Engagement of Engineers in Science Policy

Abstract

The issues of our time, increasingly laden with science and technology, are generally resolved by elected leaders as matters of public policy. With such decisions, questions arise as to how political leaders deal with complex technical content. All technologies carry side effects, some with such high risks that the costs of error are unacceptable. For this and other reasons, a practice has evolved over the past few decades of science policy research, drawing on individuals from the technical professions, but requiring additional capacities to interpret and translate purely factual information in terms of social, economic, legal, political and ecological repercussions. The writer explains the nature of science policy research, the functions of science and technology advisors, and how engineers, if they are to engage in science policy affairs, must reinforce their expertise with broad understanding of the socio‐political process. The paper concludes with a discussion of social responsibilities of engineers as members of a profession to develop both aptitudes and attitudes to enrich their practice by better understanding of the social context.