Global Map of Scientific Collaborations

From a huge database of scientific papers published between 2005 and 2009, Oliver Beauchesne drew links connecting the cities in which collaborating authors worked.  The brightness of the lines on the map depends on the number of collaborations between a pair of cities and the distance between them. The map shows Europe to be the hub of multi-city scientific collaboration - and also reveals some rising scientific centres, such as São Paulo in Brazil.

Making the links less bright where the distance between cities is greater may reduce the brightness showing collaborations among cities in the United States as compared to Europe, and may decrease the apparent importance of collaborations across oceans. Still the presentation is interesting. I recommend you go to the interactive site.

Quotation: Rajiv Shah on Development

The Administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has written an editorial published in Science magazine. I quote:

THERE ARE MANY WAYS TO DESCRIBE THE GOAL OF INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT, BUT ONE IS TO think of it as changing a situation in which billions of people have access to the benefits of  science and technology while billions do not. Throughout history, some of the greatest successes in development have come from extending the reach of scientific and technological breakthroughs to those who lacked access. We must continue to harness the ingenuity of the world’s top researchers and scientific leaders to achieve development goals.

I think that an important aspect of development is to increase the numbers of people in the world who benefit from modern medicine, highly productive agriculture, access to information through modern media, housing built to modern technical standards, ability to get around provided by modern transportation technology, etc.

On the other hand, I think are important aspects of development that not specifically related to science and technology such as living in a society that respects human rights, having the ability to express oneself and to have influence on one's government, and enjoying the heritage of one's artistic culture.

Symmetry and Asymmetry in International Science and Technology Activities

Development assistance is by nature an asymmetric relationship, as relatively affluent countries provides funding for relatively poor nations. The former tend to feel that "he who pays the piper calls the tune". The latter feel that they know better what needs to be done  and what works or does not work in their own countries.

After World War II, the United States was by far the most economically productive nation in the world. European nations and Japan recovered in a couple of decades, and joined in the club of economically developed nations. Over the past decades some once-poor nations have converged economically with the United States and other developed nations, while some nations have remained in poverty traps. There remain a number of middle income countries, neither affluent nor poor. Economic relations with these middle income countries remain asymmetric, but can be more collaborative than in the form of development assistance.

Asymmetric relations are also common in science and technology. The United States is the world's strongest scientific and technological power. We are relatively stronger in the biomedical sciences than in other S&T fields, but we are quite strong across the board. Following World War II, the United States represented more than half the world's scientific production and was comparably strong technologically. Over the decades, Japan has come to spend proportionately more of its GDP on research and development than does the United States, Europe has risen to comparable power in S&T to the United States, while a number of countries remain spending a very small portion of their small GDPs on research and development. However, a number of countries now populate a middle range in science and technology, and among them countries such as China, India and Brazil are increasing S&T capacity rapidly.

Thus U.S. scientific and technological relations with other nations will range from extremely asymmetric to symmetric, from aid to collaboration including mixed aid and cooperation approaches. Note too that scientific and technological capacity development and economic development are closely correlated, and both are correlated with social development.

U.S. foreign policy has, I think, focused both on collaborative relations with economically and political powerful countries and development assistance for poor countries, including humanitarian assistance for the poorest countries. I would suggest that there should also be a strong focus on relations with the countries in the intermediate range.

Science and technology can be an effective area for collaboration and for assistance. Thus they have a role in our relations with countries across the spectrum of development of foreign countries. However, the nature of the the scientific and technological linkages will depend on the degree of asymmetry. For example, I would suggest that private sector technological activities would be strongest with developed and emerging economies, but would be limited with the least developed nations because of their lack of S&T capacity.

It seems to me that it might be useful now to have a new agency to promote S&T activities with countries in the middle range. Such an agency might promote a mix of collaborative arrangements in Government supported and implemented R&D, training of foreign S&T students in American universities, increasing private sector technology activities, and some areas of S&T assistance and capacity building.

