RSVP for the Wednesday, October 19, 2016 at 12pm in the Capitol Visitors Center

The topic of the day is, “Should We Revive the Office of Technology?”

Congress established the Office of Technology Assessment in 1972, during the same era when it strengthened itself by expanding the Congressional Research Service and creating the Congressional Budget Office. OTA’s duty was to make Congress smarter about technology. It issued reports and offered nonpartisan advice on a broad range of topics, including aeronautics, energy, medical technology, and digital data management. Congress defunded the department in 1995, which at the time had 143 employees and a budget of $22 million. OTA’s statute remains on the books (2 U.S.C. 471), and with technology developing more quickly than ever the question must be asked: should OTA be revived?

RSVP: https://officeoftechnologyassessment.splashthat.com/

The Federation of American Scientists maintains an archive of OTA reports at http://ota.fas.org/

Princeton University also has an OTA archive: https://www.princeton.edu/~ota/

 

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Topics: Legislative Procedure