Science and Technology Capacity

and the Knowledge Society

Goverdhan Mehta
Director, Indian Institute of Science
Co-Chair, InterAcademy Council
Past President–Indian National Science Academy (INSA)
 The Dawn of Knowledge Era

21st century will be the century of knowledge

 Agricultural Industrial Information Knowledge
Society Society Society Society

Innovation Knowledge
products

Networks
Information
products

Technology
Industrial
products

Raw Materials
Agri products

Societal Transformation
 What is a Knowledge Society ?
 That uses knowledge holistically to empower and
enrich people– and is an integral driver of sustainable
development (societal transformation)
 A life-long learning society committed to innovation
 Has the capacity to generate, diffuse, utilize and
protect knowledge - creates economic wealth and
social equity
 Enlightens people towards an integrated view of life
as a fusion of mind, body and spirit

Planning Commission Report, India 2001

 The Age of Science

“The 20th century’s unprecedented gains

in advancing human development and
eradicating poverty came largely from
technological breakthroughs”
 S & T as an engine for development ?

Consensus is emerging among policy makers and

economists that at least half, if not more, of the
economic growth in countries is directly
attributable to science and technology.

In a globalizing, knowledge driven world with

increasing importance of service industries and
technological competitiveness, this contribution
can only become higher.
“There is hardly any social problem on which
science cannot make some contribution”
-D. K. Price, Scientific Estate

Science for policy

and
Policy for Science

Science is never sufficient to solve a problem

completely; it is, however, always necessary.
 “Policy, not charity, will determine
whether new technologies become a
tool for human development
everywhere”

“There is enough in this world for

everyone's needs but not greed”
-Mahatma Gandhi

UNDP-HDR 2001
 “Development is about expanding the
The
choices Dignity
people have of Work
to lead lives that
they value”

…..But, two thirds of the world population

lives in conditions of relative to complete
deprivation…..What choices do they have?

….1 billion without safe drinking water, 2.4 billion

without access to basic sanitation, 1 billion illiterates…
The Paradox of Our Time
Growing inequalities

Knowledge Divide
 Rising Inequities
• Inequities are rising within and between
countries

• Assets of world’s 3 richest people exceed

combined GDP of poorest 48 countries

• 1.2 billion people living on less than $1 a day

and 2.8 billion on less than $2 a day (1998)
 Industrialized nations
vs
Less Developed Countries (LDCs)

Widening gaps in ……
human resource capacity
S & T infrastructure
which are critical in the new knowledge
based world………
 THE POWER OF HUMAN CAPITAL
90
78
80
69
70
JAPAN
60
USA
50
40 EU
40
China
30
LDCs Non-Asia
20
10 6
0.5 India 1.49
0
Researchers and Engineers per 10,000
workers
 Knowledge “have nots”

Population With Internet

Developed World 15% 88%

Developing World 85% 12%

Source: UNDP, Human Development Report, 1999, USPTO

 Asymmetry in scientific
spending vs incomes

Income = 60 times (OECD:LIE)

Research = 250 times (OECD:LIE)

OECD countries contribute 94% of scientific literature

OECD Countries account for 85% of total R & D
expenditure
Explosive Growth of Knowledge

00 AD 1750 doubled
1750 1900 doubled
1900 1950 doubled
1950 3-4 yrs doubles

More new information has been generated in the

last 30 years than in the previous 5000
 Galloping pace of technology
Shrinking time domains

Faraday 1830 1881 Electricity

Watson-Crick 1953 1973 Genetic Engg.

Computing Power doubles….………..18 months

Networking (Band width) doubles……12 months
Storage (Hard disk) doubles……………9 months
 Investment Driven R&D Regime

“When R & D investments begins

to exceed capital investment, the
corporation can be said to be
shifting from a place for
production to a place for Genomics
knowledge creation”

But, 80 countries are classified

as scientifically lagging and
have no capital
Nanotechnology
RAND S & T Report 2001
Current trends greater gaps scientific apartheid!
Bend the Curves
The Gap 2003

Time
 Among the many challenges of the
global knowledge divide,
the growing S&T gap
between North and South is the most
important

Distribution of S & T capacities is even more lopsided

than that of economic power
A long way to go…
 But there is promise…

The ‘HOLE-IN-THE WALL’ EXPERIMENT, NIIT, INDIA

Experiments in Minimally Invasive Education
.….and there is great potential of rich
human capital in the south

Population can be a renewable knowledge

resource as important as capital
 Inventing the Future
Urgent Need for
S & T Capacity Building for transition
to the knowledge society

