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Science and Technology Legislation

Report

Developing the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response: An Opportunity to Reduce Risk and Impacts of Future Spills in Freshwater

In 2016, Congress directed the U.S. Coast Guard to establish the Great Lakes National Center of Expertise for Oil Spill Preparedness and Response. This report makes recommendations for the center, its staffing, potential partnerships, and location.

Aug 31, 2021
Commentary

Difficult Choices in the Race to Innovate and Compete

Senate passage of the U.S. Innovation and Competition Act recognizes the fierce competition across the globe for leadership in key technology areas. The potential for such a momentous national investment in resources and attention brings with it options and choices for policymakers to consider.

Jun 21, 2021
Dissertation

How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Blockchain: Implications and Applications of Blockchain

Explores the implications and applications of blockchain, the technology underpinning contentious cryptocurrencies.

May 25, 2021
Commentary

Biden's Proposed New Health Agency Would Emphasize Innovation. Here's How It Might Work

President Biden has proposed a new health agency modeled on DARPA to work on groundbreaking research. This agency could pursue the kind of high-risk research that can lead to high-reward results and help get more medical treatments to market sooner.

May 24, 2021
Commentary

Scientific Research Integrity Demands Transparency—the Law Should Require It Too

China pays U.S. scientists for their innovations in exchange for money and access to research laboratories and speaking and publication opportunities. They require the researchers to keep these agreements secret from their employers or the U.S. government. Perhaps it is time to codify scientific transparency into law.

Apr 12, 2021
Report

The Benefits and Risks of Face Recognition Technology

Face recognition technologies (FRTs) offer opportunities to improve identification efforts, but they also raise concerns about privacy and bias. Understanding the trade-offs between the utility and risks of FRTs is crucial for evaluating their adoption and implementation.

May 14, 2020
Report

Profile of Institutional Review Board Characteristics Prior to the 2019 Implementation of the Revised Common Rule

This report details the results of a survey of institutional research boards (IRBs) to obtain baseline information on their demographics and their attitudes about their IRBs and the likely effects of proposed changes to the Revised Common Rule.

Jul 31, 2019
Research Brief

Oversight of emerging science and technology: Lessons from history to guide future developments

To help inform decisions about emerging science and technology oversight in the future, RAND Europe studied ten examples of oversight spanning different countries, time periods, and science and technology areas, and identified eight key lessons.

Jun 14, 2019
Report

Ethics in Scientific Research

An analysis of how ethics are created, monitored, and enforced finds which ethical principles are common across scientific disciplines, how these ethics might vary geographically, and how emerging topics are shaping future ethics.

Jun 5, 2019
Report

Oversight of emerging science and technology: Learning from past and present efforts around the world

To help inform decisions about emerging science and technology oversight in the future, RAND Europe studied ten examples of oversight spanning different countries, time periods, and science and technology areas, and identified eight key lessons.

Mar 20, 2019
Commentary

Approaching a 'New Normal': What the Drone Attack in Venezuela Portends

The attempt to assassinate Venezuelan President Maduro showed that drones are easy to use and difficult to defend against. Commercial off-the-shelf technology is easy to acquire. It is imperative that counterterrorism specialists begin planning a robust response to the threat.

Aug 13, 2018
Report

International Commercial Drone Regulation and Drone Delivery Services

Commercial drone regulations vary from country to country; regulatory bodies struggle to adapt current laws to new technology. The author draws on a literature review to summarize regulations and highlight the obstacles to drone use worldwide.

Dec 5, 2017
Report

Options for Regulating Small Unmanned Aerial Systems

The FAA predicts that there will be between 2.75 and 4.47 million small Unmanned Aerial Systems (sUAS) flown in the United States by 2021. As the skies become more crowded, action is needed from the federal government and sUAS manufacturers and operators to ensure the public's safety.

Nov 6, 2017
Commentary

After the March for Science: What Now?

Politicized rhetoric may imply otherwise, but scientific expertise and civic participation are not at odds with each other. As the scientific community decides how to respond to shifting political attitudes about science, it's time to focus on a long-term strategy for science policy in the United States.

Apr 26, 2017
Commentary

How California Is Trying to Keep Autonomous Vehicle Development on Track

California's Department of Motor Vehicles recently proposed new regulations governing the testing and deployment of autonomous vehicles. Will this help retain the state's status as a testing and deployment ground for the technology, and will it make California safer?

Apr 10, 2017
Report

Can Smartphones and Privacy Coexist?

Smartphones are becoming more widespread around the world. How can policymakers grapple with issues related to the security and privacy of these devices?

Oct 27, 2016
News Release

Cost of Cyber Incidents Not Large Compared with Other Business Losses; May Influence Responses by Businesses

Data breaches have made headlines in recent years, exposing poor practices that put the personal information of millions of consumers at risk. But the cost of a typical cyber breach is much less than generally estimated, providing one possible explanation for why American companies do not invest more to improve computer security.

Sep 20, 2016
Infographic

Data Theft Victims, and Their Response to Breach Notifications

This infographic highlights the results of a study of consumer attitudes toward data breaches, notifications of those breaches, and company responses to such events.

Apr 14, 2016
Report

Few Consumers Penalize Hacked Companies for Data Breaches

About a quarter of American adults surveyed reported that they received a data breach notification in the past year, but 77 percent of them were highly satisfied with the company's post-breach response. Only 11 percent of respondents stopped dealing with the company afterwards.

Apr 14, 2016
News Release

One-Fourth of American Adults Notified of Data Breach in Past Year; Few Consumers Penalize Hacked Companies

About a quarter of American adults reported that they were notified about their personal information being part of a data breach in the previous year, but only 11 percent of those who have ever been notified say they stopped doing business with the hacked company afterwards.

Apr 13, 2016

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RAND Topic:
Science and Technology Legislation