UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION

Transcription

1 SC- 85 /CASTALAC I I/3 PARIS, 31 May 1985 UNITED NATIONS EDUCATIONAL, SCIENTIFIC AND CULTURAL ORGANIZATION Conference of Ministers responsible for the Application of Science and Technology to Development in Latin America and the Caribbean (CASTALAC I I ) (Brasilia, Brazil, August 1985) MAIN WORKING DOCUMENT

2 (i) TABLE OF CONTENTS INTRODUCTION... - Page 1 CHAPTER I Trends in the evolution of science and technology policy in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean since At the national level At the regional and subregional levels CHAPTER I1 Science, technology and development in rural settings Introduction Influence of science and technology on rural society and on its environment Science and technology systems for rural development Science and technology policy for the integrated development of rural settings The fields of R&D activity applied to integrated rural development CHAPTER I11 Government instruments and mechanisms for the planning of scientific and technological development and for the implementation of science and technology policies Acquisition and implantation of technologies The financing of R&D and of technological development in the productive sectors of the economy Concertation mechanisms Evaluation of the effectiveness of research institutions and units CHAPTER IV Education and research in the field of science and technology policies for development - Role of Unesco Science and technology policy training needs Unesco's response Project for an international training and research programme Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean Networks of teaching and research units Prospects for action

3 CHAPTER V Examination of the achievements and future prospects of work of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy- Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean Measures to be taken to give effect to the recommendations of CASTALAC I1... Page a9 5.1 Presentation of national reports General science and technology policy debate Selection of some specific themes Regional scientific and technological co-operation Prospects... 95

4 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 INTRODUCTION 1. This document is the main working document of the second Conference of Ministers responsible for the Application of Science and Technology to Development in the Member States in Latin America and the Caribbean (CASTALAC 11). This Conference is convened pursuant to resolution 9.1 adopted by the General Conference at its twenty-second session, and paragraph of the Work Plan in the Approved Programme and Budget for , (document 22 C/5 Approved). It is part of a series of regional ministerial conferences on science and technology organized by Unesco over the past 20 years.(l) 2. The first CASTALA Conference was held in 1965 at Santiago, Chile. Since then, several new Member States have been included in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean.(2) 3. In accordance with paragraph of the Approved Programme and Budget or , CASTALAC I1 will review the experience acquired and the progress made since the first CASTALAC Conference in 1965, drawing on the work of the six meetings of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in the Region which have been held since then. The Conference will consider inter alia the contribution that scientific research, experimental development and a judicious choice of technologies could make towards solving the problems of unemployment in rural areas. It will suggest what type of research could be undertaken for this purpose, in the context of increased technical co-operation among developing countries (TCDC). The Conference will also examine various problems concerning the management and evaluation of the effectiveness of national science and technology systems and will draw up recommendations for the establishment of a network of education and research units on science and technology policy, that will serve the Latin America and Caribbean region. 4. This working document is intended to help the participants at CASTALAC 11, when considering and discussing the substantive issues to be dealt with at the Conference, with a view to the adoption of recommendations that may help to shape the development of science and technology throughout the region over the next ten years. For that reason the outline of its content and details in the various sections that go to make it up are necessarily adjusted to the provisional agenda of the Conference, and thus deal only with the items therein, in the same order, from 7 to 11, as set out in the following table: (1) CASTALA (Santiago, Chile, 19651, CASTASIA (New Delhi, 1968), MINESPOL (Paris, 1970), CASTAFRICA (Dakar, 1974), CASTARAB (Rabat, 1976), MINESPOL I1 (Belgrade, 19781, CASTASIA I1 (Manila, 1982). (2) The Member States of Unesco belonging to the region are the following: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Ecuador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Christopher and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay and Venezuela. The Associate Members are the British Virgin Islands and the Netherlands Antilles.

5 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 2 Item on the provisional agenda Subject Present working document 7 Ten-year review of the evolution of science and technology policy in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean: (a) at the national level (b) at the regional level Science, technology and development in rural settings Section 1.1 Section 1.2 Chapter I1 Governmental instruments and mechanisms for the planning of scientific and technological development and for the implementation of science and technology policies: (a) Acquisition and establishment of technology (b) Financing of R&D and of technological development in the productive sectors of the economy (c) Concertation mechanisms; participation of researchers in the formulation of research policies (d) Evaluation of the effectiveness of research institutions and units Education and research in the field of science and technology policies for development; the role of Unesco Review of the achievements and of the future work prospects of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean: measures to be taken for the follow-up of the implementation of the CASTALAC I1 recommendations Section 3.1 Section 3.2 Section 3.3 Section 3.4 Chapter IV Chapter V 5. Chapter I reviews the development of science and technology policies in the countries of the Latin America and Caribbean region in the past decade, drawing mainly on a study of national reports and documents of the meetings of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean. At the national level the general trends of these policies are considered with reference mainly to some of the