For the poorest countries, in which the S&T relations are most asymmetric, I think the focus should be on building S&T capacity and on focusing a portion of U.S. S&T capacity on solving problems that these countries can not solve for themselves. Importantly, some of the S&T capacity will have to be conceptualized as shared among poor countries. Thus the very poor nations of Sub-Saharan Africa and the very small nations of the Caribbean will probably have to collaboratively develop S&T institutions within their regions which they will share.

Early Results from an Obama Administration Science Diplomacy Initiative

Bruce Alberts was appointed Science Envoy to Indonesia, Elias Zerhouni Science Envoy to Algeria, and Ahmed Zewail Science Envoy to Egypt by the Obama administration. All very distinguished scientists, they serve in their personal capacity and are not government employees (although there are science attaches in some embassys). Now, according to the American Institute of Physics, they have reported on their early experience to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. I quote from the AIP report:

Alberts has had some initial success, including the establishment of an annual “Frontiers of Science” meeting with 40 US and 40 Indonesian future science leaders, and a new US program to support university exchanges. There are presently 7,000 Indonesians in US universities and Alberts hopes to triple that number. Indonesia is considering creating a new merit-based research funding agency similar to the National Science Foundation. This is another opportunity for the US which aided China’s creation of a similar agency. Furthering science education cooperation, Indonesia recently sent an envoy of scientists and educators to a US conference on science education....


Three areas—water, food and energy security, health and environment, and how best to establish evidence and merit-based systems—have emerged as common priorities across countries. To address these issues, Zerhouni outlines common needs in these countries. Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics programs at every level are also needed; a problem compounded by unqualified teachers and large youth populations that beleaguer already thin education systems. Zerhouni also identified a need to establish stronger scientific cultures of inquiry as opposed to rote learning......


Ahmed, who called Obama’s Cairo speech “historic” and “well received,” argued for a new way of international partnership focused around science. Zewail said that he was surprised by a lack of science expertise at US embassies, a hindrance to science diplomacy. Zewail also urged Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) Director John Holdren to bring the issue of scholarships and visa issues for foreign students to the attention of the President. Zewail ended with this anecdote, “After the June speech by President Obama the expectations were so high…. In Egypt you sell dates in Ramadan… the dates that were sold in Egypt, the highest priced date was named Obama…. The expectations were extremely high, so quite frankly the people would like to see action. Time is running out….”

The stories sound quite different, and one wonders how much of the difference is due to the diplomatic and bureaucratic skills of each Envoy and how much to the differences in scientific cultures of Algeria, Egypt and Indonesia.

I hope that USAID can work with the Science Envoys to mobilize funds to make something happen. I have never worked in Algeria, but many years ago I coordinated a USAID science sector assessment in Egypt that led to a $140 million loan, and in the 1970s I coordinated a month long visit to the United States by Indonesia's Minister of Science and Technology and the chief scientific officers of a dozen other ministries. My experience indicates that there is a huge potential for fruitful scientific cooperation between each of these countries and the United States, but that money is a requirement to make that cooperation work.

US Congress eyes science diplomacy program

A prominent US congressman has proposed that the United States should set up a foreign policy programme to boost international scientific collaboration, especially with Muslim countries.

The Global Science Program for Security, Competitiveness, and Diplomacy Act of 2010 was introduced to the House of Representatives last week (10 March) by Howard L. Berman, Democratic representative and chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs.

Read more on SciDev.Net.

"Egypt says it will propel African science agenda"

Source: Linda Nordling, SciDev.Net, 5 March 2010

Egypt has vowed to "maintain momentum" in building African science and technology (S&T) capacity when it takes over as chair of the African Ministerial Council on Science and Technology (AMCOST) this month.

The two-year role will pass to Egypt from the current chair, Kenya, when AMCOST meets in Cairo next week (7–10 March).

Maged Al-Sherbiny, Egypt's assistant minister for scientific research, "said that 25 African science ministers will attend the meeting along with a host of foreign organisations, including the WHO, various UN agencies and the US National Science Foundation. A delegation from Japan's Office of the Prime Minister will also attend to discuss ways in which it can support African science."

