Office of Technology Assessment - 47 Matching Results
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- Africa Tomorrow: Issues in Technology, Agriculture, and U.S. Foreign Aid
- A technical memorandum by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that discusses the "major issues constraining the development and transfer of sustainable technologies for low-resource food producers" (p. iii).
- Assessing human risks posed by neurotoxic substances: final draft
- This report discusses risk assessment as a analytic process by which the nature and magnitude of risk is identified.
- An Assessment of Development and Production Potential of Federal Coal Leases
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that assesses the resources of mining activities and coal leases, specifically the "estimation of the likely production from the existing 548 Federal coal leases in the seven major Western coal States" (p. iii).
- An Assessment of Information Systems Capabilities Required To Support U.S. Materials Policy Decisions
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) of an assessment designed to analyze "materials information systems and their capability to support effective policymaking decisions on materials problems" (p. vii).
- An Assessment of the United States Food and Agricultural Research System
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that addresses issues of "the roles of the research participants, long-range research priority planning, funding for research, and the organizational structure of the food and agricultural research organizations" as they relate to increasing demands on agricultural resources (p. iii).
- Automation of America's Offices, 1985-2000
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "assesses the consequences of the continuing and rapid introduction of information and telecommunications technologies in offices" (p. iii).
- Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater
- This report discusses the agricultural practices that are contributing to the contamination of groundwater, how to develop alternative practices, it outlines major components of the water quality issues, and describes the integrating and coordinating activities of the respective federal agencies.
- Beneath the bottom line: agricultural approaches to reduce agrichemical contamination of groundwater, part B management
- This report discusses the assessment of agrichemicals in ground water in the United States in the late 1970's. A series of recommendations are offered in this report to help solve the problems.
- Children's Mental Health: Problems and Services: Background Paper
- A background paper by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) over the mental health problems of children and adolescents and the need for appropriateness of mental health services.
- China's foreign policy, Beijing's military modernization, and American policy alternatives
- This report discusses the determinants of Chinese foreign policy under Mao, the foreign policy changes under Deng, and the influence of military modernization on Chinese foreign policy and on Washington-Beijing relations.
- A comparative review of information technology management practices in selected state governments
- This report presents an analysis of information technology management practices in selected state governments.The focus is on approaches of strategic management in central state governments.
- Cost Effectiveness of Influenza Vaccination
- A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "evaluates influenza vaccination on the basis of another criterion-cost effectiveness"
- Developing law on professional standards and peer review in quality assessment activities
- This report describes the expanding role of professional standards and peer review activities in health-care quality assessment initiatives. It also describes how some traditional and some new quality assessment activities that involve professional and peer review are either building on or in conflict with existing legal processes and public policy.
- Economic incentives and disincentives for recycling of municipal solid waste
- This report is divided into an Executive Summary and four chapters. These chapters examine Federal subsidies to virgin materials, the potential for Federal subsidies for recycled materials, Federal subsidies for alternative energy sources, and state efforts at increasing recycling through tax incentives.
- Elementary and Secondary Education for Science and Engineering
- Students make many choices over a long period, and choose a career through a complicated process. This process includes formal instruction in mathematics and science, and the opportunity for informal education in museums, science centers, and recreational programs. The influence of family, teachers, peers, and the electronic media can make an enormous difference. This memorandum analyzes these influences. Because education is “all one system, ” policymakers interested in nurturing scientists and engineers must address the educational environment as a totality; changing only one part of the system will not yield the desired result.
- Environmental Contaminants in Food
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that is "concerned with chemical and radioactive contaminants that inadvertently find their way into the human food supply" (p. iii).
- Epidemiology and etiology of Parkinson's disease
- This report provides introduction of Dr. James Parkinson, diagnosis of Parkinson's syndromes, the age of onset of the disease, racial origin and incidence rate of Parkinson's, as well as survival after the onset of Parkinson's.
- Federal government provision of public information: issues related to public access, technology, and laws/regulations: for Government Information Technology Project, Communications and Information Technology Program,
- This report discusses government (public) information, both published and unpublished, which Federal Government either does or does not make public."Public information", is collected and/or developed at Government expenses or as required by public law, and not considered to be classified, personal, or otherwise subject to exemption from the Freedom of Information Act or the Privacy Act.
- The federal regulatory response to the problem of neurotoxicity: a report
- This report discusses federal laws applicable to the regulation of potentially neuron-toxic substances that can be divided into three basic categories.
- Final report on the economics of dementia to the Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States
- This report discusses the model of dementia economics, the occurrences of dementia, patterns of care for the demented patient,and the cost of care.
- Final report to the Office of Technology Assessment on agency profiles of civil liberties practices, from the KBL Group, Inc.
- This report presents the results of an empirical study which profiles the information and technology practices of seven federal agencies/programs as they relate to three civil liberties areas: the collection of personal or company information; the provision of public information; and access to agency decision-making.
- Health Technology Case Study Thirty-one: The Contact Lens Industry: Structure, Competition, and Public Policy
- A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "presents an analysis of the contact lens industry in the United States, emphasizing the role of economics and public policy in shaping past and future development" (p. 3).
- Health Technology Case Study Thirty-two: The Hemodialysis Equipment and Disposables Industry
- A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that analyzes the hemodialysis equipment and supplies industry and how it has been shaped by Federal policy.
- Health Technology Case Study Twenty-six: Assistive Devices for Severe Speech Impairments
- A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that is "about the revolution in communication aids that has since changed the outlook for this population [nonspeaking population], its accomplishments to date, its promise for the future, and its problems" (p. 3).
- Health Technology Case Twenty-five: Technology and Learning Disabilities
- A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines different types of technologies that are relevant to learning disabilities.
