Converging Technologies (CONTECS)

  • Project team:

    Rader, Michael (Project leader); Torsten Fleischer; Christiane Hauser; Christopher Coenen

  • Funding:

    European Commission

  • Start date:

    2006

  • End date:

    2008

  • Project partners:

    Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung (FhG-ISI Karlsruhe, Projektkoordinator);
    Said Business School;
    University of Oxford;
    Ecole Normale Supérieure, Paris.

  • Research group:

    Knowledge society and knowledge policy

Project description

CONTECS was a "Specific Support Action" financed within the 6th Framework Program of the European Commission. The goal of the project was to identify the most important ethical, legal and social aspects of the development of Converging Technologies, to examine these and finally to derive from the findings proposals for a research agenda for the 7th Framework Program. Besides comprehensive analysis of documents and the internet on various aspects of CT, work done for this purpose consisted of expert workshops and interviews. The results were incorporated in validated reports on scientific and technological trends in converging technologies, on the current debate on CT in the social sciences and humanities and on the research policy framework for these developments. Workshops with experts and stakeholders served not only to validate and make more concrete the results but also to present the topic CT to a broader scientific public and to arouse and reinforce awareness for the relevance and related issues for the social sciences and humanities among scientists belonging to the disciplines involved.

Publications


2014
Book Chapters
Coenen, C.
Converging technologies
2014. Gramelserger, G. [Hrsg.] Synthesis : Zur Konjunktur eines philosophischen Begriffs in Wissenschaft und Technik Bielefeld : transcript, 2014, 209–230 
2010
Journal Articles
Fleischer, T.; Rader, M.
Zum Verständnis von Converging Technologies: Zugänge zu einem Zauberwort
2010. Ökologisches Wirtschaften, (2), 15–16 
2008
Journal Articles
Fleischer, T.; Quendt, C.; Rader, M.
Converging Technologies und die Sozial- und Geisteswissenschaften. Ergebnisse und Erfahrungen aus einem EU-Projekt
2008. Technikfolgenabschätzung, Theorie und Praxis, 17 (2), 74–77 
Reports/Preprints
Andler, D.; Barthelmé, S.; Beckert, B.; Blümel, C.; Coenen, C.; Fleischer, T.; Friedewald, M.; Quendt, C.; Rader, M.; Simakova, E.; Woolgar, S.
Converging technologies and their impact on the social sciences and humanities (CONTECS). An analysis of critical issues and a suggestion for a future research agenda. Final report
2008. Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI) 
Rader, M.; Coenen, C.; Fleischer, T.; Luber, B.-J.; Quendt, C.
Appendix D - Current trends in RTD policy on converging technologies D3.3
2008. Fraunhofer-Institut für System- und Innovationsforschung (ISI) 
2007
Conference Papers
Quendt, C.; Fleischer, T.; Rader, M.
Converging Technologies als Gegenstand internationaler forschungspolitischer Debatten. Beobachtungen, Analysen, Probleme
2007. Bora, A. [Hrsg.] Technology Assessment in der Weltgesellschaft : 2.Konf.des Netzwerks TA, Berlin, 22.-24.November 2006 Berlin : edition sigma, 2007 (Gesellschaft - Technik - Umwelt ; N.F.10), 213–20 
Presentations
Grunwald, A.
Converging technologies: Nano Bio Info Cogno - Steht uns eine Technologierevolution bevor?
2007. Evangelischen Akademie im Rheinland: Die Zukunft beginnt heute. Stehen wir vor einem neuen, dem nanotechnischen Zeitalter? (2007), Bonn, Germany, December 15, 2007 
2006
Presentations
Grunwald, A.
Visionary commmunication for dealing with the increased contingency induced by converging technologies
2006. EASST (European Association for the Study of Science and Technology) Conf.2006, Lausanne, CH, August 23-26, 2006 

Contact

Dr. Michael Rader
Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
Institute for Technology Assessment and Systems Analysis (ITAS)
P.O. Box 3640
76021 Karlsruhe
Germany

Tel.: +49 721 608-22501 (ITAS secretariat)
E-mail