LAS 432 Course Project Draft I Politic
Political and legal influences
It is agreed upon that nanotechnology, like most emerging technologies, requires proper, consistent, and coherent governance, however legal and regulatory questions associated with the technology remain, mostly due to uncertainty and the public’s lack of trust in what may be considered controversial applications and the transparency of the legislative and regulatory decisions. Considering the vague definition of nanotechnology the Foresight Institute encourages self-regulation within the scientific community in order to avoid legislators poorly informed decisions. However, some commentators believe that the public must be informed of the possible risks and regulations and policies must protect the best interest of the public and minimize risks. The greatest fears related to scientific community, country, or private corporation self-regulation in the absence of globally agreed upon rules and policies concern possible adoption of risky safety policies in favor of possible competitive advantages. Currently, “nanotechnology development and production is geographically widespread, with more than sixty countries pursuing national nanotechnology research and innovation programs (Shapira and Wang, 2010), with the use and application of nanotechnology occurring globally. Regulation and oversight is primarily national, with some growth in nanotechnology information exchange, harmonization, and standards setting at supranational and international levels (Murashov and Howard, 2011), including activity by the OECD through its Working Parties on Nanotechnology (OECD 2011a) and on Manufactured Nanomaterials (OECD, 2012b). Arguably, some best practices are emerging (IRGC, 2007), but there remain significant differences by countries in the governance and regulation of nanotechnology. There are variations in the overall approaches to, and investment in, the assessment of environmental, health, safety, ethical, legal, and societal implications of
It is agreed upon that nanotechnology, like most emerging technologies, requires proper, consistent, and coherent governance, however legal and regulatory questions associated with the technology remain, mostly due to uncertainty and the public’s lack of trust in what may be considered controversial applications and the transparency of the legislative and regulatory decisions. Considering the vague definition of nanotechnology the Foresight Institute encourages self-regulation within the scientific community in order to avoid legislators poorly informed decisions. However, some commentators believe that the public must be informed of the possible risks and regulations and policies must protect the best interest of the public and minimize risks. The greatest fears related to scientific community, country, or private corporation self-regulation in the absence of globally agreed upon rules and policies concern possible adoption of risky safety policies in favor of possible competitive advantages. Currently, “nanotechnology development and production is geographically widespread, with more than sixty countries pursuing national nanotechnology research and innovation programs (Shapira and Wang, 2010), with the use and application of nanotechnology occurring globally. Regulation and oversight is primarily national, with some growth in nanotechnology information exchange, harmonization, and standards setting at supranational and international levels (Murashov and Howard, 2011), including activity by the OECD through its Working Parties on Nanotechnology (OECD 2011a) and on Manufactured Nanomaterials (OECD, 2012b). Arguably, some best practices are emerging (IRGC, 2007), but there remain significant differences by countries in the governance and regulation of nanotechnology. There are variations in the overall approaches to, and investment in, the assessment of environmental, health, safety, ethical, legal, and societal implications of
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