Trilateral science and technology cooperation highlighted

29 September 2006

Cooperation in science and technology was highlighted at the first India, Brazil, South Africa (Ibsa) Dialogue Forum Summit, held on September 13 in the Brazilian capital city of Brasília.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, host and Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, in their joint declaration issued at the conclusion of the summit, "noted with satisfaction the opportunies for scientific and technological cooperation between research and development institutions in the three countries, in areas such as health, biotechnology, nanosciences and oceanography".

They also committed themselves to strengthening trilateral cooperation concerning HIV/Aids, malaria and tuberculosis, exploring the possibilities for a trilateral cooperation agreement for research and development into these diseases, particularly with regard to the development of diagnostic tools, drugs and vaccines.

"This would pool the significant capabilities that exist in the Ibsa countries," they state.

Last year, the three countries agreed to cooperate in science and technology in six mutually agreed priority areas; each country would take the lead in two of these.

They are biotechnology and tuberculosis (led by South Africa); information and communications technology (ICT) and HIV/Aids (India); and nanotechnology and oceanography (Brazil).

In the summit's joint declaration, the three leaders "noted with deep satisfaction ... the progress that has been made with the implementation of the 2005–2007 Work Programme approved with the Rio Declaration on Science and Technology, signed during the second Ministerial meeting of Ministers of Science and Technology, in June 2005".

They stressed their "strong support and commitment to the goal of continuing to cooperate in these and other areas of common interest".

More specifically, with regard to ICT, they stressed the necessity for the promotion and enhancement of trilateral cooperation and capacity building between their countries "in the areas of digital inclusion, ICTs for development, as well as egovernment and governance as a means of reducing the digital divide in their societies".

An Ibsa Framework of Cooperation on Information Society has been signed and will provide the basis for future trilateral cooperation.

The three leaders also stated that they "recalled the role of science and technology in shaping the future of societies in the three countries, particularly by providing tools for reducing poverty, promoting social inclusion and contributing to the attainment of the UN Millennium Development Goals".

The importance of science and technology to the three countries, and trilateral cooperation in these disciplines, was also stressed at the trilateral academic seminar which preceded the summit. This academic seminar, along with a trilateral business seminar, formed part of the official summit activities and was held at the Itamaraty Palace, home of the Brazilian Foreign Ministry, in Brasília, on September 12.

"Technology is a key issue," pointed out Professor Prabir Purkayasthra of the New Delhi Centre for Technology and Development, who addressed the seminar on behalf of India.

"We must invest in the future, or we will miss the boat," he warned.

He pointed out that, traditionally, developing countries, such as the Ibsa states, had used import substitution to develop indigenous technological capacity, but that this was no longer practical.

"The technology cycle is now very short," he highlighted.

Import substitution brought in mature technologies, but today such an approach would keep the Ibsa states forever behind the curve.

"We must get into the first phase of the technology cycle - the development of future technologies," he affirmed.

"A big problem is solving poverty in our countries," pointed out the Brazilian speaker, Federal University of Rio de Janeiro Professor Luiz Pinguelli Rosa.

"How can we mix advanced technologies, which have very high levels of productivity, but employ few people, with job creation?" he queried.

Rosa argued that the Ibsa countries needed both advanced and intermediate technologies, the latter being more labour-intensive.

Representing South Africa, Engineering News senior contributing editor Keith Campbell quoted American Nobel-prize-winning economist Simon Kuznets (1901–1985) who stated that what he called the "modern economic epoch" was defined by "the extended application of science to problems of economic production".

Campbell argued that, today, advanced technology was the result of advanced science, and that it was essential for the Ibsa countries to be involved in basic or pure science research, while admitting that the problem was that this is often very expensive.

One possibility was for the three countries to develop joint research programmes together with the EU, to gain access to EU Framework Programme funding - he cited the example of the European South African Science and Technology Advancement Programme, or ESASTAP.

Following the three presentations, there was general discussion between the three delegations.

Consensus emerged on the need for Ibsa countries to be involved in basic science, in advanced technology research and development (R&D), but also in the need for intermediate technologies as well as appropriate (indigenous) technologies that benefit the poor (safe heaters and cookers, for example, which India has already developed and is producing).

The problems facing the three countries in R&D are very similar, including funding (or, rather, the lack of it), poor educational systems, and the difficulties of attracting students to study mathematics and science.

It emerged that the South African and Indian national research structures are very similar, with an emphasis on research institutions (called science councils in South Africa) more than on universities.

Source: Engineering News