Society

Civil society (27)
Knowledge society (70)
Society (627)

Synopsis: Society: Society:

research groups, technological field, and society. The second contribution by Fleischer et al. argues that TA of emerging

And it is enhanced by coherent actions of a range of key decisionmakker in research policy, economy and society.

but in particular also decisionmakker from research, industry, policy-making and society, a shared understanding of current problems, goals and development options is expected to emerge among those actors that have an important role to play in shaping the future.

Bridges Between Science, Society and Policy Technology assessment Methods and Impacts, Springer, Berlin, 2004.9 S. Joss, S. Belluci (Eds.

foresight in the risk society, Technovation 19 (6 7)( 1999) 413 421.2 T. Jewell, International foresight's contribution to globalisation, Foresight The Journal of Futures studies, Strategic thinking and Policy

the accelerating changes that individuals as well as societies must adapt to socially and psychologically make Fig. 1. Regulatory foresight vs. regulatory impact assessment. 498 K. Blind/Technological forecasting

Path Dependence and Creation, Lawrence Earlbaum Associates, Mahwah, 2001, pp. 1 38.40 A. Giddens, The constitution of society:

Managing Technology in Society. The Approach of Constructive technology assessment, Pinter Publishers, London, 1995. Douglas K. R. Robinson obtained his undergraduate and master's degree in Physics and Space S&t at the University of Leicester (UK) and Universität Siegen (Germany.

He worked in South africa on the dynamics of social development projects and science-and-technology-in-society issues and at Twente University,

or escape from the negative consequences of a‘risk society'.'The diversity of the above areas suggests that foresight process impacts should be interpreted through the lenses of epistemology, sociology, political science, management science and organisational theory.

In parallel, given that developments in the above spheres are associated strongly with the evolution of‘participatory knowledge societies',this paper presents an interpretation of foresight process impacts within a conceptual framework that attempts to characterise such societies.

and factors affecting the development of these societies are intertwined with those influencing the development of participatory governance systems:

and factors increasing the role of knowledge in society; a group of factors leading to innovation-based growth;

or cope with the negative consequences of a‘risk society'.'4 Notwithstanding the importance of knowledge in previous types of societies, several authors acknowledge a shift in the economic structure of modern societies away from a‘material'input driven economy towards a knowledge-based

input economy. They associate the increasing role of knowledge in the emerging knowledge societies with the increased density

which collaboration and networking are facilitated within a society, within and between different groups of actors.

On the other hand, knowledge seems to have a dual, paradoxical role in modern societies, in that while increasing reliance is placed upon it,

which modern societies have to deal with uncertainty and complexity marks a novel feature of today's situation.

The literature suggests that the emerging knowledge societies are also‘risk societies',characterised by decision-making conducted within an environment of increasingly uncertain or incomplete knowledge.

While active participation is demanded in a‘risk society, 'at the same time it is promoted by a‘knowledge society'via support for the development of more informed publics.

networking, informed publics) seem to be necessary to cope with a‘risk society'.'The findings of the literature review on what constitutes the major characteristics of the emerging knowledge

and risk societies are synthesised into a conceptual framework describing a more participatory‘knowledge society'.'This conceptual framework is illustrated in Fig. 1. 5 The three main groups of characteristics are illustrated by the three inner circles.

'drivers and factors shaping modern societies. 7 See for example 2100 543 E. Amanatidou, K. Guy/Technological forecasting & Social Change 75 (2008) 539 557 versions

It also allows‘non-expert'knowledge and society's perceptions, interests, concerns and fears to be taken into account.

and society both crucial developments if the emerging knowledge societies are to cope with social, environmental and intellectual complexity.

or escape from the negative consequences of a‘risk society'.'4. From the conceptual framework to an objectives hierarchy The conceptual framework used to characterise emerging knowledge societies

In particular, Maltese society is characterised as highly divisive and individualistic. Efforts were made to bridge numerous divides between the public private sector, between political parties, between scientific disciplines and between generations.

and factors affecting the development of these societies are intertwined with those influencing the development of participatory governance systems:

