A Framework for Governing Emerging Technologies

Published January 04, 2025

Executive Summary

Governing emerging technologies is challenging due to the rapid pace of technological advancement and the uncertainties in evaluating their opportunities and risks. As these technologies evolve, governance frameworks must adapt to address multiple competing objectives, such as fostering innovation, minimising risks and navigating geopolitical considerations. The growing gap between the pace of technological advancements and governance frameworks, referred to as the “pacing problem”, further complicates this process.

This paper presents a structured framework for governing emerging technologies, drawing on Eugene Bardach’s guide for policy analysis and Takshashila's work on emerging technology governance. The framework begins with an in-depth understanding of different aspects of the technology, such as costs, supply chains, maturity, global competitiveness and societal impacts. This is followed by identifying stakeholders impacted by the technology and their concerns, alongside grappling with the moral dilemmas that arise from adopting it, as governance stems from needing to address these concerns. These steps are followed by narrowing down the governance objectives – such as addressing market failures or other priorities – and identifying suitable alternatives from a repository of instruments. The framework then evaluates these alternatives by projecting their outcomes, confronting the trade-offs involved, and deciding on an optimal policy. The final step addresses effectively communicating the policy to the intended audience.

This structured approach ensures that governance decisions are backed by analytical rigour to balance competing interests and address the pacing problem.

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