Now part of SciQuest.com, this is a "portal site" that provides access to a wide range of resources on science and technology, including policy and ethical issues.  Includes daily news updates on developments in science and a variety of special features on K-12 education, women and minorities in science, academic programs, and other topics.

Operated by the Centre for Applied Ethics at the University of British Columbia, this site includes links to other ethics sites as well as to on-line publications of this subject.

A section of the Worldwide Guide to Science Studies Programmes, this site, located on the Science Studies Server at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, has links to a variety of academic departments, publications, libraries, and other resources.  While the coverage of programs outside the U.S. is better than on many similar sites, the listings are somewhat randomly selected and, as of January 2001, are badly in need of updating.

A substantial collection of links organized under such headings as energy, biology, technology and politics, and science fiction. Some are organized under discussion topics ranging from appropriate technology to mad cow disease to virtual reality.

Suite 101.com is a "community-based guide to the best of the web."  Its section on future technology is heavily oriented towards computers and software, containing articles forecasting Internet and computing trends in the 21st century and links to some unusual sites.  Although the topic has been "retired" by its publisher, the page is still available.

Sponsored by Developmental Technologies, Inc., a Knoxville, Tennessee corporation engaged in integration of advanced technology into agricultural, consumer and industrial products, this site includes links to a wide range of technologies from environmental and educational technologies to art and virtual reality.  Also a page of weird technology links.

A vast array of resources on science, medicine, technology, and cultural-studies / historical approaches to science designed for humanists interested in the relation between sci-tech and society. The emphasis is on materials that reflect upon, historicize, critique, collect, exhibit, or otherwise mediate (and mediatize) sci-tech rather than on scientific research per se. Assembled by Prof. Alan Liu of the University of California, Santa Barbara, English Department

Created by British writer Simon Jones, this attractively-designed site features a collection of interesting, topical articles on future technology topics ranging from flying cars to wearable PCs to views of the future contributed by visitors to the site.  There are also links to other future-oriented sites, a book list, and a form for subscribing to Jones's free eZine.

An online magazine edited and published by business writer Daniel Blatt.  Contents include forecasts of government, international affairs, military affairs, and economics.  There are also book reviews and Blatt's commentaries on such matters as "advocacy scholars."

Operated by the New Dehli-based consulting and corporate finance firm, GTS Consultants Pvt. Limited, this site is an excellent online business resource for entrepreneurs in the high technology area.  It has extensive information on R&D news, Intellectual Property and Patents, Science and Technology Policy, Licensing and Technology Transfer opportunities and R&D collaboration possibilities,  Venture Capital, information on conferences, events, trade shows, and more.

Kurzweil Cyber Art

Home to "Poet's Assistant" -- a "thinking" poetry generator that assists writers by
suggesting words & phrases for verse & songs.  Ray Kurzweil is the author of the best-seller, The Age of Spiritual Machines.  This site, which doesn't fit neatly into any of the categories in this directory, features a free download of a screen saver that writes poetry, samples of computer-written poems, and some insights into Kurzweil's work in this area.  Kurzweil, who invented the first music synthesizer and OCR scanner, received the National Medal of Technology in March 2000.

Assembled by David F. Donnelly at the University of Houston, this site contains a fascinating collection of predictions regarding the future of TV, film, radio, computers, and the net. Sample of a recent forecast: "We're fast approaching a time when computers will design themselves, with no help from us lowly jabbering primates. . . . Computers will soon use their superior 'thinking material' to make themselves smarter. Humans and computers already design generations of computers together, but (Paul) Horn says, as time goes by, people will be phased out of the process. . . ."

"a reader supported [online] newsletter with postings every couple of weeks or so. It looks beyond the generally recognized 'risks' of computer use such as privacy violations, unequal access, censorship, and dangerous computer glitches. It seeks especially to address those deep levels at which we half-consciously shape technology and are shaped by it."  An interesting and original approach to a vast range of issues from food safety, to children, to virtual reality.  Praised by Peter Denning in The New York Times as "a largely undiscovered national treasure," it will be of interest to readers of Technology and the Future and most others who visit this page.

The complete collection of reports of the Office of Technology Assessment of the U.S. Congress, which was established in 1972 and closed in 1995.  The site includes hundreds of reports on science and technology policy issues ranging from the artificial heart to nuclear waste, to the effects of information technology on the financial services industry.