The examination of foresight process impacts within a conceptual framework characterising participatory‘knowledge societies'provides indications that foresight can contribute to the emergence of such societies in terms of:

Knowledge creation, absorption and diffusion and through these to the increasingly dominant role of knowledge within modern societies;

or escape from the negative consequences of a‘risk society'.'This suggests that it is possible to assess foresight exercises in terms of their contribution to more participatory‘knowledge societies,

How to Follow Scientists and Engineers Through Society, Open University Press, Milton Keynes, 1987.25 B. Latour, Reassembling the Social:

The rise of a large-scale European information technology initiative, Technology in Society 17 (4)( 1995) 385 412.

Multilevel governance 1. Introduction The first universities emerged as responses to the need to harness the expanding intellectual forces of the era to the increasingly demanding knowledge requirements of the surrounding society

changing science society links and societal demands towards universities; demographic changes,‘massification'of higher education, and student‘consumerrism'technological development (offering new opportunities,

b) knowledge either from academic or nonacademic sources is accepted only in society if validated by conventional academic rules and players;(

with other players in (regional, national, sectoral, international) innovation systems and with the society A new balance of the main activities;

intense interactions with other players in (regional, national, sectoral, international) innovation systems and with the society Universities do not understand/take on their role in addressing societal issues New activities to promote cohesion among EU regions

'not much interactionwith other players in innovation systems and with the society Excessive emphasis on enhancing the competitiveness of EU businesses;

Contested Visions of Higher education in Society. A. Smith and F. Webster eds. Open University Press, Buckingham;

and advance technology in ways that are responsive to society's needs and concerns through the definition of problems and boundaries that must be respected.

The Dynamics of Science and Research in Contemporary Societies, SAGE, London, 1994.13 B. Harrison, Industrial districts:

at the German Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation research ISI, Germany e Technology and Society Unit of The swiss Federal Institute of Materials Science and Technology (Empa

Furthermore, as infrastructures represent the backbones of industrialized societies, citizens and industry are affected fundamentally by their proper functioning.

the later applications more explicitly address the co-evolution of technology and society 19. In line with this shift of attention, foresight was conceived mainly as an informing policy task until the 1970s,

Hans Kastenholz is a senior researcher at the Technology and Society unit of The swiss Federal Institute of Materials Science and Technology (Empa.

whether it fits into the company and/or the society, and whether it has impacts or side-effects.

Weak signal and Wild Card analyses for instance are used tools in risk analyses concerning the strategic design of societies or companies, e g. 43 45.

and acting towards the future success and exclusively on the current success. The process begun from very general phenomena of politics, society,

Besides natural science kinds of changes climate change poses also social changes in the society. Political decisions are affected by the climate change.

Herein the foresight methodologies considering the possible changes in the society may be helpful. A major challenge is,

which have political, ecological, social, technological and economical effects in society. 3. 4. Positioning the projects according to some important dimensions Könnölä et al.

or climate change will pose to the society. In addition, business, policy making and the whole broad spectrum of decision making call for future-oriented technology analysis as well as risk assessment.

in business and in the society in general is crucial for both FTA and risk assessment. There is, therefore, a common ground shared by both approaches.

but a socio-technical complex system also interacting with its environment and the whole society. The focus has shifted from positivist

His research is focused on technology foresight, technological transformation of societies, innovation systems and economic geography. He holds a Phd in human geography from the University of Turku, Finland.

Her special interest lies in enhancing innovations provoked by societal concerns for wellbeing of the aging society and for cleaner environment.

Besides technological development decision-makers need all-inclusive knowledge of future developments of society, economy and impacts of science and technology.

composite indicators or survey based studies providing comparisons in a wide range of fields like economy, society, education, innovation system, or sustainable development.

2. Technology barometer is based on the studies of the dynamic evolution of various development stages of a modern society after the industrialized development stage,

i e. from an information society into a knowledge society and from that towards a knowledge-value society.

