LamprouMemo23

Memo 23 Standards are the measures by which products, processes and producers are judged. And the art of standards development is a technical process and the primary responsibility of experts, like policy makers and scientists. When it comes to novel technoscientific fields like nanotechnology the expertise knowledge is highly valued. As a new field with a scientific language hard to be understood by anybody else, the development of standards in the field limits the participation of lay people and excludes the lay knowledge as a valuable one. In order for policies to be developed, including standards development, policy makers take into account in general three criteria: safety, efficacy, and quality. Of course how those criteria will be evaluated, what they will include and exclude is been left on the hands of the experts. And expertise can come from various sites. From the industry, from R and D research laboratories, research institutes, universities and various organizations. Policy making and standards development is a public sector responsibility. The public sector is responsible for making the space, choosing the experts, being the driving force, and making the final decisions. The private sector might participate by giving advice, providing experts and knowledge but the public sector gives power and authority to those actions and controls the outcomes.