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Overview

• Science, Technology, Enterprise and Innovation

• Social issues related to Science and Technology (S&T)

• Communication of high technology

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Science, Technology, Enterprise & Innovation

Science

– pursuit of knowledge and understanding for its own sake

Technology

– development of new tools, methods and systems for doing things

Enterprise & Innovation

– Creating and implementing new and better products, services and ways of doing things that meet specific needs and improving the lives of those on whom they impact

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new scientific knowledge

market

technology

Science & Innovation

Innovation & Commercialisation

existing knowledge

ScienceInterest

Need/demand

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Factors Influencing Scientific Advances & Technological Developments and

Innovation

Market Needs

Public Opinion

Economic Growth

Profit

Personal Interest

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Contribution of Technology to Economic Growth

1

2

3

38%

41%

21%Capital 1.1%

Labour 0.6%

Total Factor Productivity 1.2%

TECHNOLOGY HAS BECOME THE MAJOR DRIVER OF WORLD GROWTH

Source: “21st century technologies” OECD 1998

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Factors Influencing Scientific Advances & Technological Developments and

Innovation

Market Needs

Public Opinion

Economic Growth

Profit

Personal Interest

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Why is it Important for Entrepreneurs in S&T to Understand the Social Implications

of their Work?

• Society has more awareness of technology

• Consumers are influenced by other organisations

• Opposition to technologies (has emphasised the need for technology to be visible if an application is to become accepted)

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Social Issues Related to S&T

• - public perception of S&T

• - risk and uncertainties

• - ethical responsibilities

• - need for regulation

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UK Attitudes to S&TIn general UK population is very supportive of S&T (surveys of OST

and Wellcome Trust in 2000)

• General opinions about S&T:

– S&T will give more opportunities to next generation

– S&T will make life healthier

– Politicians support science and technology for the good of the country

– Perceived major advances: in human health, genetic modification and cloning (medical/biosciences) ; computers/internet and ‘sending people on the moon’ (physics/maths/engineering)

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UK Attitudes to S&T

• General concerns about S&T:

– Scientists underemphasise risks

– Rules are not going to stop scientists to do what they want behind closed doors

– Because of the speed of development, S&T is not controllable by Government

– Politicians are influenced too much by media’s reaction

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Risk and Uncertainties

• Risk: Situation where both the likelihood of a particular outcome,

and the nature of its impact, are well understood

- Example: game of roulette

• Uncertainty: Situation in which there is no sufficient basis for

assigning a precise and accurate likelihood to a particular

outcome

- Example: predicting the price of copper in 20 years

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Risks and Uncertainties in S&T

Conventional riskassessment

Consider putative consequences andscenarios

Rely on past experience of generic hazard

Emphasize consequencese.g. If serious/irreversible or needto address societal concerns

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Need for Regulation

• 97% of the public (OST survey 1999) believes that is important that there are rules and regulations in place to control biological developments and scientific research.

• Who are the organisations involved in regulations?– Government

– Funding bodies

– Advisory Board to Government

– Scientists

– Environmental groups

– Industry/manufactures

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Business Communication

• Evaluate the outcomes of high technology

• Embodying risks and uncertainties

• Engage the public (from deficit to dialogue)

• Increase trust in authority and expertise

• Avoid anti-S&T trends

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Communication of High Technology in Society: The Circuit of Mass

Communication

Social and political institutions

Media

Public

Decision makers

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What do High Technologists Think of Communicating their Research? And How

Easy is it?

• Benefit to non-specialist public having a greater understanding of high technology

• Believe it is their duty to communicate their work and its social and ethical implications to policy makers, and to the non-specialist public

• Generally high technologists don’t feel they are equipped to communicate to a non-specialist audience

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What About High Technologists Entrepreneurs?

• Communicate to whom? And why?

- Funding bodies - Other high technologists- Business people - Public - Media

Need to communicate their work on a non-technical level clearly and confidently to a variety of audiences

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Communicate What?

• Their work/idea

• Specific social issues related to their research/idea

– Causing public controversy

– Potentially causing public controversy

– Impact on society is not established yet (ex nanotechnology)

– Interesting but not controversial

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“….Driving the display is a 128MB ATi Mobility Radeon 9700. This effortlessly handles most games, returning 50 frames per second in Unreal Tournament 2004 at 1,280 x 1,024, although it will struggle with tougher challenges, as 20 fps in Halo and 14fps on Doom 3 at the same resolution demonstrates. External output is handled not only by D-SUB and S-Video ports, but also by a DVI-D port….”

Communicating High Technology

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Guidelines to Communicate Your Idea

• Set objectives and make motivations clear

• Understand the audience

• Attract audiences (marketing)

• Encourage dialogue

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How to Communicate Effectively?

• Select key messages and communicate them clearly and concisely avoiding jargon and unnecessary technical terms

• Don’t lose your credibility (peer review, references..)

• Be accurate

• Be clear on risks and benefits

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Further Readings

• http://www.cst.gov.uk/• http://www.dti.gov.uk• http://www.statistics.gov.uk/• http://www.sciencemag.org/feature/data/150essay.shl• http://www.oecd.org/home/• http://psci-com.ac.uk/• http://europa.eu.int/comm/enterprise/index_en.htm• http://www.epsrc.ac.uk/default.htm• http://www.the-ba.net/the-ba/• http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/• http://www.cnn.com/TECH/• http://www.hse.gov.uk/pubns/bioindex.htm• http://www.rsa.org.uk/index.asp