Globalization of Science and Engineering Research

'Science and Engineering Indicators 2010 provides clear evidence that science and engineering (S&E) research is becoming an increasingly international endeavor. S&E activities are occurring and intensifying in more regions and economies, largely in response to recognition by governments that S&E research and development (R&D) leads to economic growth, employment, and overall social well-being of their citizens. Figure 1 illustrates the changes in percentage of worldwide R&D expenditures (combined public and private) by geographical location over the last decade. While total worldwide expenditures have increased about seven percent per year on average, the percent growth in the Asia/Pacific region has outpaced this average, with most of the increase coming from China, India and other developing nations.

"Overall international growth in S&E research activity is driven by increasing science and technology (S&T) capacity in economies around the world. There is widespread recognition of the need to move to a knowledge-intensive economy. Governments increasingly acknowledge the role of S&T in generating new jobs, economic prosperity, responses to national issues and/or global challenges, and global competitiveness. As a result, they are focusing on S&T as national priorities (e.g., by crafting strategic plans for S&T and integrating them in their long-range economic policies) and investing government funding in S&T infrastructure (e.g., in S&E research, education, facilities, R&D, and open markets, and frequently imposing conditions favoring their national enterprise). At the same time, the private sectors in many countries are enhancing and growing their international commercial presence as well as their research and development capabilities. The growth of S&T capacity around the world is facilitated by multinational corporate investments in R&D and new foreign direct investment in emerging markets, as well as by expanding international access to R&D knowledge, training, and facilities. There are growing international research investments by the private sectors of many countries, all enabled and enhanced through the opportunities for scientific exchange provided by revolutionary advances in information and communications technologies (ICT)."

This report, a companion to the NSF Science and Engineering Indicators 2010, indicates that the global R&D enterprise is growing rapidly, especially due to the emphasis that is being given to R&D in Asia and other developing regions. I note especially:

"Between 1995 and 2008, the U.S. share of worldwide high technology exports declined from 21 percent to 14 percent. Over the same period, Japan's export share of high technology manufactured goods declined from 18 percent to 8 percent, and the EU maintained its 16 percent to 18 percent share over the period. It is interesting to note that the U.S. share of high technology exports value added remained relatively flat (Figure 4)—though revenues increased as the global total grew—while the U.S. exports of these items declined substantially (Figure 5). One possible explanation for this is that the globalization of the manufacturing process (i.e., intellectual property creation—innovation, design, prototyping, etc.) in one country can be part of a process in which fabrication takes place in a second country and the sale to a third country. Therefore, while the documented revenue transaction is between the first and third countries, the export is from the second country to the third."

Role of Science and Technology in Foreign Policy and Development Assistance

During the open portion of the October meeting of the President's Council on Science and Technology there were two hours devoted to this topic. Both are available on the Internet via streaming video.

Thursday, October 22 10:15 am

Moderators: Harold Varmus, Ahmed Zewail Speaker: Kerri-Ann Jones, Assistant Secretary for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, Department of State (accepted)
Play Flash Video
Play Windows Media

Friday, October 2310:00am
Moderators: Harold Varmus, Ahmed Zewail
Speaker: Nina V. Fedoroff, Science and Technology Adviser, Department of State
Play Flash Video
Play Windows Media

Comment: The testimony indicates a very welcome increase in the attention to international science and technology. Those interested in the topic will want to see both sessions.

A part of the change is due to the change from the Bush to the Obama administration and to the attitudes of the two administrations toward both science and technology and towards international relations.

The last time there was such an initiative was, I believe, in response to the UN Conference on Science and Technology in Development, held in 1979. Today the chances for a major initiative are much better than they were 30 years ago.

• Scientific capacity has increased greatly all over the world and China and India are in the process of developing the capacity to be full partners with the United States.
• There is much more of a realization that many issues affecting the United States are in reality global systems problems. These include communicable diseases and other health problems, global warming and other environmental problems, energy technology and global hunger and agriculture.
• The improvement of travel and especially the improvement of the global information infrastructure (including the development of the Internet and the World Wide Web) have made international collaboration in science and technology much more rapid and efficient.

