Several European countries and regions have official bodies which give advice to their respective Parliaments on important technology issues. They cooperate through the European Parliamentary Technology Assessment Network (EPTA). In 2014, the Norwegian Board of Technology (NBT) holds the presidency in this association of European technology advisory boards.
– “Having the presidency of EPTA provides us with a unique opportunity to gain insight into what is happening in other countries, such as Germany, England and the USA” says Tore Tennøe, director of NBT.
EPTA has 17 members from different European countries and regions, as well as from the European Parliament and the American GAO .
Great interest in cooperation
– “There is a great interest in international cooperation on technology related policy issues” says Tennøe. “Technology develops quickly in many important areas, and provides us with new opportunities and challenges within for instance the fields of health, climate, national security and openness” he continues.
– “Several countries are seeing the need for non-partisan and knowledge-based advice at an early stage in policy development. The EPTA member organisations are in many ways functioning as radars for their members of parliament” he continues.
International meeting in Norway
[related type=”post” value=”4455″]The presidency of EPTA involves, among other things, the responsibility for shared projects, and facilitating EPTA’s Directors’ Meeting and parliamentary conference.
The Directors’ Meeting will take place in Ålesund in April, where the directors of the different technology advisory boards among other things will be introduced to world leading maritime business clusters and research in the Norwgian region Sunnmøre.
NBT will, in cooperation with the Norwegian Parliament, host a conference in October gathering Members of Parliament from several countries.
– “We will also take other initiatives to map out especially interesting technology issues during 2014” says Tennøe.
