School for the Future of Innovation in Society

David Guston, current director of VIRI and the Center for Nanotechnology in Society, is founding director of the new School for the Future of Innovation in Society at Arizona State University. The school seeks to create a more holistic approach to technology and innovation that not only takes into account the technical side of innovation but also its integration into society.

In his Director's message (available on the School website [2]) the Director states:

"The influence of science, technology and innovation in how we live our lives has never been greater. Tomorrow it is likely to be greater still. Headlines that would have seemed like science fiction a few short years ago announce new technical realities: "editing" human genes to erase disease traits or add new ones; programming robotic drones to operate autonomously on the battlefield; and collecting and interpreting data from nearly uncountable human interactions.

These new capabilities contain both promise and challenge. But it is not just new technologies that draw our attention. The legacies of fossil fuels and nuclear power are ongoing. Our urban infrastructures of water, energy, transportation, food and health are intertwined in the most complex ways. Gaps between technological haves and have-nots are profound, but issues of equity remain stubbornly persistent against the backdrop of technological change".

The school offers PhD, undergraduate and Masters programs, and many of our readers will be familiar with several members of staff, through their work in the field of responsible innovation.

Interested readers may like to learn more through the following media outlets:

Arizona Horizon TV interview [3] with Dave Guston, August 31, 2015

Radio interview with Dave Guston on KJZZ's Here and Now [4], August 26, 2015

Article in the Arizona Republic [5], August 17, 2015

ASU News article [6], August 18, 2015

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