For example, the Japanese futurist Yoneji Masuda and the American sociologist Daniel Bell have stated that the essential dimensions of a new society would be seen in the emerging service economy, the role of theoretical knowledge, and technology development.

and provide an overall image of how far the developed nations have come in a journey towards a knowledge-value society.

The indicators of technology barometer are structured correspondingly among different development stages of a modern society, from an information society into a knowledge society and from the knowledge society stage towards a knowledgevaalu society and towards the society fulfilling the requirements of sustainable development.

By indicating these various development stages of society, the technology barometer consists of four components, each containing three indicators (Fig. 1). In the information society,

information production, processing, dissemination and exploitation play a central role in all societal sectors. The central role of information is apparent in the economy, production, working life, education and schooling, etc.

The knowledge-value society refers to an advanced formthat has developed froman information society via a knowledge society,

In the knowledge-value society, innovation, technology development, economic regeneration, openness to new ideas, and their active exploitation, are all inherent elements contributing to the basic values and culture of the society.

The default is that the most successful innovators are those who can exploit various expert sources with optimum efficiency in problem-solving situations and implement their objectives in close collaboration with other businesses

The indicators on knowledge-value society focus on entrepreneurship and venturing, innovation networking, and adaptations of innovative practices in a nation.

In addition to the three development phases of a modern society, technology barometer considers sustainable development as a fourth object of analysis,

The indicators of societies fulfilling the requirements of sustainable development are social values, environmental responsibility and environmental systems.

social cohesion in the society in question, environmental protection actions taken by businesses and authorities, and the actual state of the environment.

When assessing societies by information society indicators the Nordic countries particularly Finland and Sweden excel (Fig. 2). This is partly explained by vigorous investments in the development of intellectual capital.

A look into the knowledge-value society indicators opens up a significantly different picture. Here USA

Achieving the objects of this type of society also appears to pay off in practice. Scoring well in this section correlates strongly with the country's rating in widely used indicators of material wealth,

competence and knowledge generation, knowledge society development, innovative society and sustainable development. The first part sets out the respondent groups'assessments concerning the techno-scientific competence prospects and young people's interest in a number of professions.

The third part examines innovative societies, and related indicators are the level of investment, entrepreneurial activity and the impact of technology development on the quality of life.

The first extensive societal issue relates to the role of knowledge-intensive work in Finnish society

with maximum benefits for the society. In order to reach this aim it is essential to strengthen the links between foresight activities, policy development,

This is a clear encouragement to continueworking on the metrics necessary for exemplifying the implications of innovation policy on the society.

i e. the strategic aim of barometer is to provide guidance with maximum benefits for the society,

Moreover, the process of developing Finnish national strategic centres for science, technology and innovation is underway in the technology fields with future importance for businesses and the society.

Development of comprehensive indicators is time-consuming requiring a fair amount of resources as well as a widespread contact network within the society.

Index (A t. Kearny) Globalization Index (World Markets Research centre) Society Human Development Index (UN) Corruption Perceptions Index (Transparency International) Overall Health

society 1. Introduction 2. Key results 2. 1. Barometer structure 2. 2. Key results 2. 3. Discussion 3. Indicators 3. 1

and communication technologies ecommerce 3. 2. 3. Application of new knowledge 3. 3. Innovative society 3. 3. 1. Understanding of knowledge

. Views concerning scientific-and-technical institutions and organizations 4. 3. 3. Views regarding the roles of knowledge and technology in Finnish society

4. 4. Innovative society 4. 4. 1. Investments and entrepreneurial activeness 4. 4. 2. Potential effects of the development of technology on the quality of life 4. 5

development Knowledge society development Innovative society Sustainable development 1185 T. Loikkanen et al.//Technological forecasting & Social Change 76 (2009) 1177 1186 References 1 M. Nardo, M. Saisana, A. Saltelli, S. Tarantola, A. Hoffman, E. Giovannini, Handbook

Instrument for Measuring Citizens'Attitudes and the Nation's Orientation towards a Knowledge-based Society, The Finnish association of graduate engineers TEK, Painotalo Miktor, Helsinki, 2007.8 D. Bell, The Coming Post-Industrial Society:

