Here’s a sampling of some of the coverage the OTA Archive launch received around the internet.
Science Progress / Science Cheerleader
Bored Science blog
Scientists and Engineers for America
This website is a public archive of The Office of Technology Assessment. It includes information about the history of the office and features over 720 reports and documents that were produced by OTA during its 23 year history. In the video section there is a new interview with Congressman Rush Holt, who explains why he has been leading the effort to revive OTA.
OTA served as an independent branch of the U.S. Congress that provided nonpartisan science and technology advice from 1972 until it was defunded and forced to close in 1995. The Archive will track efforts to bring back OTA, and individuals can subscribe to receive RSS feeds or email updates as new material is posted. The Federation of American Scientists recently received hundreds of historical documents about OTA that have not been available to the public previously, and plan to highlight them in a regular “Document of the Day” feature. The OTA Archive links to current news articles that mention OTA reports or former OTA staff members. The site also includes a search engine (on the right) that allows users to quickly and easily find specific content in OTA reports.
FAS will be happy to host or link to any additional documents or commentary related to the OTA. Use the contact tab at the top of this page to send us your comments.
FAS recently sat down with Congressman Rush Holt, a former physicist representing the 12th district of New Jersey, to get his perspective on what OTA meant to Congress and the Nation.
Congressman Rush Holt discusses the Office of Technology Assessment
Interview with the Federation of American Scientists, June 2008
By Terrie Miller | Citizen Science Projects Blog | July 15, 2008
Here’s a blog post that mentions Darlene Cavalier’s recent Science Progress editorial on creating a very public Office of Technology Assessment. Ms. Miller says,
“I’m a firm believer in citizen science as one path to increasing science literacy. Cavalier takes the next step and insists that we begin to take a more prominent role in policy making ourselves. After all, isn’t that what citizens of a democracy are supposed to do?”
By Valerie Gotten | California Newswire | July 15, 2008
This article describes a recent meeting on tropical forestry hosted by The National Urban & Community Forestry Advisory Council (NUCFAC). During the meeting, Teresa Trueman-Madriaga, Kaulunani Urban & Community Forestry Program Coordinator, referenced this 1993 OTA report when discussing Hawaii’s alien pest species problem.
By Darlene Cavalier | Science Cheerleader Blog | July 14, 2008
Darlene Cavalier, AKA “The Science Cheerleader”, released two new articles about the OTA. The first appeared last week in Science Progress, and argues the OTA should reopen, but with a twist. She says:
It is time to have a new OTA, but one with citizen participation. Scientists and Congress should trust the public’s capacity to learn, draw conclusions, and contribute. Invite the public to do more, and put a process in place so citizens and researchers can work together to impart sound policy advice to Congress. In short, they should help bridge the divide.
The second post appears today on the blog Science Cheerleader as a direct challenge to citizen scientists- “This question is for you (the public). If Congress opens an OTA with citizen inclusion, will you answer the call to participate?”