2014 Press Releases
Summer School examines role of tech
The second PACITA (Parliaments and Civil Society in Technology Assessment) European Summer School took place in Cork recently. Ageing societies and the role of technology was the underlying theme.
The summer school participants consisted of members of public authorities, including policymakers, civil servants and policy-advisers, academia and the scientific community, as well as PhD students and civil society representatives from industry and NGOs from Europe, Africa and South America. It featured three days of cutting edge training, practical exercises, mutual reflection and networking.
The three-day event facilitated the participants to combine a forward-looking perspective on new scientific and technological developments with the ambition to influence their embedding in society.
By combining high-profile lectures with interactive workshops, the participants from such different stakeholder groups learned how technology assessment can provide them with meaningful insights into public and policy opinion forming on science and technology in society.
Dr Ciara Fitzgerald, Senior Postdoctoral Researcher at the Financial Services Innovation Centre, Department of Business Information Systems in UCC, led the organisation of the summer school.
"Learning requires a congenial atmosphere”, she explains.
“This is where the PACITA European Summer School in Technology Assessment excelled. The participants came to UCC from all over the world and shared a passion for and an enthusiasm towards learning about technology assessment methods.”
“I believe the programme has been really beneficial both on the course's contents and the rich cultural mix of the class. While providing classroom learning from distinguished researchers in theoretical and empirical Technology Assessment, the summer school also offered budding researchers and practitioners the opportunity to brainstorm their ideas on applying technology assessment methods to technology and the aging society during interactive workshops.”
Dr Fitzgerald also expressed her sincere thanks to her fellow experienced lecturers who joined her in delivering the summer school lectures and workshops from Belgium, Denmark, Norway, and the Netherlands. She also thanked PrimeUCC, in particular Andrea Wachner, who offered great expertise and advice in the organisation of the event. The PACITA project is an FP7 funded project, led by Principal Investigator, Professor Frédéric Adam of the Department of Business Information Systems.
For further information on the PACITA project, please visit the website http://www.pacitaproject.eu or contact Dr Ciara Fitzgerald at cfitzgerald@ucc.ie.
PACITA is a four-year EU financed project under FP7 aimed at increasing the capacity and enhancing the institutional foundation for knowledge-based policy-making on issues involving science, technology and innovation, mainly based upon the diversity of practices in Parliamentary Technology Assessment (PTA).