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Reflections on the Role of Science and Technology in Development

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 August 2009

Thomas F. Malone
Affiliation:
Director, Holcomb Research Institute, Butler University, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208, USA; Foreign Secretary of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA; Chairman of the Singapore Symposium.

Extract

The International Symposium on Science and Technology for Development, held in Singapore from 22–26 January 1979:

(1) Demonstrated that cooperative action could be taken by international nongovernmental organizations which are concerned about the role of science and technology in the UN Conference on Science and Technology for Development (UNCSTD);

(2) Caused a coalescing of these concerns in a commitment to bring the resources of science and technology to bear on Third-World problems;

(3) Resulted in a strengthened commitment to revitalize the patterns of cooperation of nongovernmental scientific and technical (S&T) organizations to expand their ties to intergovernmental agencies; and

(4) Led to an advised framework of action involving four groups, proposing: a) a network of institutions in developing countries to identify problems from the perspective of the developing countries themselves; b) a ‘switching mechanism’ in the nongovernmental sector to link the less developed countries (LDCs) with the resources of scientific and technological talent in industrialized nations; c) a multiplication of the collaboration of donor institutions; and d) a revitalization of the UN system for due application of S&T to development, accompanied by a more active working partnership with international nongovernmental organizations.

Type
Main Papers
Copyright
Copyright © Foundation for Environmental Conservation 1979

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References

* African Association for Advancement of Science & Technology, Commonwealth Human Ecology Council, Council of International Organizations of Medical Sciences, International Council for Philosophy and Humanistic Studies, Club of Rome, International Council of Scientific Unions, International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study, International Foundation for Science, International Institute of Applied Systems Analysis, International Institute for Environment and Development, International Social Sciences Council, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources, Pugwash, Society for International Development, Union of International Engineering Organizations, World Environment and Resources Council, World Federation of Engineering Organizations, World Future Studies Federation, and World Federation of Scientific Workers.

We have latterly been avoiding such use of the word ‘funding’ in favour of ‘financing’, but it now seems clear that both terms are needed. Consequently, ‘funding’ is employed (as repeatedly in this paper) for financial support which is given outright and may not be returnable or even bear interest, while ‘financing’ is reserved for support which bankers, for example, would insist be returned as to principle and meanwhile bear interest. Both terms come under the broad heading of fund-raising.—Ed.

* Cf. the account, by Dr Walter Shearer, of ‘The United Nations University and Natural Resources’, published on pp. 125–6 of this issue.—Ed.