07.03.2018

Call for Abstracts „Drones and the tension between military and civil applications“

TATuP THEME 3/2018 is about unmanned aircrafts. Abstracts will be accepted until 8 April 2018.

Unmanned aircrafts, so-called ‘drones’, are used in very different areas and for both military and civilian purposes today. Key countries such as the USA, China and Russia will give military drones a high priority in the future. At the same time, the UN and human rights organisations warn against the “potentially catastrophic consequences” (UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for Disarmament Affairs Izumi Nakamitsu) of autonomous weapon systems. However, drones also offer significant potential for commercial applications. The use of drones as means of transport or for transporting smaller loads is the subject of intense discussion. Especially for the so-called ‘last mile’ of delivery, for very urgent goods or for delivery in remote areas, drones have considerable potential.

TATuP is looking for contributions that deal with issues such as the usage of unmanned aircrafts and the resulting implications from the point of view of technology assessment and technology evaluations. Typical examples would be the dual-use problem, sustainability aspects, potential misuse, possible or necessary regulatory measures and last but not least ethical considerations with regard to the consequences of the use of drones.

This topic’s guest editors are Karsten Weber (OTH Regensburg), Bernhard Rinke (Universität Osnabrück) and Christian Alwardt (IFSH).

Call for Papers (PDF)