19.12.2017

TATuP26/3 (2017) “Technology – Consequences – Simulated” published

The current issue builds a bridge from technology assessment (TA) to agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS).

What are the parameters that determine the development of a complex socio-technical system in one direction or the other? What are the consequences of controlled interventions, for example from politics? Agent-based modeling and simulation (ABMS) is particularly suitable for modeling complex systems on the computer and simulating their future development. This makes ABMS highly interesting also for technology assessment. The contributions to the current TATuP TOPIC give insights into the functionality of ABMS and explain the potential of closely linking it with TA by using various examples. Guest editors of the TOPIC are Johannes Weyer (TU Dortmund) and Michael Roos (Ruhr-Universität Bochum).

In the Research section, one team of authors formulates requirements for reorienting science communication with reference to green genetic engineering and genome editing. By looking at research on the public acceptance of wind turbines another team of authors reflects whether and how research itself affects the surveys. In addition to reviews, conference reports and news from the European TA community, the current issue also features a detailed interview with Jean Pütz, a veteran of German science journalism. He talks about the political and moral obligation to exchange knowledge, about simple language as a bridge between researchers and citizens, and about “DIY” as a way to acquire knowledge.

Since summer 2017, TATuP has been published as a peer-reviewed open access journal, all contents are freely available.

Current issue