Open Access

Every new technology is used by us humans almost without hesitation. Usually the military use comes first. Examples from recent history are the use of chemical weapons by Germany in the First World War and of atomic bombs in the Second World War by the US. Now, with the rapid advances in microelectronics over the past few decades, a wave of its application, called digitization, is spreading around the world with barely any control mechanisms. In many areas this has simplified and enriched our lives, but it has also encouraged abuse. The adaptation of legislation to contain the obvious excesses of “digitization” such as hate mail and anonymous threats is lagging behind massively. We hear almost nothing about technology assessment through systematic research; it is demanded at most by a few, usually small groups in civil society, which draw attention to the threats to humankind—future and present—and the Earth's ecosystem. One such group, the Federation of German Scientists (VDW) e.V., in the spirit of the responsibility of science for the peaceful and considered application of the possibilities it creates, asked three of its study groups to jointly organize its 2019 Annual Conference. The study groups “Health in Social Change,” “Education and Digitization,” and “Technology Assessment of Digitization” formulated the following position paper for the 2019 VDW Annual Conference, entitled “Ambivalences of the Digital.”

Dort, wo Modelle der operativen Energiesystemanalyse untereinander Überschneidungen aufweisen, stellt sich zunächst die Frage, ob sie bei gleichgearteten Fragestellungen auch die gleichen Antworten liefern. Dies zu beantworten war erstes Ziel des hier beschriebenen Vorhabens. Das zweite Ziel war, im Falle von Differenzen zu ermitteln, worin diese begründet liegen. Es waren nicht nur die Modelle selbst, sondern auch das methodische Vorgehen zur Modellerstellung und Simulation in Betracht zu ziehen. Die darauf aufbauende Identifikation von individuellen Optimierungspotenzialen war das dritte Ziel. Da die operative Energiesystemanalyse noch ein recht junger Forschungsbereich ist, existiert darüber hinaus Klärungsbedarf, welches Modell sich für welche Untersuchungen besonders eignet und welches methodische Vorgehen sich empfiehlt. Die Beantwortung dieser Fragen stellte das vierte Ziel des Vorhabens dar.