6 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 3 major issues involved. At the regional level, the progress made in scientific and technological co-operation is recorded and this co-operation is reviewed in greater detail for three subregions, the Andean subregion, the Central American Isthmus and the Caribbean subregion. 6. Chapter I1 deals with 'Science, technology and rural development', which the sixth meeting of the Standing Conference (La Paz, 1981) recommended should be the main theme of CASTALAC 11. After defining the institutional framework and reviewing, from a general point of view, the socio-cultural, economic and environmental aspects, the impact of science and technology on the rural society and its environment are reviewed, and the impact of scientific and technological inputs on rural development are described. The last part of this chapter deals with science and technology policy for integrated rural development and presents a series of research activities geared to such integrated rural development. A major contribution to the main line of emphasis of this subject was the seminar on 'Science, Technology and Rural Development', held in Lima, Peru, in 1983, at the suggestion of the sixth meeting of the Standing Conference. That seminar was convened by the National Council of Science and Technology of Peru, under the auspices of Unesco at the request of the Governments of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. 7. Chapter I11 deals solely with those governmental instruments and mechanisms of science and technology policy that appear in the agenda of CASTALAC 11. They were selected mainly on the basis of suggestions made by the Standing Conference at its seventh meeting, according to their relevance to the scientific and technological development of the countries of the region: The first of these specific problems was that of the acquisition and application of technologies. The legal, institutional and commercial aspects of the transfer of foreign technology have been widely debated in recent years.'therefore more attention is given here to the substantive aspects of the problem and to the policies to be implemented in this area, with special reference to the criteria of selecting technologies, their harmonious insertion in the society, the training of operating personnel, national and international mobility of scientific researchers and the social and ecological environment required for the lasting operation of the technologies transferred. Funding mechanisms, both those used by the governments in connection with national scientific and technological activities, and procedures designed to promote and encourage technological development in the various productive sectors of the economy, are examined next. The machinery for concertation and negotiation between the individuals and organizations called upon to take part in the preparation and formulation of science and technology policies constitutes another of the sections of Chapter 111. The role of the individual scientific researcher is examined in particular under this head. The last section of this chapter specifies both conceptual approaches and aspects, as well as the methods of evaluating the efficiency of research institutions and units. 8. Chapter IV is devoted mainly to highli,ghting the importance of training and research in the area of science and technology policies, and to presenting the work being done by Unesco in this field. The world directory of training

7 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 4 and research units in the fields of science and technology policies, published by Unesco, underlines the interest shown in this subject in the Latin America and Caribbean region; it is therefore useful to review the possibilities of regional co-ordination through a network of these units, as well as conceptual harmonization of the work of similar networks promoted by Unesco in other regions of the world. 9. Lastly, Chapter V of this working-document presents, in a concise manner, information on the activities of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean, including a description of its working method and a selection of the main subjects discussed. At the same time, the impact which its activity seems to have had on the establishment, development or upgrading of science and technology policies in the countries of the region is discussed and an account is given of the recommendations adopted by the sixth meeting of the Standing Conference in evaluating its own activities. It will be the CASTALAC I1 Conference which will decide on the future performance guidelines.of this regional intergovernmental mechanism and its part in following up CASTALAC This main working document for the Conference CASTALAC I1 was drafted by the Unesco Consultants, Dr Andres PBrez Masid and Dr Rub& E. Zeida, as well as Dr Yvan de Hemptinne, Director of Unesco's Division of Science and Technology Policies. 11. In preparing this text, all the documents related to the successive meetings of the Standing Conference have been used as well as those for meetings or seminars organized by Unesco in the region, and a series of studies - also carried out or promoted by Unesco - about the target issues of CASTALAC 11. The Vienna Programme of Action has also been taken into account. Lastly, the text has been revised in the light of the contributions made by the experts who were invited in their personal capacity by Unesco to take part in the following subregional consultations in preparation for CASTALAC 11: in Guatemala (1-5 October 19841, for the Central American Isthmus; in Bogotd (8-12 October 19841, for the Andean subregion; in Buenos Aires (15-17 October 1984), for Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Paraguay and Uruguay; in Port-of-Spain (5-7 November 1984), for the Caribbean subregion. 12. One important matter of a general nature, to which the subregional meetings preparatory to CASTALAC I1 called particular attention, is the fact that some countries in the region have only a nascent scientific and technological development and very scarce resources, which means that the observations, considerations and recommendations ordinarily put forward on the basis of the situation prevailing in most of the countries do not apply to them. The view was expressed that CASTALAC I1 should be aware of this fact and, in its discussions and resolutions, should take into account the situation and needs of such countries. 13. In addition to this main working document, the results of the meeting of experts in Lima, Peru, in preparation for CASTALAC 11, as well as various reference documents will be made available to the participants at CASTALAC I1 by Unesco. Furthermore, in the conference room there will be a set of the relevant publications and documentation on the issues to be dealt with, for consultation by the participants.

