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What Do People Want from Technology?
Published in Susanna Hornig PriestCRC, Nanotechnology and the Public, 2017
The term technocracy was invented to describe the bureaucratic structure of a modern, complex (and yet at least nominally democratic) society in which individual regulators and managers must be highly specialized governance experts, often trained as scientists or social scientists. The term seems particularly applicable to the most highly developed democracies, those with economies and lifestyles that are intimately intertwined with the state of technology and science, and with increasingly ethnically diverse populations that bring significantly different values and perspectives to the table. Highly trained regulators make many decisions on behalf of us all.
Nuclear Renaissance
Published in William J. Nuttall, Nuclear Renaissance, 2022
Technocracy is defined as ‘rule or control by technical experts’ [53]. The GIF approach seems to be a technocracy tempered by national policy priorities. It is noteworthy that the GIF goals make no explicit reference to what is arguably the greatest factor driving the need for Generation IV technologies—fossil fuel-based CO2 emissions and their impact on global climate change. Rather, the first GIF sustainability goal emphasises the role of Generation IV technologies in delivering ‘cleaner air’. It is important at this point to note that this clause, in a US context at least, did not at the time include consideration of CO2 emissions.
Hong Kong’s water security: a governance perspective
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2021
Many non-technocratic options have not been effectively included in the Hong Kong government’s agenda, though they are not very hard to adopt. For example, there are a variety of water-saving systems that could be used in building projects, and there are technologies that can make older buildings more sustainable. Smaller examples, such as the very simple technology of faucets and shower heads, have been long available. An effective approach would be to apply regulations that facilitate the installation of water-saving facilities in new buildings. But Hong Kong has not yet done this (Lee, 2017). Most importantly, the dominance of technocracy might hinder decision makers from developing new solutions to more profound challenges that are nested in territorial, institutional and discursive mismatches, which are not easy to address solely through engineering means.
A portfolio of China’s urban water governance sector: administrative system, coordination problems and policy evolution
Published in International Journal of Water Resources Development, 2020
Shaofeng Jia, Dalong Li, Raymond Yu Wang
In general, urban water governance policies in China have the following characteristics. First, ecological and ‘green’ concepts have started to be incorporated in technocracy-dominated governance measures. The principles of recycle and reuse in urban water supply, as well as principles of natural permeation, storage and purification in Sponge City construction, are salient examples. Second, more and more market-oriented approaches have been included in China’s urban water governance policies. There has been growing advocacy of cost recovery through water pricing, raising the standard for water pollutant discharge fees, experimenting with exchange of pollutant discharge permits and public–private partnerships, all of which demonstrate a trend towards using the ‘invisible hand’ in the previously state-centric governance system. Finally, technological developments, including the increasing proliferation and functionality of the internet, have allowed more public participation in urban water governance. For instance, the general public can report black and odorous water bodies to the relevant authority through a mobile phone app, which significantly enhances the capacity of public environmental monitoring and thus may lead to more strict enforcement of water environmental regulations.
Rediscovering a risky ideology: technocracy and its effects on technology governance
Published in Journal of Responsible Innovation, 2020
Technocracy has a rich history that can be traced back from Plato’s discussion of philosopher-kings to Francis Bacon’s conception of scientific utopia, and culminating in Thorstein Veblen’s more familiar vision of an engineered society (Gunnel 1982). In short, technocracy is an ideology founded on the authority of techno-scientific expertise over other ways of knowing and doing; appeals to optimization and objectivity as primary values; and approaches based on engineering solutions for any and all problems in the world (Sadowski and Selinger 2014).