What Is Technology Assessment Essay Research Paper — страница 6

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process. This is quite true. Different engineering disciplines will have different views on a particular subject or project. Each engineer would have been taught to think differently and act/respond accordingly and so the engineering phrase “there is more than one way to design something” is quite true. Examples Typical examples of the different disciplines that incorporate the various factors into their decision making process is in the medical technologies and IT industry. While most assessments of medical technologies focus narrowly on their cost effectiveness, a more important question for technology assessment involves the decision making process that accompanies it. In addition one knows little information about the different roles played by different actors in the

development and implementation of medical technology such as hospitals, as well as financial institutions (example, health care insurers). (Weijers 1995). Decision making on such medical technologies such as insulin fusion pumps used for the treatment of diabetics was quite interesting as it was a new technology whose optimal use pattern was (and remains) unknown. Here, different factors such as social, economical, technical, health factors and approaches are incorporated into the decision making process. Decision-making is often limited to the efficiency of the technology as such amongst other factors, and is based on the technology’s “state of the art” at that moment. Rarely do decision-makers take into account the possibility that a technology might change, through

research and development, or that new organisations or involved parties might change its application. Another example of decision making processes incorporating the various factors is in the Information Technology industry. Social, economical, technical and political factors are the important ones to consider when assessing, producing and implementing new technologies. Whereas IT has been a steadily growing element of society for the last 50 years, one is now faced with a situation where IT in many respects is setting the standard for communication between organisations. Traditional means are no longer a cost-effective alternative and will therefore be replaced. With individuals, IT is starting to become a part of everyday life. Examples include: ? Electronic transfer of money

instead of cash payments ? Mobile phones ? Video conferencing ? The Internet All these are popular examples, which indicate changes in everyday life. Another example is in communication with authorities, where personal data is sometimes only available on computer. A growing concern whilst dealing with IT is IT-security. The three main areas are: ? Continuity – the availability of information to the organisation or individual ? Integrity – level of trust one can put on the information processed, transmitted or stored. ? Privacy – who is allowed to see what information Each engineering discipline will incorporate different factors in regards to their decision making process. For example, a Civil Engineer on a specific project, say, building a road, would need to consider all,

if not most of the factors listed previously. Whilst an Environmental Engineer would probably concentrate on the environmental, cultural, and social factors associated with building a road. But both would collaborate with one another to achieve an optimal goal or end product. This leads to the issue of interdisciplinary research. Interdisciplinary Research As mentioned earlier, Technology Assessment has established itself as a new form of interdisciplinary technology research where engineers from all disciplines and other parties’ come together to assess a particular technology. Technology and society is quite clearly approached from different directions by different disciplines not just engineers. These include economists, technologists, scientists’ etc. Different

engineering disciplines with their different assumptions and methods are brought into contact with one another as evident with any project undertaken or development of new technology. Decisions are made, during the research stage of new technologies and of new equipment, which will later force all efforts to design the jobs in connection with them. This research phase should therefore attract other disciplines other than engineering such as social scientists. Indeed, there are similarities and differences existent in the way socio-technical information is sought in the various disciplines. The basic model drawn on the previous page is typical of the engineering decision making process that engineers use to plan, implement and design a particular project. This model can also be