Recognize it as a worldwide challenge

S & T Capacity Building-The Road Ahead
 Need for a global perspective and
commitment- harmonize with local contexts
 Rethink by global institutions that deal with
scientific knowledge
 New understanding of south--talent is all
pervasive, access & opportunity are not
 Practical, pragmatic strategies

Capacity building is a continuum

 “Broad Banding”-S & T Capacities

“…it is more appropriate to view innovations as the

fusion of different types of technology rather than as a
series of technical breakthroughs. Fusion means more
than a combination of different technologies:it invokes an
arithmetic in which one plus one makes three”
F. Kodama
 That developing countries need only relevant
technologies is a ‘myth’
 Every country needs the capacity to understand and
adapt global technologies for local needs
 Integration of immediate needs and long term vision
 10,000 years ago…………..

“Let Knowledge come from all sides”

-Rig Veda

Segmentation of knowledge leads to divisiveness

Let knowledge be harnessed to uplift the

blossoms in the dust too
 Clusters of Action points
• Human Resources-New paradigms in science education
• Universal scientific and technical literacy
• Science, its values and Societal engagement
• Institutions, infrastructure and networks
• Information access-particularly to scientific journals
• Public/Private partnerships
• Policy issues - national and international
 New Paradigms in Science Education
 Need for a major rethink at pedagogic and curricular level
 Imaginative synergy with other knowledge streams
 Rekindle interest in experiments and sensory observations
 Restore the inspirational role of teacher-motivator & mentor
 Integration with concepts of sustainable development
 Learning science as an enlivening experience-neither esoteric
nor prosaic

Strengthening science education at all levels is an

enabling requirement, especially for developing
nations, for a self-standing national science base.
New initiatives in different countries
are being attempted

Need to share experiences and

evolve local strategies

IAP Science Education Program

UNESCO,TWAS, ICSU ………
Information Access-Books and Journals
………Some silver lining

 Digital libraries-
Million books on the web initiative –CMU & IISc
MIT-OCW initiative
Dig Lib in Alexandria

 Electronic Journals
Public library of Science {PLOS) www.plos.org
PLOS Biology, PLOS Journal of Medicine
PNAS-National Academy of Sciences (USA)
The interactive complexity of the
triumvirate of science, innovation and
commercialization indicates that the
linear conception of S & T for progress
in the emerging knowledge society may
be inadequate.

Scientific revolution has outpaced

social revolution for over a century now
Towards New Understandings and Partnerships
 Recognize indigenous knowledge-as a common
heritage of humankind- many of its features could be
key elements of sustainable development strategies

 Innovative approaches to international S & T

cooperation-primacy of south-south cooperation

 Alliances to build capacities for the generation,

infusion and absorption of technologies in real time

 Establish “BANK” to which patents can be assigned

for public good, “peace and happiness”
The Role of the Science Academies
 Inter Academy Council

Origin of IAC
• Established in 2001 and supported by the
world’s leading academies of sciences
[Inter Academy Panel, IAP, ~90 academies ]

Purpose of IAC
• Mobilizing the world’s best science for a better
tomorrow.
 Inter Academy Council
Executive Board
• Academies of Science from Brazil, China, France,
Germany, India, Israel, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Russia,
South Africa, Sweden, United Kingdom, United States;
and the Third World Academy of Sciences
Co-Chairs
• Bruce Alberts, President, National Academy of Sciences
• Goverdhan Mehta, Past President, Indian National
Science Academy
Observers
• International Council for Science, ICSU;
• InterAcademy Panel (IAP) ; and
• The Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
 Inter Academy Council
Modus operandi
• Project-by-project studies, sponsor-initiated
• Transparent Process
Independence
• Study panels established through broad
consultations (IAP Academies)
• Composition of panels approved by IAC Board
Merit-based
• Draft reports subject to intensive peer review
• Released after approval by the IAC Board
 Inter Academy Council
First study:
• Strategy for Building Worldwide Capacities in
Science and Technology.
(Expected release Dec 2003, Mexico City)
• Second study:
• Science and Technology for Improving
Agricultural Productivity in Africa
(Expected completion Jan 2004)
Third study initiated:
• Towards Transitions to Sustainable Energy
Systems
(under implementation)
 Inter Academy Council

Activities Planned

• Gender Issues in Science & Technology

• Use of Internet for Distance Education in S & T

• Science and Technology in Preserving World

Heritage Sites (UNESCO)
 “ Today, the Third World is only
slowly waking up to the realization
that in the final analysis, creation,
mastery and utilization of modern
science and technology is basically
what distinguishes the South from the
North. On S &T depend the standards
of living of a nation”

- Prof. Abdus Salam

Founder TWAS
Thank You