Development of a risk identification framework for merging technology assessment and environmental assessment into a systems approach

Abstract

Purpose of Study: The awareness of advancing technologies and their impacts on quality of life has resulted in two separate activities, namely technology assessment and environmental assessment. Technology assessment has assumed a role of evaluating the multi impacts of new technologies while environmental assessment has assumed a role of evaluating the environmental impacts of existing technologies, This study was intended to provide a framework for merging these two activities into a broad systems approach, The suggested framework utilizes risk as the common denominator for assessing the impacts on the quality of life of new and/or existing technologies, To accomplish this objective it was necessary to present and comparatively analyze representative technology assessment and environmental assessment methodologies.

Findings and Conclusions: Technology assessment methodologies and environmental assessment methodologies indicate a recognition of the potential adverse effects that technologies may have on impact areas. These adverse effects can be termed as risks and identified in the risk identification framework presented in this study. The utilization of this risk identification framework appears to be a potentially beneficial mechanism for merging technology assessment and environmental assessment into a broad systems approach for assessing the quality of life impacts of new and/or existing technologies.