I hope the Congress will rapidly authorize a new and expanded program of international scientific collaboration, including more funding for such collaboration, funds for capacity building in the nations both poor economically and scientifically, and funds for the government staff needed to promote and monitor the program.

What to do about the UNESCO science program

I was invited to sit in this week on a portion of the Board on International Scientific Organizations (BISO) meeting at the National Academy of Sciences during the BISO discussion of UNESCO. As I pointed out in a previous posting, the UNESCO natural science program is to receive only about $30 million per year from the regular budge for tthe next couple of years . There is another $15 million for the social and human sciences program, but this program includes things such as philosophy and sports which are not seen as science within the BISO concept. (There are much larger sums of "extrabudgetary resources" but these are voluntary contributions, usually tied to specific purposes by the donors .)

The question was asked as to whether UNESCO could carry out its charter duties with such a small amount of money. The response during the meeting was that the current program was attempting to do too much with too little, and that it should be more focused on a few priority areas.

That might be true, but the governance of UNESCO is vested in the General Conference with 193 member states, a body that meets only once every two years, and in the Executive Board with 58 members, a body which meets only three times per year. These legislative bodies apparently are as subject to pork barrel politics as is the U.S. Congress. A budget is passed by including funding for all activities desired by any of the members of the governing bodies. Each of the elements of each of the science programs has its supporters.

Assume that the governing bodies did want to cut some activities and emphasize others. Which of the natural science programs would one cut?

• The Freshwater Program is seen as the strongest of UNESCO's science programs, meeting an increasing need for understanding of freshwater systems. The World Water Assessment is fundamental for building understanding of the global water crisis and for establishing an agreed upon base of information for policy makers. The training programs in UNESCO's water centers are helping to prepare the cadre of water scientists and managers that the world needs, especially the arid portions of the developing world.
• The People, Biodiversity and Ecology Program with its global network of bioreserves is not only helping develop global understanding of the crisis of anthropogenic loss of biological diversity, but is helping to create an information base for landscape management that can help to ameliorate the human impacts on the environment and especially species loss.
• The Oceanography Program provides a legitimate intergovernmental umbrella for international scientific cooperation on ocean science at a time when ocean resources are being threatened and when the Law of the Seas Convention is opening new economic possibilities for ocean resource exploitation. Moreover, the program includes a hugely important and successful effort to establish a global tsunami warnint system.
• The Earth Science Program provides support for governments, especially needed by those in developing nations, to understand their own underground resources. If governments are the protectors of public interest against unfair exploitation of water, petroleum and mineral resources, then UNESCO's earth science program is a trustworthy vehicle for support of governments.
• The Basic Science Program deals with the sciences that underlie applied sciences in fields from engineering to medicine and public health to agriculture. It is globally accepted that the basic sciences must be supported by governments, but developing nation governments need help in providing that support, and look to UNESCO for that help. Moreover, some of the great successes of UNESCO, such as the Third World Academy of Sciences and CERN, have resulted from UNESCO's efforts to catalyze international cooperation in the basic sciences. The creation of the SESAME center in Jordan is a recent example, in which countries with little else in common have agreed to cooperate in the operation of this scientific facility.
• The Science Policy and Sustainable Development Program seeks to help meet the need of developing nations to allocate their scarce resources to those scientific activities that meet their most basic needs, and to develop policies that support the successful management of their scientific efforts. Ideally science policy is worked out through discussion and negotiation among government, the scientific community and industry; it is UNESCO that is best placed to help developing country governments to meet their responsibilities in the negotiation of science policies.

An Alternative

If UNESCO doesn't get enough money to adequately carry out all of the needed scientific functions an obvious alternative is to provide more money for the regular budget of the science program.

Donors appear unwilling to do so. In part this appears to be because the major donors seem not to trust UNESCO governance and bureaucracy to efficiently utilize those financial resources to effectively carry out the scientific mission of the Organization. Thus the voluntary contributions to the natural science program are more than three times the regular budget of that program, and many of those resources are under the control of bodies such as the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission and the International Hydrological Program Intergovernmental Council and only indirectly under the Control of UNESCO's overall governing bodies.

