نشریه سیاست نامه علم و فناوری
پیاپی 2 (تابستان 1390)

Public policy science is issue-oriented, focused on problem-solving and attempts to identify society's objective problems and provides possible solutions to them. Policy makers have various tools of decision-taking from which Think Tank is the main. Think Tank is an independent and non-profit research organization that evaluates and provides solution in a broad range of issues. Think Tanks are traditionally considered as independent voices of policy issues in domestic and foreign policy which conduct scholarly research and determined to provide policy makers with their expert knowledge. However, the governance acts as fertile situation for growing the numbers of Think Tanks. Governing from the government's perspective is always an interactive process because no single actors, public or private, has the knowledge and resource capacity to tackle problems unilaterally. This article attempts to review the history of Think Tanks, The various kinds of think Tanks, their role and impact in policy process and their influence channels on policy makers. Then, this deals with that why these organizations have great influence and growing numbers in the United States of America.

Public policy science is issue-oriented, focused on problem-solving and attempts to identify society's objective problems and provides possible solutions to them. Policy makers have various tools of decision-taking from which Think Tank is the main. Think Tank is an independent and non-profit research organization that evaluates and provides solution in a broad range of issues. Think Tanks are traditionally considered as independent voices of policy issues in domestic and foreign policy which conduct scholarly research and determined to provide policy makers with their expert knowledge. However, the governance acts as fertile situation for growing the numbers of Think Tanks. Governing from the government's perspective is always an interactive process because no single actors, public or private, has the knowledge and resource capacity to tackle problems unilaterally. This article attempts to review the history of Think Tanks, The various kinds of think Tanks, their role and impact in policy process and their influence channels on policy makers. Then, this deals with that why these organizations have great influence and growing numbers in the United States of America.

This monograph discusses the trend of evolution of studies that are being called science, technology and innovation policy studies since Second World War. Tracking this trend shows that the main contribution was from economics of technical change, then scholars of management and sociology; while philosophy had a minor impact in development of such an interdisciplinary field. It also provides a preliminary explanation of the origin of different concepts which are being used in the academic world.

Over the past three decades, mainstream and non- mainstream economics have proposed several rival explanations and policy advices. It could be argued that a chief Difference between them lies in their approach to the role of government that is reflected even in their most simple analyses. However, some lines of convergence could be traced too. This article tries to provide a critical analysis of both streams, especially in the field of technology and innovation. It focuses on their industry analysis frameworks to discuss two areas of convergence, namely the knowledge economy and the socio-technical systems. At the end, we would conclude that a progressive trends seems to be emergent from combining those streams that in turn would bring them closer to each other.

Various researchers and policy analysts have made empirical studies of innovation systems in order to understand their current structure and trace their dynamics. However, policy makers often experience difficulties in extracting practical guidelines from studies of this kind. In this paper, we operationalize our previous work on a functional approach to analyzing innovation system dynamics into a practical scheme of analysis for policy makers. The scheme is based on previous literature and our own experience in developing and applying functional thinking. It can be used by policy makers not only to identify the key policy issues but also to set policy goals.

This paper argues that socio-technical system perspective in industrial and technical fields such as "hydrocarbon reservoir management" can contribute to the successful transitions and their management. It reviews Multi level perspective (MLP) which builds on the work of Dutch researchers on transitions using a multi-level framework of niches, socio-technical regime and landscape, and then describes challenges for Petroleum industry of Iran in each level. There is a potential for misalignment between micro, medium and macro level of change management in this field. This misalignment doesnt resolves without whole and systemic perspective. MLP through combing these levels can provide useful inputs to upstream oil industry transition research and management.

Development of low carbon technologies is nowadays considered a crucial policy due to global expansion in energy consumption, the dependency of current energy regimes to fossil fuels and climate change urgency. Meanwhile, carbon capture and storage (CCS) is seen as a favorable option to mitigate climate change and also to facilitate the smooth transition from current energy regimes towards more sustainable future. However, development of these technologies is still in an early stage and embeds technical as well as social risks. This paper analyses the policies towards CCS technology development. It argues that the development of CCS technologies is not mere a technical issue but it also includes the important social, political and environmental aspects. This paper also argues that commercializing of CCS technologies require governments intervention. Without government intervention and support many of these technologies will not be developed. Furthermore, market-led policies cannot guarantee development of CCS technologies. Technology-led policies in which governments strategically support technology development play a dominant role.

Rapid increase in population growth over the past decades results in increase of demand for higher education and made traditional education faced with new challenges in the world. Custodian of higher education thus, must have an attention to action plans and apply new educational methods such as open education and distance learning. This research survey the properties of distance learning such as target society, education system, education technology, university paradise, student assent and action arena in developed countries and compare them with properties of Payame Noor University (PNU) in distance learning. It also studies the development progress quantitative and qualitative indexes of the PNU and its adjustment to super plans and analyses harmony of evolutions of PNU with its taken tasks in super plans. Research method is qualitative and analytical. Results show that there exist disharmony in properties of PNU and distance learning properties in other countries. Development of quantitative indexes of PNU, especially over 4th development plan (1384-88), is very desirable and results in creation of 445 center and having about 890 thousand of students in 1388 and outshine of quantitative goals based on Higher Education Development National Plan (HEDNP) in 4th development plan. Unfortunately, disproportionate employment of faculties in PNU to number of students results in stunt growth of the relation of number of faculty and student as a major qualitative index which mentioned to be 1 to 250 in HEDNP.