Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science are often referred to as the NBIC technologies. They are also described as the atomic bombs of the 21th century, because they give scientists or the politicians and industrialists who control them unprecedented power over nature and other men. Applying NBIC technologies appears to be or to become much easier than making an atomic bomb. In this way, breakthroughs in NBIC technologies are often associated with major threats to security. On the other hand, exactly the same technologies may also be used to promote security. Information technology allows us to trace the whereabouts of people and biotechnology is a strong new tool to identify criminals who left biological traces on the crime scene. But even this "good use" of NBIC to promote security raises a lot of questions.
Whom can we trust?
REFERENCES
For a description of the NBIC technologies see
Mihail C. Roco and William Sims Bainbridge (2002) Converging Technologies for Improving Human Performance. Nanotechnology, Biotechnology, Information Technology and Cognitive Science 482 pages
Available at
http://www.wtec.org/ConvergingTechnologies/1/NBIC_report.pdf
Ongoing.
