A summary of the publication 'Informing the Nation: Federal Information Dissemination in an Electronic Age,' which discusses the roles of certain government agencies in disseminating their publications electronically.
This special report presents 10 case studies of recent Superfund decisions at sites which OTA believes, from surveying over 100 recent cleanup decisions, to be representative of a broad range of contamination problems and cleanup technologies.
This background paper discusses the technological options available for use in an electronic system to deliver public assistance benefits, the privacy and security implications of such a system, and the programmatic effects of changing to an electronic delivery system. It was requested by the Subcommittee on the Handicapped of the Senate Committee on Labor and Human Resources.
This evaluation of management options for greater-than-Class C (GTCC) low-level radioactive waste was undertaken at the request of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works. The Committee asked that OTA evaluate existing Federal and non-Federal options for GTCC waste storage and disposal. From its analysis, OTA was to develop an integrated management approach to protect public health and safety in the short- and long term.
The paper examines the adequacy of current medical waste disposal practices and the potential for human health impacts to occur as a result of such practices. It also addresses the need for additional research and databases, and discusses probable trends in future costs and capacity as new regulations are adopted around the country. Finally, the paper considers the possible need for further Federal involvement in regulating the handling, treatment, storage, and disposal of medical wastes.
This special report analyzes the causes of the deterioration in America’s trade performance and examines the importance of U.S. manufacturing in helping the nation improve its position in international trade. The report was requested by Senator John Heinz as part of an assessment of technology, innovation and U.S. trade requested by the Senate Committee on Finance; the Senate Committee on Banking, Housing and Urban Affairs; and the House Committee on Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs. A final report will be published in 1989.
Federal monitoring and enforcement action is dependent on technical capability to detect pesticides. A major concern is that Federal regulatory agencies cannot practically monitor food for all pesticides of health concern. OTA was asked to assess whether existing and emerging technologies could improve Federal monitoring of pesticide residues in food. In addition, OTA examined the Federal research programs dedicated to improving Federal analytical capabilities for the detection of pesticides in food.
This report examines developments in the use of computer-based technologies, analyzes key trends in hardware and software development, evaluates the capability of technology to improve learning in many areas, and explores ways to substantially increase student access to technology. The role of the teacher, teachers’ needs for training, and the impact of Federal support for educational technology research and development are reviewed as well.
Changes in how physicians and hospitals are paid have made individual consumers, health insurers, employers, and medical providers more sensitive to the cost implications of their decisions. At the same time, these policy changes have elevated the importance of having consumers be informed about the quality of medical providers. Purchasers of medical care (individual consumers, employers, health insurers) need to know about any differences in quality so that they can weigh quality along with cost in making decisions.
This technical memorandum explains, the United States has spent relatively little effort in applying them to operations. Just as important as cost saving technologies are appropriate management methods, or strategies, to put these technologies to work. In some cases, OTA has found, cost savings could be achieved by streamlining operations and reducing the burden of documentation and reporting requirements that have slowly expanded over the years.
This report contains the results of that analysis, and a review of critical management issues for the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has been added to the basic questions about the adequacy of Federal standards and programs. During the course of the study, it became clear that a full report for Congress would have to consider how policy is determined and implemented, and thus the operation of FAA and the role of the Department of Transportation.
Part I of the report discusses how the meaning of “the press” has expanded from printed material to include a wide range of broadcast and electronic media. Satellites, computers, electronic bulletin boards, teletex, videotext, and other new ways of gathering, editing, and delivering news are blurring legal and regulatory distinctions between common carriers and “the press, ” thus changing arguments about the constitutional rights that they have each enjoyed. Part II addresses freedom of speech and press as they apply to scientific communications and technological know-how. As science and technology become ever more important to our economy and our military strength, the delicate balance between individual rights and the national interest becomes both more important and more difficult to maintain.
A report on open-angle glaucoma (OAG), whcich is the second largest single cause of blindness in the elderly, afflicting an estimated 2 to 3 percent of this age group at any time. the report discusses epidemiology of OAG, treatment, screening technology available, and medicare coverage for OAG.
