Technology assessment refers to a set of related and evolving professional practices that seek to understand the societal impacts of technological change to influence the course and outcomes of innovation. Some forms of technology assessment seek to influence the course of innovation directly by building networks that link technology developers, potential users, and other groups of people who might be affected by technological change. Other approaches work more indirectly by developing and analyzing alternative innovation scenarios to present a set of options for consideration by decision makers. As these methods of developing information suggest, technology assessment in all its varieties includes a characteristic component of science-based communications between or among different communities of stakeholders with knowledge and interests in some aspect of innovation outcomes.