Comparative Table of Parliamentary TA Institutions
FLANDERS - INSTITUTE SOCIETY AND TECHNOLOGY
The way ahead
On
October 24 2011, the Bureau of the Flemish parliament decided to cease
the activities of IST by December 31 2012. The decision on the demise
of IST was prepared by a political working group, which had been
installed in November 2010 by the Bureau of the Flemish parliament in
order to have a political evaluation of 3 out of 4 »paraparliamentary«
institutes (the Flemish Peace Institute, the Children´s Rights
Commissariat and IST). In other words, this working group discussed on
what could be the future of these institutes within the context of
parliament. Representatives from all democratic political parties
present in the Flemish parliament took part in this working group. In
May 2011, the representative from the green party (Groen) decided to
leave the discussions after a conflict on the objectives of this
working group. The representative argued that the working group had too
many prejudices and jumped too fast to closure conclusions for the
different organisations.
In brief, the decision differentiates between TA advice function and TA research function of IST:
Its TA advice function could be delegated to a committee that
consists of parliamentarians and scientists. Reference is made here to
the current Catalan PTA model, where the president of the parliament is
also chairman of this committee.
Its TA research function will disappear. The Flemish parliament
does not see itself as having to play a direct role in financing
research at universities or other research organisations. It based its
decision on the premise that parliament cannot finance research: what
can be done better elsewhere should be done there.
Parliament´s decision leaves an opportunity for the Flemish government to take up the TA research and/or TA functions of IST.
Parliament´s decision in October 2011 to close IST at the end of 2012
emphasized a period of significant uncertainty concerning the future of
policy oriented technology assessment in Flanders and threatened to
create an institutional vacuum for decision-supporting and
participatory TA in Flanders. In the months following this decision,
two organisations were identified by IST, the Flemish Parliament and
the Flemish government which could potentially integrate the TA
research function:
the Flemish Council for Science and Innovation (VRWI)
the Flemish Institute for Technological Research (VITO)
VRWI is the independent Flemish strategic advisory council that can act
proactively or on request of the government and parliament for the
policy areas science and innovation. VITO is an independent and
customer-oriented research organisation that provides innovative
technological solutions and scientifically based advice. Hence, while
the first is much more policy oriented with links to government and
parliament, the latter is much more research oriented with links to
academia, industry and government.
Several choices had to be made by the key players, i.e. the Flemish parliament and the Flemish government:
Concerning the TA advice function:
The Flemish parliament had to decide if and how it wanted to
incorporate the TA advice function in its own activities. In the months
following October 2011 it became soon clear that the initial suggestion
to implement the introduction of the Catalan parliamentary TA model
into the Flemish parliament was abandoned.
Concerning the TA research function:
The Flemish parliament´s decision of October 2011 was clear: the
parliament wished no longer to take up any role in TA research
activities and asked the Flemish government whether it is interested in
taking over TA activities of IST.
In July 2012, the Flemish government then took the decision to relocate
the TA research activities to the Flemish Institute for Technological
Research (VITO). This involves the transfer of a significant part of
IST´s budget from parliament to the government and the opportunity for
the current TA practitioners at IST to start working at VITO.
For sure, parliament´s decision to close IST has highlighted the need
to reflect on the de- and re-institutionalisation process of policy
oriented TA activities in Flanders. For months it was unsure whether
such kind of activities would disappear or re-emerge in a different
institutional context. The government´s decision to integrate TA
activities of IST in VITO offers a unique opportunity to tackle
limitations of the (parliamentary) TA model that has been used in
Flanders of the past 10 years. It is to be expected that new ways of
linking and embedding TA expertise with other innovation stakeholders
and discourses will be developed over the coming months and years.
Expertise that has been built up by IST is useful in this matter but
will also to be matched with the ever evolving science and innovation
landscape. This includes:
finding an effective balance between TA activities stimulating
public discourses and supporting existing and new policy initiatives on
science and technology issues,
positioning TA in the Flemish innovation landscape as a visible
knowledge actor that is a contact point for politicians, interested
citizens and science, technology & innovation promoters,
linking TA with other science and innovation discourses that are
used in national and transnational policy areas, academia and industry,
and
constructing organised reflection on short-term, salient and
immediately political/societal relevant issues and long-term, slow and »under the radar« collective interest goals.
© EPTA, version 20 Oct 2012; provided by ITA