A Venture in Social Forecasting, Basic books, New york, 1976.9 Y. Masuda, The Information society as the Post-Industrial Society, Institute for the Information society, Tokyo, 1980.10 T. Sakaiya, The Knowledge Value

Revolution or a History of the Future, 1991 New york, XXXX. 11 M. Castells, The Rise of Network Society, The Information age:

Economy, Society and Culture, vol. I, Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, 1996.12 M. Castells, The Power and Identity, The Information age:

Economy, Society and Culture, vol. II, Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, 1997.13 M. Castells, The End of the Millennium, The Information age:

Economy, Society and Culture, vol. III, Blackwell, Cambridge, MA, 1998. Torsti Loikkanen is a Senior Research scientist

technological transformation of societies, innovation systems and economic geography. He holds a Phd in human geography from the University of Turku, Finland.

new drivers like lifestyles or developments in society change the time and space patterns of living and working.

Previous processes often tackled topics that were too broad for the ministry to handle (e g. the society in general.

as they are part of the Fraunhofer Society whose institutes have strong stakes in the research landscape) but in close cooperation with BMBF.

Exploring the relationship between scenario planning and perceptions of learning organization characteristics, Futures 38 (7)( 2006) 767 777.21 Y. Garb, S. Pulver, S. Vandeveer, Scenarios in society

, society in scenarios: towards a social scientific analysis of storyline-driven environmental modeling, Environ. Res.

In this paper practical ways to reduce the deficit are proposed that ought to increase the responsiveness of Foresight programmes to society's values, concerns and expectations.

but wide spread of stakeholders who will help to shape the future of society through the practical scheme proposed.

of important influences that may shape the future of research and indirectly society. It is far from clear that the sponsors of Foresight studies,

For inclusivity these three questions are interrelated in social, technical, economic, ecological, political and value/norm (acronym STEEPV) aspects of society.

In an example of foresight in this connection, Loveridge 7 outlined the way that computer and communication technologies might evolve into‘information technology',with its widespread adoption throughout society,

and society 1212 D. Loveridge, O. Saritas/Technological forecasting & Social Change 76 (2009) 1208 1221 4. Participants from the fields of ethics, theology, social theory

The approach of CSH recognises that various stakeholders in society may see situations 14 in radically different ways because different stakeholder values and behavioural characteristics lead to different boundary judgements.

The future of nanotechnologies and their impacts on society require widespread participation in elucidating their acceptability in society.

Survivors the most disadvantaged people in modern society Sustainers struggle at the edge of poverty.

to society as a whole sometimes to include global issues, leading to a profound sense of responsibility; support conservation, environmentalism and the consumer movement, often becoming impassioned and knowledgeable activists about the world as they see it.

and technologies promise applications which may radically affect society. Nanotechnology is no exception, promising many benefits through nano-enabled applications across multiple sectors and with the potential of affecting many parts of our society.

At present, during its early stages, a wide variety of actors are anticipating both on the potential benefits and risks of the development of nanotechnologies and their embedment into markets and into society.

Thosewishing to coordinate and develop appropriate governance strategies for nanotechnologies need to consider both thewide spectrumof nanotechnology research and development lines,

and the journeys that will be taken from idea to technical application well embedded in society. In the field of nanotechnology these challenges are compounded further due to the early stage of nano developments

whether an innovation will move from a hopeful proof-of-principle to a product well embedded in our society.

But the potential breakthrough nature of nanotechnologies as enablers of radically new applications may mean a complex reconfiguration of the environments that a nanotechnology innovation may traverse during its‘lifetime'from concept to well embedded technology in our society.

and the various environments (industrial, market, society, regulation, research, etc.).5 To this end it was necessary to create a scenario method

and overcome barriers to introduce their nanotechnology into society. The IC+framework provides a gameboard to bring together linear/concentric perspectives with complexity,

Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Social Study of Science (4s) in Montreal, Quebec, 2007.3 A. Rip, H. te Kulve, Constructive technology assessment and sociotechnical scenarios, in:

The Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society, Presenting Futures, vol. I, Springer, Berlin, 2008.4 F. W. Geels, Towards sociotechnical scenarios and reflexive anticipation:

Ecole des Mines, Project SOE 1981126,'Management tools and a Management framework for Assessing the Potential of Long-term S&t Options to Become Embedded in Society',TSER Programme of the European commission, January 2002.12 A. Rip, Introduction

Changes within society and nature are happening at a much higher speed than current institutions

and for meeting the challenges faced by society, such as those concerning health, energy supply and the environment.

