• Biotech Publications
• Biotech Projects
• Biotech Program
• Biotech Forum
• Information Technologies and Governance

Over the course of human history, technological innovation has reshaped societies and changed our relationship to the natural world. An examination of past innovation demonstrates the enormous transformative potential of technology.

We live in an era of accelerated technological change. Advances in biotechnology and information technology (and promised advances in cognitive science and nanotechnology) touch many aspects of our lives - from the way food is produced and processed, to the treatment of human illness, to how we communicate with each other.

The IOG' work in this knowledge area focusses on assessing the transformative potential of new technologies and considering the unique governance challenges they pose.

These considerations extend beyond the governance of technology and include the practical considerations of maintaining societal control over technology, as well as the institutions, structures and processes put in place to maximize the benefits of technology while minimizing its risks.

If these technologies are indeed transformative, it is not sufficient to consider governance only in terms of how technology should be controlled, but also the effects of technology on governance (and society) more broadly. How will the overall governance framework have to change to meet the challenges of a world changed by technology? How will the forces of technology directly shape our governance institutions? The IOG's work addresses both the narrow and broader scopes of this fast-moving knowledge area.

While the Institute has done substantive work in this knowledge area on Information Technologies and Governance , its more recent focus has been on Biotechnology and Governance.

Biotechnology and Governance

Biotechnology has significant implications for health, the environment, the structure and performance of the economy, trade, industrial productivity, ethics, and privacy, many of which have already been felt.

Governments have been grappling with biotechnology and its governance implications for the past twenty years. Fundamentally, their responsibilities are to maximize the benefits of this technology while minimizing its risks and ensuring an equitable distribution of risk and benefit among Canadians.

The IOG believes that approaches developed to deal with biotechnology's governance challenges will have applicability to present and future waves of technology.

Our work

The IOG carries out individual projects on biotechnology and governance, involving a broad range of topics including ethics, stewardship, horizontal coordination of policy, regulation, issues of privacy and public consultation.

Funded by multiple sponsors, including federal departments and agencies, IOG’s Biotechnology and Governance Program , has allowed the Institute to address the big issues in biotechnology and governance, horizontal issues that cut across individual departmental interests. A major component of the program, the Biotechnology and Governance Forum, has provided a space where government officials, researchers, members of NGOs and industry groups can openly discuss some of the governance and strategic issues that come to bear on decision-makers in this area.

The findings from our research and forum events can be accessed through a variety of publications.