The 4th conference of the Network Technology Assessment took place in Berlin from November 24 to 26, 2010. The objective was to reflect the prospective "systems view" and to assess its potential and limitations in the context of technology assessment and innovation policy.

For this reason, use cases and examples of (good) practice were presented, discussed, and evaluated. Based on this methodological and conceptual challenges were addressed and topics worth further development were identified.

Apart from a panel discussion on "20 years TAB - Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag" and the plenary lectures, three sections deal with the following subjects:

• Section 1: Infrastructural innovation - transition management
• Section 2: Key technologies – between openness towards use and innovation
• Section 3: Systems analysis – methodical challenges for TA

Speakers and participants addressed were researchers and practitioners from the following fields:

• Technology assessment and related fields like innovation research, systems analysis or innovation- and technology analysis;
• Scientific disciplines relevant to the topic of the conference (sciences on the one hand, and social- and cultural studies on the other hand)
• Policy and economy;
• Civil society (e.g. nongovernmental organizations).

NTA4 was projected and managed by a consortium of several partners under the leadership of ITAS. The conference proceedings have been published by Edition Sigma.

You will find further information on the TA4 conference webpage.

Phone: +49 721 608-23007
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