At the same time that the pace of science and technology has greatly accelerated in recent decades, our legal and ethical oversight mechanisms have become bogged down and slower. This book addresses the growing gap between the pace of science and technology and the lagging responsiveness of legal and ethical oversight society relies on to govern emerging technologies. Whether it be biotechnology, genetic testing, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, computer privacy, autonomous robotics, or any of the other many emerging technologies, new approaches are needed to ensure appropriate and timely regulatory responses. This book documents the problem and offers a toolbox of potential regulatory and governance approaches that might be used to ensure more responsive oversight.

Emerging technologies present a challenging but fascinating set of ethical, legal and regulatory issues. The articles selected for this volume provide a broad overview of the most influential historical and current thinking in this area and show that existing frameworks are often inadequate to address new technologies - such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, synthetic biology and robotics - and innovative new models are needed. This collection brings together invaluable, innovative and often complementary approaches for overcoming the unique challenges of emerging technology ethics and governance.

Emerging technologies create challenges for traditional regulatory approaches. The contributors to this book - leading scholars in law, innovation, and technology - address the need for new governance methods and models. The unique characteristics of emerging technologies - their diverse applications, the myriad concerns raised by new technologies, the need for public engagement, and the issue of effective coordination between governance players - create the need for new governance approaches. The authors identify innovative new methods of governance, taking into account an environment where changes in technologies can out-pace the corresponding regulatory frameworks. Scholars of technology, science and innovation will find this book to be an enlightening read, as will lawyers, policymakers and think-tanks working within the emerging technologies arena. Contributors: J.W. Abbott, K.W. Abbott, B. Allenby, M. Baram, D.M. Bowman, J. Kuzma, P.H. Lindoe, R.A. Lindor, T.F. Malloy, G.N. Mandel, G.E. Marchant, M. Masterton, L. Paddock, J. Paterson, M.A. Saner, W. Wallach

At the same time that the pace of science and technology has greatly accelerated in recent decades, our legal and ethical oversight mechanisms have become bogged down and slower. This book addresses the growing gap between the pace of science and technology and the lagging responsiveness of legal and ethical oversight society relies on to govern emerging technologies. Whether it be biotechnology, genetic testing, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, computer privacy, autonomous robotics, or any of the other many emerging technologies, new approaches are needed to ensure appropriate and timely regulatory responses. This book documents the problem and offers a toolbox of potential regulatory and governance approaches that might be used to ensure more responsive oversight.