Over the past 18 years, under the leadership of two Directors General of UNESCO, efforts have been made to reform the Organization and to make it more efficient and more effective. There is general agreement that great progress has been made, but also that more needs to be done if the Organization is to obtain the full confidence of its major donors. Irina Bokova, the new Director General taking office next week, and her senior staff will have to address that problem and I wish them the greatest success.

The 800 Pound Gorilla Hidden Off Stage

One could take the "S" out of UNESCO and create an new intergovernmental system for science. During World War II UNESCO was conceived as an organization focusing on schools and cultural facilities such as museums; science was added almost as an afterthought, largely as a result of lobbying by a few key science policy makers. At the time there were few intergovernmental organizations. Perhaps more importantly, the global scientific system was far smaller than it is today, and its importance was much less recognized so there would have been little recognition of the importance of intergovernmental organizations to promote science. The green revolution in agriculture, the revolution in medicine and public health, and the information revolution have all been science based and have convinced most if not all governments of the importance of science in the modern world.

Perhaps it is now time to rebuild an intergovernmental scientific edifice outside UNESCO, one that could be governed more by scientists and less by diplomats, that could be more efficiently and effectively managed, and as such more worthy of funding consonant with the importance of science in the modern world.

John Daly
The opinions expressed in this posting are those of the author alone, and do not necessarily represent those of Americans for UNESCO nor of BISO nor the National Academies.

Science Envoys to the Middle East

Former NAS President Bruce Alberts, former NIH Director Elias Zerhouni, and Nobel prize-winning chemist Ahmed Zewail have been appointed by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to serve as science envoys to Muslim majority countries. The envoys will travel to North Africa, the Middle East, and South and Southeast Asia "to fulfill President Obama’s mandate to foster scientific and technological collaboration," Clinton said, speaking at a forum in Morocco.

The envoys would be well advised to read this article in SEED by Sheila Jasanoff as they prepare for their duties. They are all experienced science diplomats, but the reminder is important.

Academies, Other Organizations Urge Streamlining of Visa Process

The presidents of the National Academy of Sciences, National Academy of Engineering, and Institute of Medicine today joined other scientific and educational organizations in issuing a statement urging federal agencies to streamline visa processing for scholars and scientists visiting the U.S.

• Statement

Obama: Helping to Build a Knowledge Society in Muslim Lands

Sid Passman brought this passage from President Obama's speech in Cairo to my attention:

I know that for many, the face of globalization is contradictory. The Internet and television can bring knowledge and information, but also offensive sexuality and mindless violence into the home. Trade can bring new wealth and opportunities, but also huge disruptions and change in communities. In all nations -- including America -- this change can bring fear. Fear that because of modernity we lose control over our economic choices, our politics, and most importantly our identities -- those things we most cherish about our communities, our families, our traditions, and our faith.

But I also know that human progress cannot be denied. There need not be contradictions between development and tradition. Countries like Japan and South Korea grew their economies enormously while maintaining distinct cultures. The same is true for the astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai. In ancient times and in our times, Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education......

On education, we will expand exchange programs, and increase scholarships, like the one that brought my father to America. (Applause.) At the same time, we will encourage more Americans to study in Muslim communities. And we will match promising Muslim students with internships in America; invest in online learning for teachers and children around the world; and create a new online network, so a young person in Kansas can communicate instantly with a young person in Cairo.

On economic development, we will create a new corps of business volunteers to partner with counterparts in Muslim-majority countries. And I will host a Summit on Entrepreneurship this year to identify how we can deepen ties between business leaders, foundations and social entrepreneurs in the United States and Muslim communities around the world.

On science and technology, we will launch a new fund to support technological development in Muslim-majority countries, and to help transfer ideas to the marketplace so they can create more jobs. We'll open centers of scientific excellence in Africa, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, and appoint new science envoys to collaborate on programs that develop new sources of energy, create green jobs, digitize records, clean water, grow new crops. Today I'm announcing a new global effort with the Organization of the Islamic Conference to eradicate polio. And we will also expand partnerships with Muslim communities to promote child and maternal health.

