2009 NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Grantees Conference

1. 2009 NSF Nanoscale Science and Engineering Grantees Conference Overview of CNS-ASU David H. Guston (presented by Jamey Wetmore) CNS-ASU research, education and outreach activities are supported by the National Science Foundation under cooperative agreement #0531194.

4. The U.S. 21st Century Nanotechnology R&D Act of 2003 (PL 108-153) Sec 2(b)(10): • Establish societal implications research program • Require NSECs address societal implications • Integrate societal concerns with nano R&D for benefit of all • Provide for public input

5. NSEC/CNS-ASU Network • Arizona State University • University of Wisconsin-Madison • Georgia Tech • North Carolina State University • Rutgers University • University of Colorado, Boulder • University of Georgia In its recent reporting year, CNS-ASU involved the substantive activities of more than 200 individuals at these and other institutions, and has hosted more than 30 international visiting scholars.

6. NSEC/CNS-ASU Mission • Research the societal implications of nanotechnologies • Train a community of scholars with new insight into the societal dimensions of nanoscale science & engineering (NSE) • Engage the public, policy makers, business leaders, and NSE researchers in dialogues about the goals and implications of NSE • Partner with NSE laboratories to introduce greater reflexiveness in the R&D process

7. NSEC/CNS-ASU Research Programs Real-Time Technology Assessment • Research and Innovation Systems Analysis • Public Opinion and Values • Anticipation and Deliberation • Integration and Reflexivity Thematic Research Clusters • Equity, Equality, and Responsibility • [Human Identity, Enhancement & Biology] • Design, Materials, and the Built Environment (Nano and the City) • Encouraging reflexivity among NSE research establishment • Building capacity for anticipatory governance

8. Anticipatory Governance A broad-based capacity extended through society that can act on a variety of inputs to manage emerging knowledge-based technologies while such management is still possible. Both concepts as used here derived from Guston & Sarewitz 2002

9. More on *Anticipatory* Governance “Competent social scientists should work hand-in-hand with natural scientists, so that problems may be solved as they arise, and so that many of them may not arise in the first instance.” -- Detlev Bronk, testifying to Congress in 1945 on proposed National Research Foundation

10. More on Anticipatory *Governance* • Not government but governance • Not “do” or “ban” • “Science finds, genius invents, industry applies, man adapts” • Moratoriums proposed by ETC Group and Friends of the Earth • Wide array of mechanisms • Licensing, restrictions • Liability, indemnification • IP • Testing • Treaties • PUS – FSE, ISE • Public engagement • Public action

11. CNS-ASU’s Strategic Research Vision • Anticipatory Governance of Nanotechnologies: • Foresight • Engagement • Integration • Ensemble-ization • Barben et al. 2008 Handbook • Guston 2008 Nature • Karinen and Guston 2009 Yearbook of the Sociology of Science

12. Foresight Because all governance requires some disposition regarding the future NanoFutures InnovationSpace Scenario Development

13. Engagement Because public engagement is crucial normatively, strategically and even pragmatically NanoDays & Collaborations with NISE Net National Citizens’ Technology Forum Science Cafes & Collaborations with AZ Science Center

14. Integration Because scientists know things the rest of us don’t, and don’t know things the rest of us do Socio-Technical Integration Research DCSS/IPNS Undergrad Learning Community

15. TRC 1: Equity, Equality & Responsibility Will nanotechnologies increase or decrease inequalities? Can we do anything now to change the direction of the arrow? The TRC1 team is tracking the consequences of nanotechnologies for different social groups in both developed and developing countries. Later stages of their research will experiment with interventions designed to counteract various nano-divides. The second volume of the Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society on The Challenge Equity and Equality is forthcoming.

16. TRC 2: Human Identity, Enhancement and Biology The TRC 2 team completed the Center’s first “end-to-end” assessment of nanotechnologies and the brain, drawing on the array of the Center’s research activities – including the NCTF, a national survey, and bibliometric research – to demonstrate that there are a variety of research areas and issues active now that deserve social and ethical attention. The third volume of the Yearbook of Nanotechnology in Society on Nano, the Brain and the Future is forthcoming.

17. TRC 2 (renewal): Nano and the City To prepare for a new inquiry into Urban Design, Materials, and the Built Environment, CNS is preparing the NEMUE (Nano-Enhanced Materials and the Urban Environment) Image Database, which consists of approximately 200 images. While originally just the web addresses were collected, the database is under transition and in the future will be a publicly accessible, searchable database.  In the finished database each image will be accompanied by a brief text description explaining what makes it 'nano', the original webpage address, and tags that will make the images easily searchable. The images range from current-day applications of nanotechnology through to future visions of a nano-enhanced urban environment.

18. Thanks • National Science Foundation cooperative agreement #0531194. Any opinions, findings and conclusions are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation. • Regina Sanborn, CNS program manager • Michelle Iafrat, CNS administrative associate • Gretchen Gano, CNS education and outreach coordinator