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Workshop Summary
Third Meeting of the International Nanotechnology and Society Network (INSN)
The International Nanotechnology and Society Network had its third meeting on March 17th 2006 in Oxford UK. 16 members attended, representing 5 countries. This meeting, which directly followed the James Martin Institute Forum, aimed to conclude some administrative activities, develop action plans for INSN collaborative priorities, and plan a research workshop.
The first topic of conversation was the mission statement and the creation of an executive committee. Dan Sarewitz took comments and ideas from the assembled group and will revise and distribute the new draft to the executive committee, then to the Network, for comments. Members of the executive committee will serve for 2 years, members can remain in the position if voted on by the committee, and rotation will be designed so that there are half of the committee positions available each year. There needs to be a more concerted effort to recruit members from regions outside of North America and Western Europe.
The second discussion topic of the day was the collaborative projects that had been outlined in October. Three projects were on the agenda to be discussed the first being the NanoDistrict Plus headed up by Arie Rip. Arie provided a one-page summary of the project that was discussed. Arie will distribute a newer draft of that document to the Network soon; that document will also be available on the soon to be launched collaborative projects page of the INSN site.
The next project was the National Discourses of Comparative Advantage headed by Chris Newfield. There is much to be done still in the development of this project, but the first steps are to be a collection of documents showing statements of Comparative Advantage from a variety of nations that will be accessible from the INSN website. Chris will develop and distribute a one-page project description and plan for analysis. Members with such documents are encouraged to contact Ira Bennett or Chris Newfield.
The Comparative Imaginaries or Scenarios project will collect and analyze scenarios and their uses from members that are involved in this type of work. This project will explore the interaction between sociotechnical scenarios and scientific imaginaries, and understand the contexts in which these scenarios are developed. James Tansey has volunteered to help coordinate this project along with Ira, Dan and hopefully Rob Doubleday.
A new project for this meeting is Issues in Engagement and Governance that Tee Rodgers-Hayden putting together. Still in its infancy stages, Tee along with Alison Mohr will develop and distribute a paragraph to the Network soliciting input.
Another project that was talked about briefly was an interactive Best (and Worst) Practices in Technology Engagement that would exist on the INSN website, members could nominate their favorites; those would then stay on the web all year. Alfred Nordmann will put together and distribute a one-page write up which will be on the agenda for the next meeting.
The next two meetings of the Network will piggyback on larger meetings. The EEAST meeting in Lausanne August 2006 will be followed by a Network meeting that is chaired by Arie Rip. The 4S meeting in Vancouver November 2-4 2006 may include a roundtable lead by INSN members and will be followed by a Network meeting. Tee Rodgers-Hayden is investigating the possibility of a roundtable and James Tansey will check on space for the meeting. There will be an investigation into the possibility of a research meeting of the entire Network to be held in Brazil towards the end of December 2006 or the beginning of January 2007.
The network is currently soliciting ideas for funding for travel of participants from the developing world. Any ideas can be sent to Ira Bennett.
Attendees:
Gregor Wolbring, James Tansey, Tee Rodgers-Hayden, Alison Mohr, Matthew Kearnes, Torshen Fleischer, Christopher Coenen, Steve Rayner, Clark Miller, Peter Healey, Arie Rip, Jack Stilgoe, Jerry Ravetz, Chris Newfield, Dan Sarewitz, Ira Bennett
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