Assessing the Societal Implications of Emerging Technologies

"With the sophistication of a scholar and the savvy of a Washington insider, Evan Michelson reveals the research and policy roles of the Woodrow Wilson International Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies. In doing so, he creates much-needed perspective on the role of NGOs in the anticipatory governance of nanotechnology and other emerging technologies."–David H. Guston, Professor and Founding Director, School for the Future of Innovation in Society, Arizona State University, USA

"In this meticulously documented yet engaging work, Michelson details how recent networked, non-governmental alternatives to US government technology assessment provide superior long term governance of emerging nanotechnologies and synthetic biology. The book compellingly argues that new anticipatory nongovernmental approaches ‘proactively address the multidimensional, interconnected societal impacts of science and technology advancements.’"–Barbara Herr Harthorn, Director, Center for Nanotechnology in Society, University of California at Santa Barbara, USA

"This is an extremely interesting and timely book. Evan Michelson has placed his hands on one of the most challenging policy issues today: how to anticipate technology advancements in order to adjust governance systems appropriately. He skillfully uses the examples of two ‘hot’ fields, nanotechnology and synthetic biology. An outstanding job. Must read!!"–Nicholas S. Vonortas, Professor of Economics and International Affairs, Center for International Science and Technology Policy & Department of Economics, The George Washington University, USA

"This is an eminently readable account of how decentralized approaches have been used to consider future societal impacts of nanotechnology and synthetic biology. The book gives us rich insights into the development of the Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies among other non-governmental efforts to address key aspects of technology assessment."–Jan Youtie, Director, Program in Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA

"Evan Michelson has done the policy and research communities an important service. Assessing the Societal Implications of Emerging Technologies: Anticipatory Governance in Practice demonstrates the critical role of systematic efforts to imagine different futures and then understand what this means for how we perceive and act in the present. Not only does this study lay out the utility of futures thinking but it also reviews and explains how it is done. Michelson’s message is clear: decision makers need to engage in broad based processes that use the future to leverage collective intelligence – without this knowledge the potential of human genius may not only be wasted but could do significant harm."–Riel Miller, former Head of Foresight, UNESCO, France

"A debut book offers an ambitious examination of a new approach to the formulation of policy regarding science...An astute, painstakingly documented introduction to anticipatory governance written with thoroughness and expertise."
Kirkus Reviews, pp.184, July 2016

'Overall, the book provides detailed examples of the ways in which PEN and other entities engaged in thinking about the future…[A] number of sections, such as the history of anticipa-tory governance (Chapter 3), description of boundary work (Chapter 5), and discussions of the PUS and PES models (Chapter 6) serve as excellent overviews of the re-spective topics, and would not only serve as a helpful re-source for scholars, but could also serve as accessible readings for upper level undergraduate and graduate Science and Technology Studies (STS) and policy courses.'

Shannon N. Conley, Assistant Professor, Integrated Science and Technology, Science and Public Policy, 2017, Vol. 0, No. 0

"the book fills a niche in the nanotechnology and synthetic biology fields in as much as both emerging technologies, and the genus as a whole, need the kind of dialogue it fulfils in its seven chapters..."

Denis Loveridge, (2016) "Assessing the societal implications of emerging technologies: anticipatory governance in practice", foresight, Vol. 18 Issue: 6, pp.660-662