Living With Today's Technology...

Tradeoffs: Imperatives of Choice in a High-Tech World. Edward Wenk Jr. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, 1986. 272 pp. $19.95. There are many aspects of the interactions between technical advances and society. The average consumer is aware of the products and services available today. Corporations include technical change in strategic business planning, or are forced to adopt new strategies to accommodate it. The conduct of research and development is affected by economic and political actions of society151;the allocation of funds, tax policies, regulations and the public acceptance of risk. In Tradeoffs, the author touches on many of these points, but he focuses principally on the actions of society in absorbing technology. He is concerned with "the social management of technology (which) focuses on the broader participation of society as a whole in the acts of management." Edward Wenk has had a distinguished career in public service related to science and technology policy, notably in the Washington arena. It is therefore not surprising that the strongest chapters in the book are those concerned with the decision processes of the government and involvement of the public. Wenk's insights and judgments on technology and the political process are valuable guides to understanding current events and to reasoned actions on future issues. One result of the book's emphasis is minimal treatment of the mechanisms involved in generating technical change, and insufficient recognition of the emergence of industrial research as the current driving force behind the process of technical change today. When one examines in detail the factors involved in "effective management" of any technical activity, it is clear that the critical element is not public or private sponsorship, but the coupling between user and generator. The federal government is effective in generating technology when it is the customer. Industry is the most "effective manager" of technology intended for use in our economic system through manufacturing and distribution. It is nevertheless true, as the author points out, that government and industry must work together to achieve the objectives of each. The federal government has a consistent role in generating technical change, and the mechanisms differ151;direct R&D funding, procurement, regulation. Anyone who asks "Does the government have a role?" does not understand the process itself. It is this broad philosophy that Wenk addresses well. He gives an excellent list of milestones in technology-based federal policy and a thoughtful set of guidelines for the "social management of technology." Both offer good discussion materials for courses touching on science and society. The author devotes much attention to the effects of defense research. While I share his concern over the total size of our defense effort and the consequent impact on budget deficits, the effects on the national technical base and on industrial competitiveness are complex. They require more analysis and more quantitative data than the book allows. The simple statement that defense is taking away "scarce technical resources" is arguable, except perhaps in specific areas of computer sciences. The suggestion that funds could be better spent on strengthening international competitiveness begs many questions about mechanisms. Wenk correctly points out that total R&D funds do not come from a single source, available for reallocation. If the Department of Defense cut back, would the R&D funds be reassigned? How? Would the federal government decide what R&D to conduct in order to "help" industry? All quite complex, but that is the nature of technology-based public policy. The message the book conveys is that we should give thoughtful consideration to such issues, with confidence that a democracy can make intelligent decisions about them. Fusfeld is director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy, School of Management, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy NY 12181. He is the author of The Technical Enterprise (Ballinger, 1986), which is excerpted on page 15.

Living With Today's Technology...

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