ABSTRACT
The governance of security in fields typified by emerging technologies is a complex and uncertain task. The very nature of an emerging technology means that its success as an innovation, as well as its implementation, dissemination and use, are highly speculative, as are the potential security threats or opportunities that it may present. Using the case study of the development of neuroprosthetics, a highly innovative yet experimental form of prosthetic limb that connects into nerve and muscle tissue, this chapter will explore how insights from science and technology studies concerned with managing risk and uncertainty can inform governance in areas of emerging technology. This chapter will demonstrate that existing legal frameworks are not well suited to providing governance solutions, and that instead a form of experimentalist governance based in principles of responsible research and innovation, allowing for organic and iterative forms of governance based on the interaction between knowledge and expertise provided by scientific researchers engaging with policy makers, agencies and civil society organisations are likely to be the norm until a technology is effectively realized and implemented – only then can more concrete governance structures be developed, as the lacunae of knowledge, certainty and appropriateness of response are bridged.
