TECHNOLOGY POLICY IN A COMPLEX WORLD

President Clinton has given commercial technology policy a priority po sition amid signs that there is growing consensus in America that such policy is needed. However, while there is growing consensus on the ne ed, there is widespread disagreement about exactly what initiatives we should undertake. Insight into the choice of policy options is provid ed by the new science of complexity. Four concepts are developed to gu ide technology policy: self-organization, learning, positive feedback, and emergence.