Search for the 'European way' of taming the risks of new technologies: the EU research project iNTeg-Risk

摘要

Technologies designed and developed to improve the quality of life and to make societies more competitive in the global marketplace sometimes face fierce opposition and rejection by those who were proposed to be the beneficiaries of these technologies. Such controversy about technology may be rooted in neglected or underestimated risks to society and what it values or it may be caused by symbolic beliefs that members of society associate with the technology under dispute. It is a truism that with each opportunity that technologies promise to provide comes a set of risks that one has to take in exchange for the promised benefits. Often enough, the promised benefits are reaped by those who do not share the risks and vice versa. This equity problem is one of the controversial topics that dominate risk debates in the world.