Bring Back the Office of Technology Assessment

Celia Wexler is the senior Washington representative at the Center for Science and Democracy, part of the Union of Concerned Scientists.

Updated May 28, 2015, 6:45 AM

Our legislators should assess the impact of scientific and technological advancements, but it is hard to imagine a world in which a bipartisan Congress could agree on the facts, even if they disagreed about what to do with them.

That world actually existed from 1972 to 1995, until the nonpartisan Office of Technology Assessment (OTA) was defunded, a casualty of then-Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s budget-cutting. This small agency was created by Congress for the express purpose of providing "competent, unbiased information concerning the physical, biological, economic, social and political effects" of technological applications. Its demise saved only about $20 million annually — budget dust — but the reservoir of wisdom that Congress lost was almost incalculable.

The information the Office of Technology Assessment provided was used by both parties to make smart and applicable regulation.

OTA produced more than 700 studies, on topics ranging from Alzheimer’s to acid rain. An OTA study was balanced, including both pros and cons of policy options, and members on opposite sides of an issue often cited the same OTA report to make their case.

The information they provided was used to make smart and applicable policy decisions. A 1984 study questioning the reliability of polygraph tests led Congress to enact limits on their use by employers. Another report from 1994 helped lawmakers assess the Social Security Administration’s computer procurement plan, and ended up saving the government $368 million. OTA reports in 1987 and 1990, which concluded that Pap smears and mammograms for older women could save thousands of lives, were instrumental in extending Medicare reimbursement for these tests.

Congress may not have appreciated the OTA, but foreign visitors took note. The technology assessment model pioneered by OTA was adopted by England and several members of the European Union. One could speculate that a revived OTA could increase international scientific cooperation.

The Government Accountability Office now has taken on some technology assessment work, a positive development. But in a perfect world, OTA would be revived, ready to help Congress address new policy challenges.