"More power is on its way in the next several decades, as present  scientific knowledge drives future technological capability. Do we know what to do with the powers over matter, mind, and life that tomorrow's technologies will grant us?" Howard Rheingold is one of the most creative and original contemporary thinkers on technology and society.  Here he tells us what we need to know about the future we're creating.  The site of which this text is a part, rheingold's brainstorms, also contains many other interesting resources on technology and society.

An exhibit created by the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Alabama made possible by funding from the IBM Corporation (1992).  It was displayed for a time at the Johnson Space Center Visitors' Center in Houston, Texas.  The exhibit suggests some of the ways in which science fiction has forecast the development of technology and  ways in which it has not. The collection of covers of "pulp" magazines from the 1930s and 1940s is particularly engaging and includes interpretive discussions.

Selected links to online readings on modern society and its ills.  The editor describes the focus as "on alienation between man, nature, and a dysfunctional scientific-technical complex."  In fact, there is a rather large and eclectic collection of readings here on topics ranging from technology and its social side-effects to third world debt to "media terror" to the Balkan crisis.  Edited in the Netherlands by Hans Talmon.

Full text of a report on a conference on "The Impact of Interactive Communications on Future Attitudes and Behavior," sponsored by the Markle Foundation and held at Aspen, Colorado, in August 1994.

Assembled by Professor Michael C. Kearl of Trinity University in San Anotonio, Texas, this site features commentary, data analyses, essays, and a great many links, put together for courses taught by Kearl and his colleagues.  Kearl's intent is to "inform and generate discourse" and this "theater of ideas" can certainly do both.  Includes a page of links and commentary specifically devoted to science and technology.

Reviews of  books on several topics related to technology and society, including privacy and individual rights; commerce, security and the law; and net culture, art and literature. Curtis Frye, a freelance writer from Portland, Oregon, has put this site together and hopes to develop it into the definitive source for reviews of the literature documenting technology's interactions with society.  The site has recently been redesigned and updated and is now posting a new review every week.

Home page for the magazine published by the IEEE Society on the Social Implications of Technology (described below).

A brief discussion of the rise and fall of the U.S. Congress's Office of Technology Assessment with links to TA resources and to the many technology assessment offices that have been established by national legislative bodies in other countries modeled on the now-defunct U.S. OTA.  A "Teich's Tidbit of the Week" from September 2001.

"What are these things called computers, and how are they affecting our societies? What impact is the rapid advance of technology having on our societal structures? And what changes are taking place in our economy as a result of these and other factors?"  Some thoughts and links on the subject from Gordon Glasgow, an information systems professional.

A collection of short items on topics ranging from Silly Putty® to nanosats to anonymity online with links to additional information on each.

AAAS Directorate for Science and Policy Programs

A unit of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, this directorate sponsors policy fellowship programs for scientists and engineers; a program to help researchers at U.S. universities that receive relatively little federal research funding increase their competitive positions; as well as a program of dialogue on science, ethics, and religion and  programs in human rights, scientific freedom and responsibility and law-science relationships.  Many visitors are drawn by a program that monitors R&D in the federal budget and posts detailed updates on congressional activities affecting science and technology.

SIGCAS brings together computer professionals, specialists in other fields, and the public at large to address concerns and  raise awareness about the ethical and societal impact of computers. It publishes a quarterly newsletter and co-sponsors national conferences such as the National Educational Conference, the Computers, Freedom and Privacy  Conference, the Computers and Quality of Life Symposium, and the Computer Ethics Conference.

A non-profit think tank located in Washington, DC, and Chicago that is devoted to studying and reporting on important technological issues that affect society.  The Center describes itself as "guided by the belief that properly utilized technology can be beneficial, but that uninformed government interference will only stymie technological achievement and close off avenues to progress."

CIFS is an independent, interdisciplinary, research institution earning its income exclusively from sponsored research and dissemination of knowledge. Its methods range from statistically based analysis and the identification of global trends, to "more subjective emotional factors of importance to the future."  Much of the material on the site is available only to paying members, but there are some items, including a newsletter that are available to nonmembers.

The 4S is an interdisciplinary society with a membership of about 1,000 in such fields as sociology, anthropology, history, philosophy, political science, economics, and psychology.  Its members work in areas of study that fall outside of the traditional academic disciplines such as feminist studies and cultural studies, as well as those addressing science and technology for the public, studies of knowledge, policy, R&D, the development and use of specific technologies.  The site includes the 4S newsletter and short list of STS links.