This is a very positive aspect of a very good and very important speech!

The World Social Sciences Forum Next Week

The 1st World Social Science Forum, organized by the International Social Science Council (ISSC) in cooperation with the University of Bergen and the Stein Rokkan Centre and supported by more than 30 partners including UNESCO, will meet in Bergen (Norway) from 10 to 12 May 2009, with more than 800 participants from some 40 countries.

The Forum is to provide perspectives on the following themes:

1. The changing world and the challenges it presents to social science
2. The interface between social science and the changing world
3. The state of social science itself, as it seeks to confront the challenges

Go to the Forum website!

Harold Varmus on the Obama International Sciene Policy

Last month Dr. Varmus, a co-chair of the Obama administration's Council of Science Advisors, was in London and the Times of London published an article based on an interview with him.

Dr Varmus said that American diplomacy had undervalued the role of medicine and science in fostering friendly relations with developing nations.

He is asking President Obama to endorse a plan from the US Institute of Medicine that would almost double annual US support for global health to $15 billion by 2012.

Dr Varmus is also advocating a “Global Science Corps” of scientists willing to spend at least a year working in a poor country, and a network of science attachés for every US embassy.

Comment: This is good news, adding to the body of evidence that the next few years will make more progress in the application of knowledge to American development policy. JAD

Read the full article!

"New formula for US-South research funding"

"North–South agricultural research partnerships will gain another source of funding thanks to a new partnership in which the United States' National Science Foundation (NSF) can get involved in collaboration with developing-country scientists.

"The NSF is mandated only to provide funding for research conducted within the United States but under the Basic Research to Enable Agricultural Development (BREAD) programme it will join forces with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to provide US$48 million for international collaboration projects over five years."

Read the full story in SciDev.Net!

An Arab Plan of Action for Science and Technology

The Economic Summit of the Kings, Heads of State and Governments of the Arab League has adopted an Arab Plan of Action for Science and Technology. The plan was adopted at the summit held in Kuwait from 19 to 20 January 2009. UNESCO and the Arab League Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (ALECSO) are spearheading efforts to implement the plan.

Under the plan, a network of centres of excellence in the Arab world will be set up. These centres will work together on joint research projects to facilitate cooperation and thereby strengthen scientific ties and mobility within the Arab world. As many Arab scientists are living and working farther afield, the plan includes a collaborative research programme with the diaspora.

An Arab observatory of science and technology will be set up to monitor progress in research and development (R&D) and the application of research results to problem-solving in Arab society. Four priority areas for R&D have been identified: water, food, energy and agriculture.

"Delivering on the Promise: Advancing US Relations with India"

An Asia Society Task Force Report
January 2009

This Asia Society task force report provides suggestions for the Obama administration to pursue deeper collaboration with India on global challenges ranging from security and economic growth to climate change, education, agricultural needs, and HIV/AIDS.

Read the report!

Read a comment on the report from GlobalHigherEd.

Brookings: STI for the Arab World

The Brookings Institution has done some interesting studies on science and technology in the Arab States and how S&T cooperation between those states and the U.S. can be useful to U.S. foreign policy. These include:

• Science and Technology in U.S. Relations with the Islamic World

  This is the result of a conference hosted by the Saban Center for Middle East Policy in January 2005. "A consensus on several recommendations emerged from the workshop. The U.S. should set clear goals for its scientific and technological cooperation with the Islamic world, and develop an over-arching strategy to achieve them. This should be explained to the American public, and optimal use of U.S. public diplomacy in the Islamic world should be made. Industrial and entrepreneurial development must be a priority, but properly funded U.S. engagement should take place at all levels, from primary education to academia, and availing of human resources such as diaspora communities. ICT infrastructure and knowledge accessibility must be improved, and, with suitable attention to national security, hosting of academic visitors and transfer of technology should be facilitated. U.S. - Islamic world collaboration must be a genuine partnership, in which the U.S. listens to its partners and programs are tailored to their priorities. The pursuant possibilities are indeed considerable."

