A new survey on Nanotechnology Governance: The Role of NGOs [PDF] was released today by the International Risk Governance Council (IRGC).
The survey, conducted between September and November 2005, was originally sent to 25 potential participants. These 9 NGOs responded: the Center for Responsible Nanotechnology, Demos, Environmental Defense, ETC Group (Canada), Foresight Nanotech Institute, Forum for the Future, Greenpeace (UK), the National Resources Defense Council, and Sciencecorps (US).
The report quotes our responses in these areas:
- Economic issues - "CRN considered potential risks to include economic oppression from artificially inflated prices, economic disruption from an abundance of cheap products, the development of a black market in nanotechnology (which increases other risks), and high competition in nanotechnology programmes (which also increases other risks)."
- Social issues - "CRN mentioned personal risks with respect to criminal or terrorist uses, rapid changes in lifestyle and an unstable arms race."
- Environmental issues - "CRN considered the possibility of collective environmental damage from unregulated products."
Findings from this and other surveys, together with the outcomes of two expert workshops held in May 2005 and January 2006, and the IRGC white paper on Risk Governance: Towards an Integrative Approach [PDF], will be used to develop initial risk governance recommendations which will be presented, discussed and enhanced at an international conference [PDF] to be held on 6 and 7 July 2006 in Zurich, Switzerland. IRGC's final recommendations for appropriate risk governance strategies will be published shortly after the conference.
I was a participant in the second workshop mentioned above, and I'll be at the conference next month in Switzerland. This is a much-needed deliberative process that seems to be achieving positive results for responsible use of nanotechnology. We commend the IRGC for their efforts.
Tags: nanotechnology nanotech nano science technology ethics weblog blog
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