Report of a Project: Assessment of the Impact of the Fourth Wave of Scientific and Technological Development on Culture and Society in Iran

The Fourth Wave of Development is a term coined to denote a period of scientific and technological developments in which the combined powers of four newly emerging and pioneer science and technology، namely Nano، Bio، Info and Cogno، are acting as the driving engine for progress and cause extensive changes in all aspect of human life. Changes whose ramifications and consequences are partially and to a little extent have already become visible but their true extents are yet to emerge. The present paper is a brief account of a project which was carried out at the National Institute for Science Policy in 2008 with the objective of assessing the impact of the four emerging and convergent sciences and technology on socio-cultural aspects of life in Iran. It was hoped that through this project، a number of policies and recommendations for the best ways of dealing with the convergent sciences and technologies could be developed.