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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 im- 
pacts that can result from applications of scientific knowledge. OTA pro- 
vides Congress with independent and timely information about the potential 
effects— both beneficial 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 consulta- 
tion 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 com- 
merce; biological applications, food and renewable resources; health; com- 
munication and information technologies; oceans and environment; and 
science, education, and transportation. 
