Office of Technology Assessment, U.S.

History and Mission

In passing the Technology Assessment Act of 1972, Congress found that the applications of technology were having large and growing effects on the natural and social environment, with both beneficial and adverse implications—yet that it was poorly equipped to address, understand, or evaluate them. Instead, it relied on information and analysis provided by the executive branch, which had little incentive to help Congress consider alternatives to administration proposals.

Efforts to equip Congress with an independent means to address scientific and technical issues dated to the mid-1960s, and a number of hearings were held on that topic over the next several years. During that period, members of Congress dealt with a number of highly technical programs, such as supersonic transport and the antiballistic missile system, and they became frustrated by the conflicting technical arguments that advocates and opponents offered with respect to technology's desirability, effectiveness, and environmental consequences. In part to provide a means of addressing such topics, Congress passed the act needed to create OTA in 1972. Funds were appropriated for the new office in the following year, and OTA opened its doors in 1974.

The Technology Assessment Act called for OTA to “provide early indications” of the likely benefits and the adverse impacts of technology's applications. However, its congressional clients—whose planning horizon rarely extended very far into the future—expanded that agenda to the broader mission of providing public policy analysis on current issues with significant scientific and technical components. This evolution came to the chagrin of some in the academic “technology assessment” community, who saw it as a retreat from what they saw as the agency's primary purpose.

Oversight

OTA was overseen by a congressional Technology Assessment Board (TAB) consisting of six senators and six members of the House of Representatives, each delegation evenly split between members of the majority and minority parties. The chair and vice-chair, from different houses of Congress, alternated between houses in successive Congresses. The director of OTA was a nonvoting member of TAB.

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