A major goal of most research organizations is to undertake research and development work that will ultimately bring about improvements in productivity, and efficiency, and meet other societal objectives such as poverty reduction, employment generation, and environmental sustainability. But in today’s world of scarce public funding and greater accountability, governments, donors / funding agencies and research managers are increasingly demanding assessment and evaluation of the expected social benefit and economic returns on their investments in research and technology development.
     A major goal of most research organizations is to undertake research and development work that will ultimately bring about improvements in productivity, and efficiency, and meet other societal objectives such as poverty reduction, employment generation, and environmental sustainability. But in today’s world of scarce public funding and greater accountability, governments, donors / funding agencies and research managers are increasingly demanding assessment and evaluation of the expected social benefit and economic returns on their investments in research and technology development.

In developing countries like India, a large number of technologies developed by public and private R & D institutions remain on the shelf due to inadequate extension and marketing, or mostly because they are considered to be inappropriate for actual use. But studies have also shown that many technologies even if they do perform to their potential, actually entail adverse consequences. Many infrastructure projects, for instance, displace people in the name of development. The disruptions caused by loss of homes, loss of jobs, destruction of income generating assets, separation from site related services, loss of social and cultural networks have long term repercussions on the lives of the affected people. On the other hand alternative technologies may be available which fulfil the same developmental objectives without any attendant adverse effects. All this makes it imperative to undertake a sound social impact assessment before the implementation of any technology-based project. Many national governments and international aid agencies such as the UNDP, World Bank, and other funding agencies therefore have made a sound socio-economic impact assessment a condition for provision of funding for technology development and transfer.
     IIT Bombay has social scientists to carry out technology impact assessment studies and also set up programs to mitigate social impacts and monitor how these programs work. Studies have been carried out for national and international agencies to assess impacts of a number of technology projects. While such assessments are often carried out as part of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), we believe that independent socio-economic assessments are likely to be more beneficial.
     Typically, socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) of technologies involves evaluation of the following:

impact assessment a condition for provision of funding for technology development and transfer.
    IIT Bombay has social scientists to carry out technology impact assessment studies and also set up programs to mitigate social impacts and monitor how these programs work. Studies have been carried out for national and international agencies to assess impacts of a number of technology projects. While such assessments are often carried out as part of Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), we believe that independent socio-economic assessments are likely to be more beneficial.
     Typically, socio-economic impact assessment (SEIA) of technologies involves evaluation of the following:

• Ways in which affected people cope with life   through their economy, social systems, and   cultural values
• Ways in which affected people use the natural   environment, for subsistence, cultural and   other activities
• How people use the built environment, for   shelter, making livelihoods, industry, and other   social and cultural activities
• How communities organize themselves,   through various social and cultural institutions,   norms and beliefs.
     In short, SEIA involves identifying and describing the existing state of the environment, predicting how they may change if a specific technology is adopted, and developing techniques of mitigating adverse impacts that are likely to arise for an affected population. Many academics, development experts and activists have argued that a failure to incorporate impact assessment into development models has led to outcomes which have gone against the goals of achieving greater poverty reduction, social justice and equity, especially for marginalized social groups such as the poor, tribals, and lower castes.
     Large-scale technology projects are ideal candidates for SEIA. Examples include construction of irrigation or transportation systems. However, assessments can also be carried out for small-scale technologies used by individuals, households, firms, farmers etc. For example, one can analyze the social and economic impacts (positive/negative, long term/short term) of flyovers, genetically engineered seeds, software products etc. In many developed countries SEIAs are regarded as an assurance essential for commerce, science and engineering, socio-economic development, and public health and safety.
     Traditionally, cost-benefit analysis has been used in technology assessments. But presently an increasing need is felt to go beyond productivity and efficiency impacts and focus on longer term sustainability issues. Lessons from our green revolution in agriculture, and early phases of industrialization in many countries have alerted us to environmental issues including ecological degradation and their impacts on human health and safety. Also, impact studies from the generations of technologies developed so far have made us aware of indirect impacts which were earlier neglected or ignored as unintended consequences. A good example of that would be biodiversity decline which occurred due to monoculture cropping systems put in place by the hybrid varieties during the green revolution.
     For the economically underprivileged sections of the society, loss of habitat or livelihoods, displacement due to large technology project, can result not only in impoverishment, but also inability to cope, to maintain sources of livelihood, and so considerably increase exposure to risk. On the other hand technologies which enhance choice, increase people's capacity to cope with risk and instability. For instance, in the use of biotechnology in agriculture, certain kinds of technologies reduce the ability of farmers to innovate to adapt to agro-climatic changes, while certain other techniques (marker assisted breeding) enhance a farmer’s ability to cope with agro-climatic variability. Recent cases of suicides by farmers in some parts of India has been blamed on certain kinds of technologies and methods of technology transfer which disrupt family and kinship ties, and informal social networks, which are very essential to the lives of the economically weaker groups.
    It follows that – and as has been shown by the pioneering work of the Indian economist Amartya Sen - two crucial issues related to risk and choice are capabilities and entitlements. The present author has been involved in research relating to these issues. Broadly this involves understanding how technologies increase or reduce the skill and knowledge levels of individuals and groups to cope with economic and ecological environments including market conditions and ecological degradation. At the same time there is a need to appreciate that technologies can either enable an individual to get a higher entitlement from nature through productivity enhancements, or can reduce the entitlements in the long run, through excessive exploitation or degradation of natural resources. Thus, development models currently include multiple objectives which go beyond efficiency and productivity of technologies, and focus especially on equity and sustainability issues. Such an approach is in consonance with a focus on enhancing the uptake and positive impact from technologies, and has led funding agencies to emphasize participatory approaches in technology development. Thus, in the future, SEIAs are expected to embody a truer spirit of stakeholder analysis in technology development, and foster the adoption of both qualitative and quantitative techniques in technology impact evaluation.