Marc Saner advocates the tremendous potential for change of emerging technologies (such as nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, information technologies, and robotics). Their development, he argues, is justified by their potential to lessen most of our key problems, including energy insecurity, food insecurity, climate change, health challenges, extreme poverty, and so forth. This promise of rapid global change, however, also leads to skepticism regarding the direction of that change. Ultimately, who will benefit and who will bear the costs?

In the context of managing emerging technologies, the “Collingridge Dilemma” — or information vs. power dichotomy — outlines the problem. At first, in the absence of definitive information, we simply do not know if the technology is going to be “good or whack” (to quote comedian Ali G.). Later on, as we begin to understand the impacts, we often face a power deficit when it is too late to effectively control the diffusion and consequences of the technology.

Despite this difficult dilemma, many practical strategies exist. Professor Saner will illustrate the current issues and discuss ideas for the proactive governance of emerging technologies.

Marc Saner is an Associate Professor (Geography, Environmental Studies, and Geomatics, cross-appointed at the Graduate School of Public and International Affairs) and the founding director of uOttawa’s new Institute for Science, Society and Policy. He has also held management positions at the Council of Canadian Academies, Carleton University’s Regulatory Governance Initiative and Ethics and Policy Issues Centre, as well as the independent Institute on Governance. (https://ca.linkedin.com/in/marcsaner)