Modern societies have a strategic interest in research and technological development, and governments have an interest in the overall priorities of national expenditure on these areas.

the economy and society with the aim of identifying the areas of strategic research Downloaded by University of Bucharest at 05:09 03 december 2014 Foresight

that of science, technology, economy and society in general. In the perspective of strategic positioning (Mintzberg, Ahlstrand,

and technology research can make to society. Earlier strategy plans for the Technical research Council, as well as plans for other research councils,

The Technical research Council plan mentions that its strategy is about prioritising areas of science with special importance for society during the next 10 20 years.

The dynamics of science and research in contemporary societies. London: Sage. Grant, R. M. 1991.

towards risk society or ecological modernization of scenarios. Futures research Quarterly 17, no. 2: 33 55.

As a starting point for assessing research domains, representatives from Luxembourg society, business and research were invited to the Stakeholderworkshop with the aim of identifying the main challenges facing Luxembourg over the coming decade.

‘research domains in the public sector with short-term and/or long-term socioeconomic interest for Luxembourg society'.

thus familiarising the wider public with the stakeholders as well as with the role of science in a modern society. 6. 3. Impacts on the research community As mentioned in the previous section,

Second, it is clear that a forward-looking process like foresight needs to be underpinned by sufficient and appropriate‘objectivised'data, e g. publication data, statistics on the national R&d environment, reports on the state of economy, environment or society

but about the joint impact of public and private decision making on society's course of change and the interactions that precede formal decision making.

but also decision makers from research, industry, policy making and society. Thus, a shared understanding of problems, goals and development options can be expected to emerge among those actors that have an important role to play in shaping the future.

3) Science and society;(4) Urban development for research. Downloaded by University of Bucharest at 05:10 03 december 2014 Trade-offs between policy impacts of future-oriented analysis 959 Panel 1 FTI in business Integrative concept for RTI-strategy Panel

3) Embedding RTI into society: providing space and occasions for public discussion about RTI, its opportunities and challenges.

'The World Future Society, an international organisation propagating foresight, describes visioning as‘the process of creating a series of images

which the community council desires for the development of society. In order to obtain operative power the visions

and warned about the possible alienating effects such visions could have on social groups already living on the fringes of society.

But this is the way society works; we are supposed not to come up with revolutionary ideas all the time. I am not sure about this,

Social Living their future lives in Lundal Concentrate on issues of well-being in society! Ask your parents and neighbours!

and that the voices of the most vulnerable in society are heard in decision-making. It is also responsive to the present and future needs of society. 20.

Local newspaper article, 5 april 2006.21. See also Flyvbjerg (1998. Downloaded by University of Bucharest at 05:10 03 december 2014 984 S. Jenssen 22.

Theory, Culture & Society 20:1 33. Berkhout, F, . and J. Hertin. 2002. Foresight futures scenarios: developing and applying a participative strategic planning tool.

Health, Risk and Society 4: 259 72. Brown, N, . and M. Michael. 2003. A sociology of expectations:

In Interfaces between science and society, ed. A. Guimarães Pereira, S. Guedesvaz and S. Tognetti, 100 17.

World Future Society. Cuhls, K. 2003. Development and perspectives of foresight in Germany. Technikfolgenabschätzung 12, no. 2: 20 8. Cuhls, K,

Administration & Society 37, no. 2: 225 42. Dreyfus, H. L, . and P. Rabinow. 1982.

self and society in the late modern age, 10 35. Stanford, CA: Stanford university Press. Godet, M. 2001.

the need for reflexivity and learning at the interface between science and society. International Journal of Foresight and Innovation policy 1: 150 67.

