The U.S. Congress created the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in 1972. Over the past two decades, European parliaments have adopted and adapted this idea. This collaborative project will examine this transfer. It will compare the instituitonal structures and practices of parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) in five European nations (France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Denmark) and the European Parliament in order better to understand: (a) how differences in political, cultural and institutional values influence variations in PTA goals, methods, and processes, (b) the impacts of these differences on the definition of problems, involvement of actors, and formulation of policy options, (c) the consequences of growing European cooperation in technology policy for the future conduct of technology assessment, and (d) the relative success of different PTA processes in Europe and their potential relevance to future evolution of technology assessment in the U.S. and other nations. The anticipated outcome of the project is a collaborative book, written by researchers, analysts and practitioners in Europe and the United States. For the first time in English, a single resource will analyze the development, practices and results of technology assessment in a wide range of political cultures.
