Inadequate capacity for technology assessment

The concerns which led to the growth of technology assessment have generally dealt with the potential deleterious effects of technology and the need to control and monitor it from a societal point of view. The development of capabilities in the assessment of technology and related fields essentially consists of understanding what institutional structures are required, what skills are needed and have to be developed and what type of conceptual and methodological approach is best suited for the country or region in question. Assessment criteria include: employment generation, capital savings, energy conservation and efficiency, environmental soundness, and socio-cultural and economic appropriateness in terms of design and consistency with other socio-economic activities. Additionally, in the developing countries there is the overriding concern with harnessing the potential of technology to accelerate development and to deal with some of their characteristic problems of food shortage, illiteracy, unemployment, socio-economic inequity, poverty and dependence. These imply assessment criteria related to self-reliance and basic needs, reduced dependency and national autonomy, and "soft" factors such as cultural values, history and tradition. Integrated technology assessment therefore implies involvement by not only government decision makers and key economic agents but also the consideration of a broader group of users and technical experts from disciplines such as engineering, system analysis, sociology, political science and anthropology, for example. Decision makers are action-oriented rather than analytic personalities, and it is unrealistic to assume that they have the knowledge, time and patience needed to dig deeply into scientific complexities. Because of their underdevelopment, many countries do not have a sufficient pool of advising scientists and development experts, who are also as neutral as possible, to assess the appropriateness of the introduction of new development technologies and methods. Moreover, the amount of work needed to create completely new development paths, assessment methodologies and technologies is too complex costly and time-consuming to be feasible.

[Developing countries] Developing countries by and large lack the capabilities for technology assessment, since the capacity to undertake technology assessment is itself linked with the level of technological development. Specifically, information systems and the data that are available are often of poor quality or out of date. Because of the small number of analysts and the general shortage of skills relevant to the assessment process, the needed level of assessment cannot be undertaken and analysts who are not necessarily competent carry out the work.

Additionally, technology assessment in the context of developing countries needs to encompass a broader range of concerns than are generally associated with this discipline.