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An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that assesses the bloody policy and technologies, specifically recent developments in the fields.

This background paper examines several proposals for reducing the costs of spacecraft and other payloads and describes launch systems for implementing them. It is one of a series of products of a broad assessment of space transportation technologies undertaken by OTA at the request of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, and the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.

The report notes that America’s defense technology base has weathered significantly, with challenges to U.S. high-Technology firms from abroad, increasing dependence on foreign and civilian sources of technology for use in military systems, and growing technological sophistication of our adversaries.

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.

This report, the first of two, was prepared in response to the requesting committees’ interest in receiving an interim product. It examines how energy is supplied and used in developing countries, and how energy use is linked with economic and social development and environmental quality.

This paper reviews both new and previously published data on the proportions of elderly currently receiving a variety of preventive health services; we examine factors associated with whether the elderly receive these services; and we analyze the likely implications for Medicare if preventive health services were offered as covered benefits.

This report describes the Federal Government’s research activities that are intended to improve health risk assessments. One of the findings of this Report is that the attention and resources allotted to health risk assessment research are not commensurate with its national impact.

This background paper focuses on one technological option for increasing the supply of fresh water to the Southwest-that of building a freshwater subsea pipeline to transport water from Alaska to California. Originally a suggestion by Governor Walter Hickel of Alaska, the proposal has recently attracted attention in southern California.

This Background Paper summarizes a one-day workshop convened to assess the effectiveness of the planning and priority-setting mechanisms used by NASA’s Office of Space Science and Applications (OSSA) in carrying out its diverse scientific program.

This report is devoted primarily to three other topics: interagency coordination of efforts in counterterrorist research and development, integrated security systems, and the role of human factors in aviation security. In addition, it furnishes details on a number of technologies that play a role in counterterrorism.

This report addresses five key questions; to what extent is superfund dependent on contractors? Why depend on contracting to such a great extent? Is the extent of superfund’s dependence on contracting appropriate? Does the extent of superfund’s dependence on contracting reduce environmental effectiveness? Is superfund’s heavy dependence on contracting cost effective?

This guide is intended as an informal orientation to some aspects of life at the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA), and to answer some of the questions frequently asked about OTA. This guide was created in the hopes of acquainting new employees with the procedures, materials, information, and expertise that lie within OTA.

A catalog of Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) documents published through 1993.

This document is a program from the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) Forum on Technology and Governance in the 1990s, held on January 27, 1993. The program includes a schedule of events and biographical information on each of the forum speakers.

A catalog of Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) documents published through 1987.

A cumulative catalog of the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) documents published from 1972 through 1994.

A background paper prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the "relationship between disasters in the developing countries and natural hazards in the United States" (p. iii).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "assesses the competitive position of the United States with respect to Japan and four European countries believed to be the major competitors in the commercial development of 'new biotechnology'" (p. iii).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "seeks to put in perspective the role and importance of aircraft technology in the total air cargo system" (p. iii).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that examines the Final Acts of the General World Administrative Radio Conference (WARC-79) "in a comprehensive way-describing U.S. preparations and involvement, and the impact of the conference" (p. 3).

A report by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) assessing "the potential of enhanced recovery techniques for freeing more of this oil [discovered oil] from the sandstone and limestone formations in which it is trapped" (Foreward).

An assessment by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that looks at the Earthquake Hazards Reduction Act of 1977 and "identifies 14 basic issues or conflicts with which th [sic] implementation plan must cope in order to achieve its objectives" (Introduction).

A study by the Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) that "addresses the question of local development and the opportunities for-and appropriateness of-various technologies that can help local people to take advantage of local resources in meeting the needs of their own communities" (p. iii).