in Japan
Tatsuhiro Kamisato and Mitsuaki Hosono
Abstract
As the relationship between science, technology and society deepens, it is increasingly emphasized that science, technology and innovation (STI) policy should be directed toward
“the society and the public” by obtaining public understanding and trust and at the same time by fostering public participation. Within this context, in 2012, Osaka University and Kyoto University have jointly started a “Program for Education and Research on Science and Technology in the Public Sphere (STiPS)” funded by the Japanese government. This is the first case of an innovative educational and research programme taking account of ELSI (Ethical, Legal and Social Issues) in Japan that includes TA (Technology Assessment) and PE (Public Engagement). Therefore, we will outline STiPS. It is expected that STiPS will contribute to recovering public trust in expertise in the Japanese society, which was lost as a result of the 2011 nuclear accident.
Introduction
With the deepening relationship between science, technology and society, there is an increasing consensus that science, technology and innovation (STI) policy needs to foster and obtain public understanding, trust and participation. This consensus rests on several points: that it is necessary to understand the influence and impact of STI policy on society and to make it visible to the public; that the policy-making process must be rationalized to make it more objective and evidence-based; and that this will lead to improved accountability for STI policy makers to the public.
Within this context, the Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), has been promoting the “Science for Redesigning Science, Technology, and Innovation Policy (SciREX)” programme since 2011, which aims to prepare a system and a foundation for the realization of evidence-based policy formation through 1) a proposal of policies effective in addressing different challenges, 2) multifaceted analyses
Institutionalisation of Technology Assessment and 3) assessments of social and economic impacts from STI policy (MEXT 2013a). The MEXT planned this SciREX programme by taking the “SciSIP” programme as a model, that is the “Science of Science and Innovation Policy” in the US. The SciSIP programme was established in 2005 by the National Science Foundation in response to a call for a systematic study of the social science of science policy by John Marburger, the director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy at the time (Rosenbloom 2013).
Currently, the SciREX consists of four sub-programmes: mission-oriented research on STI policy, research funding, data and information infrastructure, and the “Fundamental Research and Human Resource Development Program” for STI policy (MEXT 2013a).
During the fiscal year of 2011, several hub institutions for the “Fundamental Research and Human Resource Development Program” were selected by the MEXT. They consisted of the National Graduate Institute for Policy Studies (GRIPS), the University of Tokyo, Hitotsubashi University, Kyushu University, Osaka University and Kyoto University.
Although each institution has its own focus area, the STiPS programme at Osaka University and Kyoto University had a minor specialization with a focus on ethical, legal and social issues (ELSI) in science and technology (MEXT 2013b). In this paper, we will mainly discuss this STiPS programme.
Outline of the STiPS Programme Role and Position of STiPS in the SciREX
First we will take a look at the concept and role of STiPS in the SciREX programme. The missing perspective in the traditional STI policy in Japan is an understanding of what people in society expect, their concerns with regard to science, technology and public policy, and their vision for the world they want to live in.
To address this viewpoint, a process of participation, engagement and deliberation that includes a wide variety of people, organizations and groups, not only researchers, industry specialists or policy makers but also citizens, is needed. In this process, the participants, both directly and indirectly, engage in discussions to deepen our thoughts and to elicit and share our expectations and concerns.
Although the Japanese government has recently begun to work on a new policy for innovation in order to get over these problems (METI 2007), it has not yet made any discernible progress.
STiPS is strongly committed to the development of personnel who can contribute to the process of policy-making by creating links between various academic fields, as well as between academia, policy and society. This will be achieved by those who can carry out the practice and analysis of public engagement activities, and who can promote these activities based on the study of ELSI in science and technology. Naturally, these activities would include TA.
Creating a Hub for ELSI/TA Education, Research and Implementationin Japan Three Functions of STiPS
STiPS has three functions.
1. First, it is “a hub for education”. Through education and by utilizing the opportunity to become involved in the field of public engagement in science and technology, we aim to develop individuals who can cross over the boundaries of their specializations, understand a wide range of issues related to science, technology and society from various angles and contribute to the process of policy-making by acting as a link between academia, policy and society.
2. Second, it is “a hub for research”. Osaka University and Kyoto University will jointly engage in research on the ELSI associated with science and technology. This process will incorporate trends in research, in science and technology and in laboratories and research institutions, so as to continuously improve the effectiveness of practice and analyses of public engagement in the policy-making process. Building this research into ELSI, both theoretical and practical skills in the field of public engagement will be fostered in individuals through their participation in, and by an analysis of, public engagement activities, such as technology assessment.
3. Lastly, it is “a hub for practical application”. In this programme, hands-on experience in social collaboration with academic and social knowledge, and the opportunity for students to take the initiative in that collaboration, will be offered. Both Osaka University and Kyoto University have strong ties with the business sector and the local government in the Kansai region,1 and they have frequently collaborated and exchanged information in the realm of science and technology. In addition, by promoting the participation of civil society, the general public and NGOs and NPOs in public-engagement activities, STiPS contributes to the development of STI policies. It also helps draft and plan research and development that truly reflects the needs, unique circumstances and issues of the local society.
Educational Goal
A minor specialization programme by STiPS began in April 2013 as a part of the existing master programme. In the first year, 15 students from a variety of fields, including engineering, science, literature, law and others, were enrolled in this programme.
In this minor programme, we expected to foster two types of personnel who could act as links between various fields.
1. One is “type A” personnel, who could act as a link between various fields, that is various academic fields, many companies or citizens. This personnel type is a specialist or intermediary in our society. They should be leaders in ELSI, PE and TA. We hope to establish a new major doctoral course for type A in the future.
