Institutes of technology, science academies, science foundations and
other technology and science agencies and organizations are created by
governments, business and industry, educational institutions, consumer
groups and combinations thereof. Some technology institutes and science
foundations are tied directly to the founding bodies, some are adjuncts,
and others are entirely autonomous. Institutes of technology and
science academies and foundations serve a variety of functions, usually
defined in a mission statement and often further expanded upon
in a goals or vision statement.
Some of these functions may include:
- Promotion of education, research, development and commerce in
technology and science, either within specific fields or over a broad
spectrum of disciplines, depending upon the mandate of the
organization;
- Funding of technological and scientific research and development
efforts;
- Encouraging development of career opportunities in technology and
science and facilitation of job placement within various technology
and science disciplines;
- Raising public awareness of technological and scientific issues,
challenges or hazards or bringing a particular aspect of technology
or science to the forefront of the public consciousness;
- Serving as a watchdog or monitor for technology industries
and technology research to insure compliance with safety procedures,
ethical standards and codes of conduct;
- Lobbying lawmaking bodies for enactment of laws either favorable to
the technology industry and the scientific community or restrictive
to specific aspects of technology development.
Institutes of technology, science academies and science foundations in the
private sector are most often non-profit entities, but may also be
for-profit companies such as think tanks engaged in furthering
specific technology industries and research segments or scientific
research and technology development in general. Technology institutes,
science academies and science foundations may be regional, national or
international in scope and influence.
It should be noted that some organizations which prominently display
in their titles the words institute or foundation
coupled with technology or science may not be legitimate
scientific or technology-based organizations at all, but may instead
be engaging in shady pseudo-science, sometimes containing religious
undertones beneath its surface, or bogus “cutting edge
technology” scams.
Pseudo-science and technology scam organizations are sometimes difficult to
identify, as they may sponsor a limited amount of genuine or feigned
scientific or technology research in order to maintain their cloak of
authenticity. A few ways to identify these organizations are that they
are most often non-profit, are heavily engaged in fund-raising, are
always “close to a breakthrough” but never quite seem to get
there, usually focus on a single research or technology concept that is
“revolutionary”, and possess an eloquent spokesperson.
Unfortunately, the same may be true of bona fide technology and science
organizations. Often the best way to identify technology or science
shams is to investigate the people behind the organization as well as
organizational affiliations.
Authored by Kenneth L. Anderson.
Original article published 21 August 2005.
Follow links to the right to learn more about multi-disciplinary institutes of technology,
science academies, science foundations, and other technology and
science organizations.
At the left margin, Related Links address topics of interest
pertaining to institutes, agencies and organizations dedicated
to specific technology and science disciplines. View the
Technology & Science SiteMap
for a complete list of technology and science-related topics.
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