Office of Technology Assessment 



The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was created in 1972 as an 

 analytical arm of Congress. OTA's basic function is to help legislative policy- 

 makers anticipate and plan for the consequences of technological changes and 

 to examine the many ways, expected and unexpected, in which technology 

 affects people's lives. The assessment of technology calls for exploration of 

 the physical, biological, economic, social, and political impacts that can result 

 from applications of scientific knowledge. OTA provides Congress with in- 

 dependent and timely information about the potential effects — both benefi- 

 cial and harmful — of technological applications. 



Requests for studies are made by chairmen of standing committees of the 

 House of Representatives or Senate; by the Technology Assessment Board, 

 the governing body of OTA; or by the Director of OTA in consultation with 

 the Board. 



The Technology Assessment Board is composed of six members of the 

 House, six members of the Senate, and the OTA Director, who is a non- 

 voting member. 



OTA has studies under way in nine program areas: energy and materials; 

 industry, technology, and employment; international security and commerce; 

 biological applications; food and renewable resources; health; communica- 

 tion and information technologies; oceans and environment; and science, 

 transportation, and innovation. 