Institutionalisation of Technology Assessment 2. The other is “type B” personnel: people in their own professional fields who can also act as a link between their own field and another field. A typical target person here would be someone who has a Master of Science or Master of Engineering degree. We can expect to send our students into society with knowledge acquired through this minor programme.
Several career paths stemming from this programme can be envisioned.
1. The first is a professional researcher at a university, at a research institute or in the laboratory of a private company. They would work mainly in their specialized field, having a similar viewpoint or way of thinking as ELSI, TA and PE.
2. The second is a government official, policy secretary or a staff member working for the management and the research policy at a university or in an institute. They would work directly based on the education provided in the STiPS programme.
3. The last is an experts for public relations and risk communication. They could work in central government, local government and in industry.
Category Faculty Subject Name Unit Semester
Core Subject CSCD
Introduction to Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2 1 Workshop on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2 Intensive course
Research Project 2 All Year
Elective Subject (At least 4 subjects should be selected)
CSCD
Science, Technology and Communication 2 1-2
Science, Technology and Society (STS) Studies 2 1
Advanced Seminar on Science, Technology and Innovation Policy 2 Intensive course
Hot Issues in Science, Technology and Society 2 2
Medicine Ethics in Life Science and Public Policy 2 Intensive course
Engineering Science Social Engagement on Nanotechnology A 1 Intensive course
Engineering Enviromental Management for Sustainable Industrial Systems 2 1
International Public
Personnel Micro-Data Analysis (L) 2 All Year
Personnel Micro-Data Analysis (S) 2 All Year
Public Policy I 2 2
Human Sciences Science and Technology in Society 2 2
Methods in Fieldwork 2 1
Law Bioethics and Law 1 2 2
Bioethics and Law 1 2 2
Table 5: The list of the new curriculum of the minor specialization in STiPS
Creating a Hub for ELSI/TA Education, Research and Implementationin Japan Curriculum of the New Minor Specialization in STiPS
Above is a list of the new curriculum of the minor specialization in STiPS. It comprises three core and eighteen elective subjects from various disciplines, such as engineering, public policy, law, medicine and STS. We are planning to add more to the curriculum next semester. Students in the minor specialization have to obtain all the credits of the core subjects and at least four elective subjects in order to complete the certificate.
Other STiPS Activities
Thus far, we have mainly discussed the educational programme. Finally, we touch upon the other activities of STiPS. Since members of STiPS actively participate in many activities, it is difficult to talk about them all. Therefore, we will briefly look at only two cases.
1. Research on public engagement. In 2012, one of the core members of STiPS, Tatsuhiro KAMISATO, was asked to contribute an article to a review journal on the web,
“Nippon Dot Com”, which was produced by the Nippon Communications Foundation.
It promoted understanding of Japan through web-based publishing and other activities (Nippon.Com 2013). This article is about the issue of public engagement in strategic energy policy in Japan after the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Plant accident. As is well known, the energy policy in Japan is still unclear. This article deals with the issue of how to formulate a strategy for energy supply (Kamisato 2012). The readers of this website are not only academics but also businesspeople, policy makers and so on. As one of the missions of STiPS is to intermediate between academic and political communities, members contribute this kind of media, which has a wide range of readers.
2. Another activity is to facilitate social events concerning science and technology, arts and culture, policy and so on. One of the many events hosted by STiPS is the “Labo Café”, which is an interactive programme in which participants have wide-ranging discussions on a variety of topics. The programme aims to turn the concourse of the subway station into a communication space for the arts and academia by addressing various themes. In addition, we have a series of public seminars, which are intended for deliberating about science and technology in the public sphere with citizens but also for forming networks among researchers, practitioners and citizens in the “Kansai” region.
The themes we have picked include “regulatory science”, “innovation and the role of the university”, “environmental innovation”, “universal design” and so on.
Conclusions
As observed above, we have taken a look at the background and outline of the STiPS programme. This has been the first educational and research programme for innovation putting great value on ELSI, TA and PE. Fortunately, the programme has met with positive public response. For example, it received glowing coverage in certain sections of the media
Institutionalisation of Technology Assessment (Yomiuri 2013) and also received inquiries from some government and university staff.
Above all, the most important thing is that STiPS is appreciated by students enrolled in it.
On the other hand, in order to stably maintain this program, there must be enough job opportunities in which the knowledge and skills of TA and PE can be applied. Honestly speaking, there had been only a few such jobs, at least in Japan. Recently, however, we have been able to see a slight shift, which would be due to the effect of the Fukushima nuclear accident in 2011.
Although SciREX, including STiPS, was not necessarily established to cope with the situation brought on by the accident, some people in Japan now pay more attention than before to TA or ELSI in science and technology because they have lost trust not only in the safety of nuclear power but also in the expertise of the government with regard to science and technology in general. In fact, before the accident, most Japanese were not very familiar with ELSI, PE or TA.
In the autumn 2011, the “National Diet of Japan Fukushima Nuclear Accident Independent Investigation Commission” was formed. Before the accident, this type of a commission on the national diet had never been formed in Japan (NAIIC 2012). Although this commission has already been dissolved, we should hope that this experience will be an opportunity to form the first TA organization on the Japanese Diet. It would mean turning the tragedy into a constructive opportunity. It is hoped that efforts will be made for further advancement in this area.
References: Page 386
PART III PARTICIPATION IN TECHNOLOGY ASSESSMENT
Articles from the PACITA 2013 Conference Sessions:
TA Methods and Tools (IV) Participation within the Field of Climate Change (V) Participatory Methods (XII) Participation: Practical Cases (XVIII) CSOs in Research (P-I)
Tangible Meets Fictional – Shaping the Future, a Participatory Methodology