The topic of this fourth paper in OTA’S series of AIDS-related issues is the impact of the AIDS epidemic on the Kaiser Permanence Medical Care Program’s (KPMCP) northern California region and was originally commissioned for OTA’s assessment of Medical Testing and Health Insurance. Key OTA staff involved in the oversight of the project were Jill Eden, Larry Miike, and Laurie Mount.
This report illustrates a range of options for congressional action in nine principal areas of public policy related to infertility: collecting data on reproductive health; preventing infertility; information to inform and protect consumers; providing access to infertility services; reproductive health of veterans; transfer of human eggs, sperm, and embryos; recordkeeping; surrogate motherhood; and reproductive research.
This report addresses the opportunities to improve the dissemination of Federal information. It also highlights two major problems: maintaining equity in public access to Federal information in electronic formats, and defining the respective roles of Federal agencies and the private sector in the electronic dissemination process. The report focuses on current and future roles of the U.S. Government Printing Office (GPO) and Superintendent of Documents, the Depository Library Program (administered by GPO), and the National Technical Information Service (NTIS). In addition, this report examines electronic dissemination of congressional information, the Freedom of Information Act in an electronic environment, and electronic dissemination of government information to the press.
This report focuses on the formal policies and guidelines’ through which health care institutions articulate decision making procedures and identify permissible options regarding the use of life-sustaining treatments for adult patients in their care.
Adequate, reliable space transportation is the key to this Nation’s future in space. Over the next several years, Congress must make critical decisions regarding the direction and funding of U.S. space transportation systems. These decisions include improving existing launch systems, designing and procuring new launch systems, and developing advanced technologies. America’s constrained budgetary environment and the lack of a national consensus about the future of the U.S. space program make Congress’s role in this process more difficult and important than ever.
Scientific and technical journals in biology and medicine have extensively covered a debate about whether and how to determine the function and order of human genes on human chromosomes and when to determine the sequence of molecular building blocks that comprise DNA in those chromosomes. This report surveys the points made so far in the debate that involves science, technology, and politics, focusing on those that most directly influence the policy options facing the U.S. Congress.
Tests to identify individuals who are likely to develop serious diseases are being rapidly developed. Some of these tests are directed at diseases for which there are presently no known therapies, thereby raising questions over the social consequences of identifying susceptible persons. This assessment examines existing and developing medical tests and their current and potential uses by health insurers and employers.
This report has gathered information on agricultural production throughout Sub-Saharan Africa, looked closely at specific, promising technologies such as agroforestry, small-scale irrigation, soil and water management, and the improved use of animals. As a result, it seems clear that low-resource agriculture has a sizable potential to contribute to increased African food security. Also, it is clear that low-resource agriculture must be enhanced in order to reach its full potential. This report identifies ways that U.S. development assistance can aid this process.
This report in the series illustrates a range of options for congressional action in three major areas of public policy related to this application of biotechnology: the criteria for review of planned introductions for potential risk, the administrative mechanisms for applying such review criteria, and the research base supporting planned introductions.
This report contains the results of that analysis. A review of critical intergovernmental issues for the Department of Transportation and State Governments has been added to the basic questions about the adequacy of Federal standards and programs. During the course of the study, it became clear that the report would have to consider how policy is implemented, and consequently, the relationship between the Department of Transportation and the States, which have become important partners in Federal safety programs.
This is OTA’S third report on U.S. foreign aid and African agriculture and the most comprehensive look at a single program. It complements a larger, more general work in press on enhancing agriculture in Africa and its already-published companion report on the Sahel Development Program. The House Foreign Affairs Committee, its Subcommittee on Africa, and the House Select Committee on Hunger requested this study. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee, Subcommittee on African Affairs, endorsed their request.
This OTA assessment addresses the effectiveness and costs of selected strategies for promoting and maintaining the health of children and to identify strategies whose implementation could substantially improve children’s health or lower health care costs.
This paper summarizes what is known about the effectiveness of AIDS education programs and programs in other health-related areas. Also documented are AIDS education programs currently being funded by selected Federal agencies. What is known and not known about the effectiveness of past education can guide the design of future AIDS education and the research agendas of Federal agencies.
