Wising up: the public and new technologies

Report of a study done on public engagement and the political and scientific controversy in the United Kingdom and other European Union member states about genetically modified crops from 1998-2000. The aim of the study was to derive lessons for industry, government, and the media from the handling of the GM controversies, with a particular focus on the role of information provision my companies and regulators, in circumstances of public controversy about a new technology and its associated products. Study found that there is an urgent need for industry and government to initiate new patterns of interactive understandings between themselves and public stakeholders, concerning the potential social implications of new technologies.