- Human Gene Therapy: Background Paper
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "focuses on the imminent development of human gene therapy, emphasizing early medical applications" (p. iii).
- The impact of office automation on the quality of work life: policy implications
- This report focuses only on policy implication of video display terminals (VDT) usage in the areas of composition and edition/correction. The rest of the paper presents a brief discussion of the problems resulting from VDT adoption and usage in the office workplace, and the policy implications of both primary and instrumental impacts as described earlier.
- Increased Automobile Fuel Efficiency and Synthetic Fuels: Alternatives for Reducing Oil Imports: Background Paper 3: Environmental Issues of Synthetic Transportation Fuels from Coal
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "reviews environmental issues associated with coal liquefaction processes" (p. 1)
- Influences on development and innovation in educational technology
- This report provides a look at the history of educational technology, including both successful and unsuccessful government and private enterprise projects during the past three decades. The report examines trends in technological factors and new technologies that will influence development of innovative educational hardware and software during the next five years.
- Neonatal intensive care for low birthweight infants: costs and effectiveness
- The purpose of this report is to provide OTA with specific information that can be used in forming general conclusions regarding broader policy issues. The first 19 cases in the Health Technology Case Study Series, for example, were conducted in conjunction with OTA’s overall project on The Implications of Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of Medical Technology. By examining the 19 cases as a group and looking for common problems or strengths in the techniques of cost-effectiveness or cost-benefit analysis, OTA was able to better analyze the potential contribution that those techniques might make to the management of medical technology and health care costs and quality.
- Neurotoxic pesticides and the farmworker: a report
- This report discusses the effect of agriculture pesticides on neurological harm, cancer, reproductive damage and other serious adverse health effects.
- New developments in biotechnology: field-testing engineered organisms: genetic and ecological issues: contractor documents, volume 2
- This report includes these topics: Ecological issues relevant to environmental applications of genetically altered organisms / Elliott A. Norse -- An ecosystems approach to potential perturbations of energy flow and nutrient cycles associated with environmental applications of genetically altered organisms / David C. Coleman and Robert E. Hodson -- Ecological impact of genetically engineered organisms on ecosystems / James R. Gosz, C.N. Dahm, and Patrick W. Flanagan -- The genetic basis of changes in host range or habitat / Adrianne Massey and Fred Gould.
- New developments in biotechnology: Requirements for deposit of microorganisms, plants, and animals and the role of the independent depository
- This report starts out with historical development of independent depositories. It then discusses general requirements for deposits of microorganisms, plants and animals as they relate to the application for a patent and the role of independent depository in facilitating provisions of patent law governing specifications of the a patent applications.
- Nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and certified nurse-midwives: a policy analysis
- A report on the primary purpose of this report is to provide OTA with specific information that can be used in forming general conclusions regarding broader policy issues.
- Policy Implications of Medical Information Systems
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) in response to the rising costs of medical care that assesses the "policy implications of computer-based medical information systems" (p. v).
- A Preliminary Assessment of the National Crime Information Center and the Computerized Criminal History System
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) concerning the growing use of computer and communications technology to the criminal justice system, analyzing possible issues that could arise in the Federal-State system (p. iii).
- Privacy and quality-of-work-life issues in employee monitoring: contractor report
- This report discusses broad perspectives an historical trends on worker monitoring,and current work-evaluation monitoring. It also describes a variety of federal-agency monitoring practices.
- Reproductive Health Hazards in the Workplace
- A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "reviews current knowledge of hazards and suspected hazards to the reproductive health of American's working men and women and to the health and well-being of their children" (Foreword).
- Review of a Protocol for a Study of Reproductive Health Outcomes Among Women Vietnam Veterans
- This report discusses the study that has been proposed as a partial response to the mandate of Public Law 99-272; that law also requires approval from the Director of OTA before any such studies are undertaken, which is the reason for this review. This study is one of three that make up the full VA response to the mandate to look into the health of women Vietnam veterans.
- A Review of National Railroad Issues
- The Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) prepared a report that studies how to handle the remaining bankrupt railroads after the creation of Conrail. It examines the current financial states of railroads, and possible ways to address the problem.
- State educational testing practices
- This report discusses state educational testing practices. Testing as an indicator of educational attainment is a characteristic of the American educational system. While there are many questions surrounding the use of tests for various purposes, when American public policy turns periodically to focus on public education, tests tend to increase.
- The suitability of consumers' assessments of physician and hospital performance as indicators of the quality of care
- This report discusses briefly several distinctions were important for the review of the suitability of data from consumer as indicators of quality of care.
- Technologies Underlying Weapons of Mass Destruction
- This paper reviews the technical requirements for countries to develop and build nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons, along with the systems most capable of delivering these weapons to distant or defended targets: ballistic missiles, combat aircraft, and cruise missiles.
- Technology and Handicapped People: Background Paper 2: Selected Telecommunications Devices for Hearing-Impaired Persons
- A case study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the impact of selected telecommunications devices for the hearing-impaired population.
- Technology Assessment Activities in the Industrial, Academic, and Governmental Communities
- Hearings over the course of four days covering the "updated view of the mission, utility, methodology, and state-of-the-art of technology assessment" (p. 1).
- U.S. Passenger Rail Technologies
- An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines "the prospects of magnetic levitation (maglev) technologies - ultra-high-speed ground transportation that relies on magnetic suspension instead of conventional steel wheels on rail - and the status of railcar manufacturing industries" (p. ix).
- Verification Technologies: Measures for Monitoring Compliance With the START Treaty
- The report outlines the monitoring tasks specific to START and suggests the cooperative and unilateral measures available for a START monitoring regime. In the discussion of specific monitoring technologies, the report limits itself to those which may be available (though not necessarily applied) at about the time a START Treaty is ready to be signed and ratified.