This report is the unclassified version of a classified document delivered to Congress at the end of August 1987. In attempting to reach agreement with the Department of Defense on what information could be included in an unclassified report, OTA found the wheels of bureaucracy to turn very slowly—when they turned at all. Only through the active intervention of the Strategic Defense Initiative Organization, beginning in late in November 1987, and extending to the end of March, 1988, was a partial resolution of the problem achieved.
This report addresses the issues of detection, identification, yield estimation, and evasion to arrive at answers to the two critical questions: 1) Down to what size explosion can underground testing be seismically monitored with high confidence? 2) How accurately can the yields of underground explosions be measured?
The report highlights strategic choices available to Americans as we negotiate a period of major transformation. The choices we make will have profound consequences for the quality of work and the amenities available to Americans and for America’s role of leadership in the free world.
This special report is the fourth in a series of OTA studies being carried out under an assessment of “New Developments in Biotechnology, ” requested by the House Committee on Energy and Commerce and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology. This fourth report in the series describes the levels and types of investment currently being made by the Federal, State, and private sectors. Ten major issues that affect investment were identified.
The staff paper is part of a larger, ongoing OTA assessment of the ozone nonattainment issue, requested by the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works and the House Committee on Energy and Commerce.
This study provides a technical assessment of traditional desalination techniques that can be used for water treatment. These techniques include distillation, as well as more recently developed membrane processes. As part of this effort OTA held a one-day workshop on July 29, 1987, with desalination and water treatment experts to review the initial draft of this background paper and to discuss other areas of interest. The conclusions of these discussions are included in this background report.
This background paper presents the results of a study of physician and sperm bank practice of artificial insemination in the United States. It documents the number of women undergoing artificial insemination each year, the annual cost, medical and social screening criteria for women seeking artificial insemination and men who donate semen, the genealogical recordkeeping available to the resulting children, and physician attitudes toward possible changes in artificial insemination practice.
This special report considers the implications of new developments in biological sciences for the freedoms and protections embedded in our Bill of Rights. It is one of a series of publications coming from OTA’s Constitutional Bicentennial Project, begun in 1987 at the request of the House Committee on the Judiciary and its Subcommittee on Courts, Civil Liberties, and the Administration of Justice.
This assessment analyzes the problem of acid deterioration of books and the program underway at the Library of Congress. The program at the Library involves the chemical treatment of books in a unique and effective process that, however, also presents some new engineering and safety concerns. Because of these concerns, the House of Representatives Committee on Appropriations requested this independent review of the Library’s system and other available or potential processes.
Since the discovery of high-temperature superconductivity (HTS), research laboratories around the world have pushed the temperature limits steadily upward, opening the way to commercial applications with potentially revolutionary impacts. The scientific race is becoming a commercial race, one featuring U.S. and Japanese companies, and one that the United States could lose. Indeed, American firms may already be falling behind in commercializing the technology of superconductivity.
This report responds to a request from the Technology Assessment Board—the congressional oversight body for the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA)–prompted by the balance-of-trade and other economic implications of these events. The report describes the conditions the domestic and world copper industry faced during the early 1980s. It documents the steps U.S. copper companies took to improve their position so dramatically in the mid-980s, and evaluates the industry’s present and possible future status, including relative costs of production and the elements of those costs.
This report describes the new technologies being used in criminal justice and, as in all of the reports of this series, addresses that delicate balance to be maintained between the national interest and individual rights.
This special report is the first product of that assessment. It provides an overview of the subject, including specific concerns about the health of the defense technology base and the related issues before Congress. Subsequent reports will probe aspects of this immense problem in greater detail.
This report examines how and why students are drawn toward or deterred from pursuing a career in science or engineering. Schools, families, peers, informal education efforts-such as museums, science centers, special programs, and television— all play a role. The subtitle of this report—Grade School to Grad School—emphasizes that many factors and institutions must be understood as all one system.
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.
This assessment responds to a joint request from the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology and the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation to analyze the military and commercial opportunities presented by new structural materials technologies, and to outline the Federal policy objectives that are consistent with those opportunities.
This survey was conducted as part of an Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) assessment on medical testing and health insurance that will be published at a later date. OTA is also monitoring AIDS-related developments for the U.S. Congress, and the survey results are being published by OTA as the second in a series of Staff Papers on AIDS-related issues.
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