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Statement
Technologv In Society, Vol. 19, No. I, pp. 99-100,
1997 Copyright 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0160-791x/97 $17.oo+o.00
Pergamon SO160-791X(%)00052-8
Heinz Riesenhuber
The global treasury of scientific information doubles every five years, and individual aspects of information are increasingly interdependent and interconnected. Every piece holds some meaning for every other piece. The complexity of the world is also increasingly understood. The links between science and new technologies and such problems as the vulnerability of our environment and the economic, social, and legal issues of industrialized nations, newly industrializing countries, and the developing world, are critical. The need for global cooperation is obvious and has been successful in basic sciences. Any impediment to the free exchange of scientific information would be detrimental not only for the global scientific community, but more so for the nation which tries to withhold the scientific information. Very large scientific projects are only accessible through international cooperation and cost-sharing. The number of such projects, however, no longer seems large. Future areas which will require renewed efforts at collaboration include fusion (ITEI), space exploration, and high energy physics. In basic science, a new type of complex project mode is developing. A prominent example is the human genome project which relies on an informal mode of global collaboration rather than collaborative investment in a single site or piece of equipment. Whether such projects are self-organizing (the old paradigm of basic sciences) or whether they will have to be organized by governmental action is a point of debate. Governments should give freedom and sufficient funding to basic research; they should not try to set goals. Industrial research must make the best possible use of new basic research. The cultures of innovation and the interconnection between basic and applied research, and between scientific institutes and industrial enterprises, are different in different countries. Worldwide competition can increasingly
Heinz Riesenhuber is the former Minister for Research and Technology at the Bundesministerium fur Forsbung und Technology in Bonn, Germany. Dr Riesenbuber is a member of the German Federal Parliament, and is a member of the Committee on Economics. He ts currently the Vice-President of the German American Academic Council, and Co-President of ibe German Japanese Coop erative Council for High-Technologies and Environment Technology. Dr Reisenbuber has won several awards including the Grosses Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Sterns, and the Grand Of$cier de la Legion d’Honneur. He earned his doctorate at the University of Munich. 99
100
Heinz Riesenhuber
be seen not only among enterprises, but also among these various technological cultures. Enterprises look for their partners by their own efforts, forming alliances which are delimited in terms of time and in terms of fields of cooperation. Governments should encourage such collaboration, and encourage them to be open to every appropriate partner from every country. Governments must also make sure that subsidies for industrial research and technology development are appropriate. Governments must set fair conditions for an open exchange and for the consideration of new issues such as patenting for new organisms or the approval of new pharmaceuticals. Environmental research in its most basic sense, as articulated in Agenda 21 of the Rio Conference, is a responsibility of both governments and the scientific community. Environmental research requires a new target-oriented, trans-disciplinary approach. This will enable the determination of the contributions of multiple factors to changes in world climate, tropical forest declines, local air, soil and water pollution, and the like. International partnership is, to a large extent, the responsibility of governments who must set goals jointly. Programs should be integrated on a worldwide basis, and, to the extent possible, should be complimentary. The investment of governments in environmental research should be at levels comparable to other government research expenditures. Future global cooperation in all of these areas of basic science most probably will proceed in an efficient and excellent fashion unless governments interfere. Global cooperation in industrial research and technology depends on sensible progress in the GATT/WI0 process of negotiations to establish fair conditions of trade and liberalized markets. Entrepreneurs will find global partners largely through their own efforts. The Internet, which is currently bringing great benefits to basic research, may also eventually aid global industrial collaboration. Currently, the quality of global cooperation among scientists and industrialists is good. At the political level, basic cooperation is also occurring. Progress on changing paradigms, priorities, and goals, and developing joint strategies for future cooperation, however, is limited. Such progress will be critical - far beyond the field of environmental protection - for the future successful development of a global society in a world of limited resources.
1997 Copyright 0 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd Printed in Great Britain. All rights reserved 0160-791x/97 $17.oo+o.00
Pergamon SO160-791X(%)00052-8
Heinz Riesenhuber
The global treasury of scientific information doubles every five years, and individual aspects of information are increasingly interdependent and interconnected. Every piece holds some meaning for every other piece. The complexity of the world is also increasingly understood. The links between science and new technologies and such problems as the vulnerability of our environment and the economic, social, and legal issues of industrialized nations, newly industrializing countries, and the developing world, are critical. The need for global cooperation is obvious and has been successful in basic sciences. Any impediment to the free exchange of scientific information would be detrimental not only for the global scientific community, but more so for the nation which tries to withhold the scientific information. Very large scientific projects are only accessible through international cooperation and cost-sharing. The number of such projects, however, no longer seems large. Future areas which will require renewed efforts at collaboration include fusion (ITEI), space exploration, and high energy physics. In basic science, a new type of complex project mode is developing. A prominent example is the human genome project which relies on an informal mode of global collaboration rather than collaborative investment in a single site or piece of equipment. Whether such projects are self-organizing (the old paradigm of basic sciences) or whether they will have to be organized by governmental action is a point of debate. Governments should give freedom and sufficient funding to basic research; they should not try to set goals. Industrial research must make the best possible use of new basic research. The cultures of innovation and the interconnection between basic and applied research, and between scientific institutes and industrial enterprises, are different in different countries. Worldwide competition can increasingly
Heinz Riesenhuber is the former Minister for Research and Technology at the Bundesministerium fur Forsbung und Technology in Bonn, Germany. Dr Riesenbuber is a member of the German Federal Parliament, and is a member of the Committee on Economics. He ts currently the Vice-President of the German American Academic Council, and Co-President of ibe German Japanese Coop erative Council for High-Technologies and Environment Technology. Dr Reisenbuber has won several awards including the Grosses Bundesverdienstkreuz mit Sterns, and the Grand Of$cier de la Legion d’Honneur. He earned his doctorate at the University of Munich. 99
100
Heinz Riesenhuber
be seen not only among enterprises, but also among these various technological cultures. Enterprises look for their partners by their own efforts, forming alliances which are delimited in terms of time and in terms of fields of cooperation. Governments should encourage such collaboration, and encourage them to be open to every appropriate partner from every country. Governments must also make sure that subsidies for industrial research and technology development are appropriate. Governments must set fair conditions for an open exchange and for the consideration of new issues such as patenting for new organisms or the approval of new pharmaceuticals. Environmental research in its most basic sense, as articulated in Agenda 21 of the Rio Conference, is a responsibility of both governments and the scientific community. Environmental research requires a new target-oriented, trans-disciplinary approach. This will enable the determination of the contributions of multiple factors to changes in world climate, tropical forest declines, local air, soil and water pollution, and the like. International partnership is, to a large extent, the responsibility of governments who must set goals jointly. Programs should be integrated on a worldwide basis, and, to the extent possible, should be complimentary. The investment of governments in environmental research should be at levels comparable to other government research expenditures. Future global cooperation in all of these areas of basic science most probably will proceed in an efficient and excellent fashion unless governments interfere. Global cooperation in industrial research and technology depends on sensible progress in the GATT/WI0 process of negotiations to establish fair conditions of trade and liberalized markets. Entrepreneurs will find global partners largely through their own efforts. The Internet, which is currently bringing great benefits to basic research, may also eventually aid global industrial collaboration. Currently, the quality of global cooperation among scientists and industrialists is good. At the political level, basic cooperation is also occurring. Progress on changing paradigms, priorities, and goals, and developing joint strategies for future cooperation, however, is limited. Such progress will be critical - far beyond the field of environmental protection - for the future successful development of a global society in a world of limited resources.