Final Report Summary - KNOWLEDGE NBIC (Knowledge Politics and New Converging Technologies; A Social Science Perspective)
The KNOWLEDGE NBIC project was a study into the knowledge and anticipated social consequences emerging from the NBIC fields, using a social scientific perspective.
The main objectives of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project were to analyse the patterns of NBIC knowledge production as well as the actual and potential use of and social resistance to such knowledge. Our aim was to carry out a first preliminary assessment of this field aimed towards enabling more detailed analytical studies in the future, and, at the same time, through networking activities to help consolidate a research and policy community interested in this field of study and policy advice.
During the first part of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project over 400 stakeholders working on issues related to the fields of converging technologies were identified. This database has provided the foundation for the large-scale dissemination of information about project events and on-going activities and publications. The five rapid reports (project newsletters) were distributed through the database, disseminating updates about and results from the project to a broad audience.
During the three years of the project over 400 stakeholders working on issues related to the fields of converging technologies were identified. This database has provided the foundation for the large scale dissemination of information about project events and ongoing activities. A good basis for the publicity of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project has also been achieved through various dissemination activities, including the maintenance of a project website (which includes links to related activities, organisations and reports) and the distribution of 'rapid reports' in the form of an electronic and / or hardcopy newsletter.
The first project workshop, 'Converging science and technologies: research trajectories and institutional settings', took place on 14-15 May 2007 and was organised by ICCR, ZU. This workshop featured 23 presentations on current research on converging technologies in the social sciences and humanities, with a total of 85 registered participants. A special issue of Innovation on Converging Science and Technologies was published as a result of this workshop (edited by Liana Giorgi (ICCR) and Jacquelyne Luce (ZU)) in December 2007, with additional conference papers being published in Innovation 21. The second workshop was prepared during the second reporting period and took place in May 2008 in Brussels. This workshop featured presentations on current work with respect to the regulation of converging technologies, with a total of 40 registered participants. A selection of papers from the second workshop was published in Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research in issue 22 (edited by Jacquelyne Luce and Liana Giorgi) in March 2009.
A further impact of the project on the research community was the organisation of two international conferences and the production of five rapid reports, activities which aimed to engage researchers in the topic and to provide forums within which the study of questions concerning the interface of converging technologies with knowledge politics could take place. The conferences offered opportunities for researchers addressing knowledge governance issues from various perspectives to strengthen their understanding of the contribution of different methodological and theoretical approaches to the topics. The conferences also opened up the areas of science and technology being considered as particularly relevant to converging approaches and converging technologies analyses. A selection of the papers presented is published in two co-edited special issues of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research as well as in an additional issue.
Additionally, the researchers of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC consortium have been involved in local, national and transnational discussions about governance initiatives, the role of the social sciences and humanities in foresight projects, public engagement activities and regulatory discussions, and global governance.
As converging technologies and the various key 21st century enabling technologies enter their next generation of development, the social, political, cultural and economic questions that they pose are expected to enter new spheres of discussion. Through its main reports, rapid reports, organisation of workshops, edited journal issues and on-going work on the dissemination of project results, the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project has contributed to both the identification of emerging governance subjects and questions, as well as the analysis of emerging sites in which knowledge production and politics are enacted.
The main objectives of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project were to analyse the patterns of NBIC knowledge production as well as the actual and potential use of and social resistance to such knowledge. Our aim was to carry out a first preliminary assessment of this field aimed towards enabling more detailed analytical studies in the future, and, at the same time, through networking activities to help consolidate a research and policy community interested in this field of study and policy advice.
During the first part of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project over 400 stakeholders working on issues related to the fields of converging technologies were identified. This database has provided the foundation for the large-scale dissemination of information about project events and on-going activities and publications. The five rapid reports (project newsletters) were distributed through the database, disseminating updates about and results from the project to a broad audience.
During the three years of the project over 400 stakeholders working on issues related to the fields of converging technologies were identified. This database has provided the foundation for the large scale dissemination of information about project events and ongoing activities. A good basis for the publicity of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project has also been achieved through various dissemination activities, including the maintenance of a project website (which includes links to related activities, organisations and reports) and the distribution of 'rapid reports' in the form of an electronic and / or hardcopy newsletter.
The first project workshop, 'Converging science and technologies: research trajectories and institutional settings', took place on 14-15 May 2007 and was organised by ICCR, ZU. This workshop featured 23 presentations on current research on converging technologies in the social sciences and humanities, with a total of 85 registered participants. A special issue of Innovation on Converging Science and Technologies was published as a result of this workshop (edited by Liana Giorgi (ICCR) and Jacquelyne Luce (ZU)) in December 2007, with additional conference papers being published in Innovation 21. The second workshop was prepared during the second reporting period and took place in May 2008 in Brussels. This workshop featured presentations on current work with respect to the regulation of converging technologies, with a total of 40 registered participants. A selection of papers from the second workshop was published in Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research in issue 22 (edited by Jacquelyne Luce and Liana Giorgi) in March 2009.
A further impact of the project on the research community was the organisation of two international conferences and the production of five rapid reports, activities which aimed to engage researchers in the topic and to provide forums within which the study of questions concerning the interface of converging technologies with knowledge politics could take place. The conferences offered opportunities for researchers addressing knowledge governance issues from various perspectives to strengthen their understanding of the contribution of different methodological and theoretical approaches to the topics. The conferences also opened up the areas of science and technology being considered as particularly relevant to converging approaches and converging technologies analyses. A selection of the papers presented is published in two co-edited special issues of Innovation: The European Journal of Social Science Research as well as in an additional issue.
Additionally, the researchers of the KNOWLEDGE NBIC consortium have been involved in local, national and transnational discussions about governance initiatives, the role of the social sciences and humanities in foresight projects, public engagement activities and regulatory discussions, and global governance.
As converging technologies and the various key 21st century enabling technologies enter their next generation of development, the social, political, cultural and economic questions that they pose are expected to enter new spheres of discussion. Through its main reports, rapid reports, organisation of workshops, edited journal issues and on-going work on the dissemination of project results, the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project has contributed to both the identification of emerging governance subjects and questions, as well as the analysis of emerging sites in which knowledge production and politics are enacted.
