Jon Fixdal and Tore Tennoe (Norwegian Board of Technology)

Most policy making processes take place in a continuous stream of information. Researchers, NGOs, governmental agencies and industry provide an never-ending flow of data, proposals and analyses. It is impossible for policy makers to read and digest all this information. A specific policy decision will never be the single logical  “conclusion” to the evidence at hand. Rather, we have to develop processes and methods that enable policy makers to make decisions that are sufficiently well informed. Understanding the complexity of the issues at hand and the interests and values at stake is also crucial.

The aim of the session “Evidenced-based policy making” is to explore how technology assessment can help in these respects. The session will mainly discuss two questions: How can TA aid policy makers to address and deal with complex policy issues?  Which methods and techniques does the TA community have at hand?

Abstracts of the session can be found here.

Presentations of the session:

• F. Brom / M. Slob / I. van Keulen / A. de Vries / J. Staman

Evidence Based Policy Skills. Lessons from TA for bridging the gap between science and policy

• M. Matsuo/ M. Matsuura/ H. Shiroyama/ A. Kishimoto/ M. Tachikawa/ N. Iseki

Towards a more collaborative and evidence-based decision making – Incorporation of Joint Fact Finding (JFF) in science and technology governance

• J. Fixdal

Disputed evidence and robust decision making – The case for cross-disciplinary expert groups

• H. Acheson

What role for future-oriented technology analysis (FTA) in the EU’s joint programming process?

• R. Prabhu

Opportunities and limitations of big data in evidence-based policy making