| Possible Questions Regarding Technologies: Technology Assessment Form
Technology Name:
- Social Impact
- Who are the stakeholders?
- Who will benefit?
- What cultures could be impacted?
- What ethnic groups could be impacted?
- How are different groups of people affected (e.g. poor, minorities, disabled...)?
- What portions of society does it bring together, and what does it divide?
- What effects will it have on employment?
- Ethical Questions
- What individual rights might be violated?
- What is the proportional distibution of burdens and benefits?
- How does it produce the maximum good?
- How does it promote the common good?
- Would some people have ethical issues with pursuing this?
- Legal Implications
- Is it legal?
- How does it promote Law (or assist law breaking)?
- How does it assist (or hinder) law keeping?
- Economics
- Is it desirable or undesirable on any of these scales: global, country, region, company, immediate neighbors, people in general?
- What is the impact on economic stability?
- How would it affect the cultural, ethnic, and/or economic divides?
- What is its economic feasibility?
- Environmental Issues
- How does it affect our environment (short term and long term)?
- Air?
- Water?
- Land?
- Other?
- Unanticipated Consequences
- How might it be used?
- What alternate paths might it take?
- Can you think of any uses of this technology other than the one proposed here?
- Are there any historical examples of developments analogous to this one that might serve as a gude to ways in which this technology might evolve?
- Are there any other consequences that have not been mentioned?
Specific Technology Questions - Communications
- Are there safety issues / health risks associated with its use?
- Is it compatible with other devices / standards?
- How difficult will it be to implement, and are enough resources available?
- Is it susceptible to interception (security issues)?
- Does it interfere with other devices?
- Microelectronics
- Does it help make technology more available to people?
- Does research into this technology take away resources from more socially beneficial technologies?
- Could the technology have medical applications?
- Does it increase reliance on technology and what type of ramifications does that have?
- Military
- Is it really going to enhance the security of the country?
- Is its use restricted only to the warfront or can it be used on innocent people?
- If one day another country possesses this technology, is there a means by which you protect yourself?
- Is the magnitude of destruction anticipated enormous?
- Will the weapon of war emanate anything poisonous which may be deleterious to the common man, either immediately or in the long run?
- Subsequent to its use will this weapon leave behind residues which may become difficult to dispose?
- Does its use violate any international treaties?
- Does it violate any international laws?
- Biotechnology
- What are the effects on future generations?
- What do you do about biotechnological disasters that affect people? Who is responsible? How (if possible) do you compensate them?
- Will the benefits of biomedicine be available to everyone or only to a certain class of people?
- Can it be used for discriminating against people who have certain characteristics that were previously not obvious but are now known facts?
- Are we on the path of getting rid of our diversity as human beings by only allowing "normal people" to exist?
- What is the societal impact of genetic engineering.....how will it affect how people regard each other? If certain traits can be genetically introduced in people, does that mean that those gifts will lose their value? Also is this discriminating against the poor who cannot afford to do the same?
- What about the long term side effects that we are unable to see today - unanticipated consequences?
- Does it affect the value of life?
- Land/Sea/Space Exploration
- Is the cost of space or undersea exploration worth the return of knowledge?
- Natural Resource Exploration
- Is exploration a prelude to destruction of natural resources?
- What is the environmental impact of exploration?
- What is the economic viability? Will exploration be a burden to the society that will never really get any tangible results from all of the expenditure?
- Some countries have natural resources where exploration is undertaken. Is it putting an unnecessary burden on them due to increased pressure of allowing and working on exploring these resources?
Ethics in Technology Questions - Briefly describe the ethical issues you believe your discipline faces because of emerging areas of research or technology.
- What advances in communication and information technologies do you believe will pose the greatest ethical challenges for scientists, engineers and society at large?
- If ethics were to be taught as part of the formal curriculum in your discipline, which issues would it be essential to cover?
- In your opinion, what specific actions could be taken to improve the ethics education and training of scientists and engineers?
Other Suggestions:
Examples of utilizing the Technology Assessment outline: The analysis of Wireless communications Analysis of Wavelength Division Multiplexing |
