Now in its sixth revision, the lastest version of the Foresight Guidelines for Responsible Nanotechnology Development was released today (HTML or 116 KB PDF), just in time for a presentation this morning by Foresight Research Associate Dr. David Forrest to the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works’ meeting for nanotechnology stakeholders. Excerpt:
“Version 6 includes consideration of near and long term forms of nanotechnology, and tradeoffs in balancing various risks with the spectrum of nanotechnology benefits addressed by the Foresight Challenges and longer term applications of the technology…This version of the Guidelines discusses the need for a mix of practitioner, industry, NGO, and government cooperation in enforcing controls. It also addresses some potential health, environmental, and military consequences of the technology and the implications of potential means of circumventing embedded controls. There are several new and reworded guidelines that address thoughtful critiques of the Guidelines that have appeared in books and articles over the past year. As always, feedback is welcome for the next version.”
Immense credit goes to primary Guidelines author Neil Jacobstein of IMM, with additional credit to recent commenters John Bashinski and David Forrest, and to Foresight’s James Lewis for very rapid turnaround on getting this new version posted. —Christine
