| Abstract: | A complex set of telecommunication links was used to permit eight geographically separated expert panels (in Austria, Poland, the Soviet Union, and the United States) to participate in a Delphi-type exercise conducted in connection with an International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) workshop titled “Systems Assessment of New Technology: International Perspectives.” No significant technical difficulties were encountered in creating and using this communication mechanism, but a number of sociopsychological and procedural problems arose that were sufficiently serious to prevent substantively useful results from being obtained. It seems clear, however, that if such an activity were to focus on questions agreed to be worthwhile, with participants and an agenda structure truly suitable for resolving these questions, then a number of relatively minor organizational and informational adjustments should permit “computer-assisted panel sessions” to become a useful tool for international scientific cooperation. |
