniques based on value-free technocratic assumptions that emphasize technical and economic analyses to a broad value-based societal analysis that embraces social consequences that recognize the differing assumptions and worldviews of many interested parties. Indeed, if this volume has a theme, it is plurality in assessment. Plurality in assessment embraces global considerations of international TAs involving the participation of nations with vastly different political, social, and economic institutions such as OECD, CMEA, and third-world countries. Such assessments would require an organization that could accommodate the different institutions, goals, and assumptions of the participating nations as well as to the disciplinary biases and predilections of the researchers. This latter phenomenon, important because all TAs are by nature crossdisciplinary, could be resolved either by efforts to integrate the disciplinary components within the assessment process or by the definition by the team of various holistic value/assumption sets that would serve as the basis for alternative future scenarios. Next there is the issue of the pattern of assessment. In reaction to the one-shot nature of the usual TA, it is proposed that, where appropriate, multiple assessments be carried out. Varying in scale and purpose, these can extend the usual assessment by scoping, extending considerations of various of its aspects, monitoring important conditions to determine whether and when another assessment should be undertaken, and evaluating the studies, already performed to improve the quality and utility of future TAs. Finally, there is the recognition of the plurality and diversity of interested parties, and the role they and their values should play in assessment. This issue, far from being resolved, is an important area of concern in current assessment practice.
BOOK
REVIEWS
269
In summary, this fine volume ably summarizes important aspects of progress during TAs first decade and perceptively looks toward its second. It should make useful reading for professionals and students alike. FREDERICK Received
17 August
1981
A. ROSSINI
BOOK
REVIEWS
Mark A. Boroush, Kan Chen, and Alexander N. Christakis, Editors, Technology Assessment: Creative Futures, Elsevier North Holland, New York, 1980, $39.00.
In October 1976, the International Society for Technology Assessment (ISTA) held its Second International Congress on Technology Assessment at Ann Arbor, Michigan. The Congress was at once the most intellectually satisfying meeting on technology assessment (TA) held up to that time and the swansong for the now defunct ISTA. Unlike ISTA, the Congress lives on. This volume constitutes a record of the Congress and its intellectual aftermath covering the waning years of TA’s first decade. Boroush, Chen, and Christakis have elected a mode of presentation that, unlike a simple addition of conference papers with an introduction and conclusion, integrates themes and links them with the broadest ongoing concerns of the TA community. This mode of presentation is more stimulating and coherent than the pure proceedings. Its drawbacks are that the choice of emphasis rests with the editors (who in this case are as much authors as editors), and it has taken more time to bring it to publication. These potential drawbacks have been largely overcome by a sound choice of emphasis and by relating the conference papers to many of the important current themes of TA. The book is divided into three parts. Part I (drafted by Christakis) presents an introduction to the issues which currently dominate TA. Part II (organized by Boroush) structures many of the presentations and discussions around the themes of TA and planning, TA’s institutional roles, and the development of TA methods. Part III (written largely by Chen) comprises several essays that seek to provide a synoptic view of TA. This conference marks a definite point in the maturation of TA practice from a set of techniques based on value-free technocratic assumptions that emphasize technical and economic analyses to a broad value-based societal analysis that embraces social consequences that recognize the differing assumptions and worldviews of many interested parties. Indeed, if this volume has a theme, it is plurality in assessment. Plurality in assessment embraces global considerations of international TAs involving the participation of nations with vastly different political, social, and economic institutions such as OECD, CMEA, and third-world countries. Such assessments would require an organization that could accommodate the different institutions, goals, and assumptions of the participating nations as well as to the disciplinary biases and predilections of the researchers. This latter phenomenon, important because all TAs are by nature crossdisciplinary, could be resolved either by efforts to integrate the disciplinary components within the assessment process or by the definition by the team of various holistic value/assumption sets that would serve as the basis for alternative future scenarios. Next there is the issue of the pattern of assessment. In reaction to the one-shot nature of the usual TA, it is proposed that, where appropriate, multiple assessments be carried out. Varying in scale and purpose, these can extend the usual assessment by scoping, extending considerations of various of its aspects, monitoring important conditions to determine whether and when another assessment should be undertaken, and evaluating the studies, already performed to improve the quality and utility of future TAs. Finally, there is the recognition of the plurality and diversity of interested parties, and the role they and their values should play in assessment. This issue, far from being resolved, is an important area of concern in current assessment practice.
BOOK
REVIEWS
269
In summary, this fine volume ably summarizes important aspects of progress during TAs first decade and perceptively looks toward its second. It should make useful reading for professionals and students alike. FREDERICK Received
17 August
1981
A. ROSSINI