Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag

Information and communication technologies

TAB report no. 038. Berlin 1996, 121 pages

Summary

The TA bodies set up by the parliaments in some European countries have repeatedly dealt with novel information and communication technologies. This monitoring report has been prepared on behalf of the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Parliament (TAB) with the aim of conducting search of relevant studies, compile them, and analyze in more detail studies of particular relevance. The search concentrated on the parliamentary TA bodies in Denmark, the Netherlands, France, Great Britain, and with the European Parliament. About 40 studies were identified in the phase of search, and the following studies haven been selected for more in-depth analysis:

• Denmark: The plastic card as identification card - application of the IC chip card technology to develop an identification card
• France: High definition television
• EC: HDTV and digital technology
• Great Britain: Technologies for education - utilization of technologies in education and teaching at primary and secondary schools
• Netherlands: Computers in primary school education
• Netherlands: Automation in the public prosecutor´s office

In the first chapter of this report the procedure adopted in searches is described. A survey of the studies identified is given in Annex 1, a short characterization of the available and procured studies, respectively, in Annex 2. The survey shows the broad spectrum of subjects treated and the different priorities given to subjects in the individual countries. In the second chapter the six selected studies are described and analyzed in more detail. In the concluding third chapter observations and conclusions are compiled. The question of the transferability of contents (transferability of problems to be solved, value premises, results, focus of disciplines, methods applied, participation, and impact analyses) is studied more precisely. Special emphasis is then placed on the recommended actions to members of parliament reached in the studies. In conclusion, a comparison is made with the OTA studies already analyzed in a former monitoring report (TAB-Arbeitsbericht Nr. 28).

Although, as in the OTA studies, direct transfer of results is not possible due to the different situations in the individual countries, this monitoring report contains a multitude of technical, conceptual and also methodological suggestions which might be fruitful for the discussions in this country.