Theory, Culture & Society 20, no. 2: 49 57. Latour, B. 2003. Is re-modernisation occurring and if so,

Theory, Culture & Society 20:35 48. Ling, T. 2002. Decision making in the public sector. In Scenarios in public policy, ed. G. Ringland, 124 31.

& Society 17:26 54. Downloaded by University of Bucharest at 05:10 03 december 2014 986 S. Jenssen Marcus, G. 1995.

1) Learning and learning society (2) Services and service innovations (3) Well-being and health (4) Environment and energy (5) Infrastructures and security (6) Bio-expertise

and bio-society (7) Information and communications (8) Understanding and human interaction (9) Materials (10) Global economy Apart from its title, each panel was characterised by a description of about 150

as well as some domains of their potential application in industry and society. This notwithstanding, the panellists were encouraged explicitly to deliberate how they would construe the scope of their panels.

to (1) major changes in the global context,(2) growing needs in Finnish industry and society, or (3) anticipated scientific and technological achievements.

for example, advances in relation to forest-related industries were discussed in panels on Environment and energy, Bio-expertise and bio-society, Materials,

Panel Examples of focal competence areas 1. Learning and learning society Neurological, cognitive, motivational and social basis of learning Practices of lifelong learning, the education system and informal

technologies 5. Infrastructure and security Environmental know-how and technology Logistic know-how and security of supply management Integration know-how 6. Bio-expertise and bio-society Complete use of renewable

Technology and Innovation7 in fields that are important to the future of Finnish society and business and industry.

and learning society, understanding and human interaction). As a result, these latter panels spent more time on demarcattin their boundaries

or to legitimate results but more proactively to embed them in the strategies of organisations across the economy and society.

they see a shift from technocratic to wider democratic processes of decision-making as societies respond to globalisation

and trends and how these address or are related to the grand challenges faced by societies today and in the future.

the Socioeconomic Dimension, Foresight Center of NISTEP, Tokyo, Japan, 2001.5 A. Havas, Terminology and Methodology for Benchmarking Foresight programmes, For Society Transnational Foresight ERA NET, 2006.6 N. Borup, N

society and technology which may impact upon the business and its innovative activities. Rollwagen et al. describe this process in Deutsche bank which they summarise as‘‘Foresight explores

and society and (ii) its respective impacts and implications on policy. 2011 Published by Elsevier Ltd.§

The first dimension addresses the type of main outcomes of the foresight project referring to its different kinds of impacts on the policy and society at large.

Consensual‘‘Innovation 25''has set 5 scenarios of Japan society in 2025 and it includes‘‘Long Health Society'',Safe and Secure Society'',Society with Multiple Career Path,

''‘Japan contributing to Global Issues''and‘‘Japan Opening to the World''.''Fixed The methodology was fixed at the beginning.

a term used by governments to describe material assets that are essential for the functioning of a society and economy (such as electricity generation and distribution, telecommunication, transportation systems, public health, financial services,

a term put forward by Castells 15 to describe a society built on technologies of information storage, retrieval,

and communication technologies (ICT) can make to the economy, society and personal quality of life, "and the ICT priority has the largest budget share of the current European RTD Framework programme (FP7:

but it could also have wider impacts in society and be used to stimulate a wider discussion among stakeholders. 3. 4. Agora foresight (diverse perspectives

However, the participants from different sectors of the society benefited from the project. It helped them position in the system,

Our analysis supports the thesis that different classes of foresight projects have respective different types of impacts on policy and society.

We expect that the developed framework can facilitate the discussion about the expectations and the management of foresight projects and about its impact on policy-making and society at large.

a co-evolutionary view Futures 20 (6)( 1988) 606 620.15 M. Castells, The Rise of the network society.

economy, Society and Culture, vol. 1, Blackwell, Malden, 1996.16 European commission, Green Paper on the convergence of the telecommunications, media and information technology sectors,

Terminology and Methodology for Benchmarking Foresight programmes, For Society Transnational Foresight ERA NET, 2006. T. Ko nno la et al./

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