How can digital innovations be steered in socially meaningful ways? Which technologies help to quickly decarbonize the economy? And how can critical infrastructures be made more resilient in the future? Key future issues have long required solutions at European level. In the search for adequate answers, the European Parliament continues to rely on the scientific expertise of the experts for technology assessment at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT).
The addressee and client of such scientific political consulting is the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) of the European Parliament, which consists of 27 MEPs. Since 2005, STOA has regularly been receiving short briefings and detailed analyses of new and emerging technologies from the members of the European Technology Assessment Group (ETAG). This group of scientific institutions from Germany, the Netherlands, Austria, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Norway, and Portugal is headed by KIT’s Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS). As coordinator of the ETAG, ITAS has now successfully applied for a new framework agreement with a term of five years.
Supporting Political Decision-making Processes
“The decision of the European Parliament underlines the high importance of technology assessment, which has been continuously expanded at KIT for many years,” says President of KIT Professor Holger Hanselka. “We are pleased that, as the head of an international network, we can continue to contribute our expertise to political decision-making processes not only at the national level for the German Bundestag, but also at the European level.”
“It is central to democratic decision-making processes to consider the social consequences of technology appropriately and with foresight. The commissioning by STOA shows that the demand for well-founded scientific advice on the shaping and use of socio-technical processes is unbroken,” says Professor Armin Grunwald, head of ITAS at KIT. “We are convinced that there is a lot of work waiting for us, especially in digital technologies, but also in issues of technological sovereignty and resilience to disruption.”
Studies on Deepfakes and Hydrogen
In recent years, ETAG has carried out a large number of analyses on the social, ecological, and economic aspects of new technological and scientific developments. Studies on options for action and regulation in dealing with AI-manipulated media content, so-called “deepfakes” (“Tackling Deepfakes in European Policy”), or on the implementation of the European hydrogen strategy (“The Potential of Hydrogen for Decarbonizing EU Industry”) have recently received particular attention.
Read more:
Development of the European Technology Assessment Group (ETAG) and list of partners
Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA)
Being “The Research University in the Helmholtz Association”, KIT creates and imparts knowledge for the society and the environment. It is the objective to make significant contributions to the global challenges in the fields of energy, mobility, and information. For this, about 10,000 employees cooperate in a broad range of disciplines in natural sciences, engineering sciences, economics, and the humanities and social sciences. KIT prepares its 22,800 students for responsible tasks in society, industry, and science by offering research-based study programs. Innovation efforts at KIT build a bridge between important scientific findings and their application for the benefit of society, economic prosperity, and the preservation of our natural basis of life. KIT is one of the German universities of excellence.