A unit of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) with about 2000 members worldwide, SSIT covers such issues as environmental, health and safety implications of technology; engineering ethics and professional responsibility; history of electrotechnology; technical expertise and public policy; peace technology; and social issues related to energy, information technology and telecommunications.  It publishes a quarterly journal, IEEE Technology and Society Magazine, and sponsors periodic conferences entitled The International Symposium on Technology and Society (ISTAS).

According to the FAQ on this site, "Technorealism is an attempt to assess the social and political implications of technologies so that we might all have more control over the shape of our future. The heart of the technorealist approach involves a continuous critical examination of how technologies -- whether cutting-edge or mundane -- might help or hinder us in the struggle to improve the quality of our personal lives, our communities, and our economic, social, and political structures. "  This site explains its principles, includes an extensive list of readings (many of them linked), and offers an opportunity to add one's name to the list of those who have endorsed the technorealist principles.

An element of the World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) devoted to understanding the social impact of the Web and reaching out to affected communities.  Its current focus is establishing trust on the web.  Daniel Weitzner, formerly of the Center for Democracy and Technology is the Domain Leader.

Women in Global Science and Technology (WIGSAT) supports global networking on critical issues in science and technology for development. This includes women’s formal and nonformal science and technology practices around the world for policy advocacy and action which promotes their S&T contributions to sustainable development.  This site has information about WIGSAT's research and advocacy activities and also serves as a web gateway for information and communications technology activities relating to global or southern hemisphere- based initiatives.

Science and Engineering Ethics

The Online Ethics Center for Engineering and Science at Case Western Reserve University:  "Our mission is to provide engineers, scientists, and science and engineering students with resources for understanding and addressing ethically significant problems that arise in their work, and to serve those who are promoting learning and advancing the understanding of responsible research and practice in science and engineering."

A spring 2000 course taught by Dr. Jerry L. Sherman at Albuquerque Technical-Vocational Institute in New Mexico.

This site, developed by Dr. Linda Groff & Dr. Paul Smoker, Co-Directors of the Global Options Program at California State University, Dominguez Hills, provides a survey of the future studies field, including resources, a discussion of subjects and time periods of study, etc.  Unfortunately, the site appears not to have been updated in several years.

STC-Link: Science, Technology, and Culture

Site associated with a spring 1999 course taught by Dr. Michael Tang at the University of Colorado, Denver.

An archived site of a course taught in 1996-97 by Dr. Helena Sheehan.  Although necessarily dated, it contains an unusual amount of interesting material including a timeline of the history of ideas, a list of multimedia STS resources, a long list of links to other STS sites (including one on scientific culture and national identity in Ireland), and an extensive bibliography.

A collection of course syllabi in STS at Stanford.  Includes some 32 courses (both undergraduate and graduate) as of July 1999.  Topics range from technology policy in newly industrializing countries to ethical issues in civil engineering to feminist theories of science, technology and medicine.

A rich source of information on topics relating to science, technology and society (STS).  Includes links to university STS programs, an archive of materials suitable for inclusion in course packs, links to other STS sites, and, of course, information about the NCSU program.

Professor Gordon L. Ziniewicz teaches this course in the Department of Philosophy at Loyola College in Maryland (Baltimore).  The syllabus lists more than 20 themes, including the meaning of technology, technology and human nature, technophobia, and democracy and the Internet.  Particularly valuable are the bibliography and on-line resources, which include links to many on-line articles and reports.

This course, taught by Professor Robert Sutton at Cape Fear Community College (North Carolina) considers technological change from historical, artistic, and philosophical perspectives and its effects on human needs and concerns. Emphasis is placed on the causes and consequences of technological change.

This somewhat offbeat syllabus for an online English computer lab course taught at the University of Alabama, Tuscaloosa, in Fall 1997, reveals relatively little about the course itself but has an unusually wide-ranging set of links on technology and society, including the full texts of many interesting articles.

The objective of this course, taught by Professor Ann Larabee at Michigan State University is to help students generate sophisticated ideas and shape them coherently for a college level audience. It is a humanities writing course not a technical writing course. It presents reflections on the philosophy, ethics, and politics of science and technology, and asks students to develop their own ideas on such topics as assessing risk, American technological utopianism, technology and political systems, women and technology, the impact of computers, and alternative uses of technology.

Comments and suggestions for additional links are welcome.  Please contact: Al Teich (ateich@aaas.org)