Prototype catalogue: DOE National Laboratory technologies for infrastructure modernization. Letter report made publicly available December 1992

摘要

The purpose of this report is to provide the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) with information about selected technologies under development in the Department of Energy (DOE) through its National Laboratory System and its Program Office operations. The technologies selected are those that have the potential to improve the performance of the nation's public works infrastructure. The product is a relational database that we refer to as a ''prototype catalogue of technologies.'' The catalogue contains over 100 entries of DOE-supported technologies having potential application to infrastructure-related problems. The work involved conceptualizing an approach, developing a framework for organizing technology information, and collecting samples of readily available data to be put into a prototype catalogue. In developing the catalogue, our objectives were to demonstrate the concept and provide readily available information to OTA. As such, the catalogue represents a preliminary product. The existing database is not exhaustive and likely represents only a fraction of relevant technologies developed by DOE. In addition, the taxonomy we used to classify technologies is based on the judgment of project staff and has received minimal review by individuals who have been involved in the development and testing of the technologies. Finally, end users will likely identify framework changes and additions that will strengthen the catalogue approach. The framework for the catalogue includes four components: a description of the technology, along with potential uses and other pertinent information; identification of the source of the descriptive information; identification of a person or group knowledgeable about the technology; and a classification of the described technology in terms of its type, application, life-cycle use, function, and readiness.