• Untapped Potential: US Science and Technology Cooperation with the Islamic World
  Michael B. d'Arcy and Michael A. Levi, 2005

  Despite widespread and growing public hostility to the United States in the Islamic world, American science and technology are widely admired there. This provides a valuable channel for productive cooperation. By working wisely with scientists and engineers from the Islamic world, the United States could bolster economic and human development and aid in tackling important regional problems like natural resource management, all while strengthening American public diplomacy in the Islamic world. To be certain, some science and technology cooperation, involving certain sensitive subjects, would be unwise, but a prudent balance is well within reach.

• A New Millennium of Knowledge? The Arab Human Development Report on Building a Knowledge Society, Five Years On
  Kristin M. Lord, 2008

  This study assesses what has happened in the five years since the 2003 report was published, what successes towards building a knowledge society have been achieved, what work remains, and what has failed. It analyzes what has occurred in the last five years in terms of governance, education, science and technology, knowledge-based industry, and building a knowledge culture. Drawing on the insights of a distinguished group of experts, it then recommends tangible steps toward achieving the vision of a knowledge society in the coming five years.
  
  Our conclusion is that Arab countries, as a group, have made significant progress in most of these areas, especially compared with their own history. Yet, other regions have advanced even faster and tremendous challenges— such as creating 100 million new jobs for the region’s mushrooming youth population—loom ahead. The Arab world must reinvigorate its efforts or be left behind. Many new initiatives are underway, but it is too soon to assess their impact. Success, ultimately, will be judged by what is achieved, not by what is invested.

• Building an Arab Knowledge Society: How Business Can Help
  Kristen Lord, 2008

  (T)he Brookings Project on U.S. Relations with the Islamic World, housed within the Saban Center for Middle East Policy, co-sponsored a workshop on December 11, 2007, with Business for Diplomatic Action, on “Strengthening Science and Technology Engagement with the Arab World: Perspectives from Business.” This is the result of that meeting.

  
  

Science, Technology and Peacebuilding

The United States Government's Institute for Peace includes this interesting "Center of Innovation".

Projects under the Center include:

• SENSE Simulations
  TheStrategic Economic Needs and Security Exercise (SENSE), originally developed by the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), is a computer-based simulation that focuses on negotiations and decision-making in a post-conflict environment. SENSE simulates the resource allocation challenges confronting national and international decision-makers.
• International Network to Promote the Rule of Law (INPROL)
  This Internet-based network consists of a consortium of practitioners joined together to promote the rule of law in societies transitioning from war to peace. The online nature of this program allows those serving in the field to exchange information with other experienced practitioners, as well as to access relevant documents, best practices, and related materials.
• Truth Commission Digital Collection
  The Truth Commissions Digital Collection, part of the Margarita S. Studemeister Digital Library in International Conflict Management, is a collection constantly under development by the Jeannette Rankin Library Program, containing decrees establishing truth commissions and similar bodies of inquiry worldwide, and the reports issued by such groups.

Glenn Schweitzer Ran in Problems when last in Iran

According to Science Insider:

A member of a U.S. scientific delegation headed by the President of the Institute of Medicine was interrogated for 9 hours earlier this month in his Tehran hotel. The U.S. National Academies labeled the incident a “serious breach,” and declared on Friday that they “cannot sponsor or encourage American scientists to visit Iran unless there are clear assurances that the personal safety of visiting scientists will be guaranteed.”

The person detained was Glenn Schweitzer who has for decades led in American efforts to build linkages for international scientific cooperation. Glenn was once the Deputy Director of the Office of Science and Technology of USAID (preceding me in that office), but has worked for decades in the international programs of the National Academies.

This is most unfortunate. I know Glenn, and I can not imagine that he did anything that would lead Iranian officials to believe he was a threat. Fortunately the damage apparently was limited. I recall the long imprisonment in Iran of Haleh Esfandiari, a social scientist at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. She too seems to have been totally without guilt.