This talk explores the question, “why do we need to worry about the public value of research?”  Drawing on nearly two decades of experience with the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes, a decade of experience with the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University, and the recently created School for the Future of Innovation in Society,” Professor David Guston  describes the interwoven development of these institutions with the concepts of anticipatory governance and responsible innovation.  Arguing from the position of scholars such as Langdon Winner, Guston extends the idea of “technology is legislation” to an intellectual and institutional agenda, pointing out opportunities and barriers along the way.

David H. Guston, PhD, is Professor of Political Science and Co-Director of the Consortium for Science, Policy and Outcomes at Arizona State University. He is Principal Investigator and Director of the Center for Nanotechnology in Society at Arizona State University. CNS-ASU is a National Science Foundation-funded Nano-scale Science and Engineering Center (NSF # 0531194; $6.2M over five years) dedicated to studying the societal implications of nanoscale science and engineering research and improving the societal outcomes of nanotechnologies through enhancing capacity to understand and make informed choices.