8 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Lastly, a summary of the substantive themes that will be considered and discussed by the Conference is contained in the 'Annotated Agenda', document SC-85/CASTALAC II/1 Add.

9 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 7 CHAPTER I TRENDS IN THE EVOLUTION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY IN THE COUNTRIES OF LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN SINCE At the national level 15. As a result of industrialization based on import substitution and the winds of change stirred by the University Reform of the first third of the century, by the 1950s there were already a number of study groups, attached basically to universities and business enterprises which were acutely aware of the need for close and effective links between scientific and technological activities on the one hand and the activities of local university and productive sectors on the other. The study groups and panels then in existence generated many ideas which, with the passage of time and thanks to their airing at international meetings, have since spread to other world regions. Mention should be made, inter alia, of a series of works varying in the degree of their originality: systemic approaches to scientific and technological development; the role of the State in the linkage between scientific-technological and productive infrastructures (Sdbato triangle); impact of foreign investment on autonomous technological development; theories and models of technological dependency; implicit and explicit science and technology policies; future-oriented studies in science and technology; legislation on technology imports and payment of royalties; legislation on State programming of technological development projects; utilization of State purchasing power; breakdown of 'technological packages'; selection of 'core' and 'marginal' technologies; implementation of financing systems and functional budgeting for scientific and technological activities; mechanisms for self-reliance programming of technological development. 16. These ideas, generated in Latin America, together with the critical analysis of models and ideas originating in the more developed countries, have been fully discussed in the regional forums convened by Unesco, and many of them gave rise to actions and trends that are perfectly in keeping with the region's approach to these problems. Those trends most worthy of mention are

10 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 8 set out briefly in the section below. The sections that follow go into greater details concerning some of the lines of emphasis that have helped to delineate the areas within which scientific and technological policies should exert their action. General trends 17. There is a persistent trend towards, and interest in, the institutionalization of science and technology policy formulation at the highest functional level of the State: the functions of planning and decision-making and interministerial co-ordination and management of the development of science and technology (S&T) are assigned to the highest levels of executive and legislative powers. The result is that practically all the countries in the region have now created individually or jointly (for example the Caribbean countries), a special body to perform these functions fully or partially; in some cases instead of creating a new body they have assigned these functions to an already existing one. 18. This institutionalization is frequently based on a 'horizontal' approach to administrative integration, in which all the executive units engaged in scientific and technological activity, regardless of their administrative location or the origin of their financial resources (public or private), form a National Science and Technology System. In some countries this systems approach has been incorporated into standard setting instruments which regulate the procedures for the formulation and application of S&T policies. 19. There is a manifest desire for effective integration of scientific and technological development with economic and social development at the national level; the conceptual framework customarily adopted for this purpose is the 'systems approach', which tends to integrate STAs (scientific and technological activities) with those of the education system and those of the system producing goods and services. Thus, national development plans tend to contain, to a far greater extent than at the beginning of the 1970s a full chapter devoted exclusively to overall S&T policy, without prejudice to the inclusion of specific S&T measures in the various socio-economic sectors covered by the national development plan. However, the solutions advanced have enjoyed varying degrees of success, due to the influence of short-term economic considerations, and to the serious financial crisis which has affected the region in recent years. These have impeded scientific creativity and national progress. 20. One of the mechanisms most widely used in the region to facilitate the integration of S&T development into national and regional development plans has been that of the methods for the selection of priority areas in science and technology, such as the matrix method developed by Unesco and that sponsored by the OAS. Because of the short time needed for their application, and the close ties that they can establish between scientists and planners, these methods can be used to advantage whenever there is a desire to enlist S&T for economic and social development. In point of fact, Unesco's matrix method has been widely used in the region (in Argentina, Colombia, Costa Rica, the Dominican Republic and Peru). 21. The need to guarantee statibility and creative and professional freedom for scientists and technologists has been stressed in various forums, since these freedoms are essential not only for the development of the national S&T potential, but for its survival. Science and technology are not only essential parts of the education system but, in the developing countries, basically the

11 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 9 first phase of the productive cycle. Science and technology policy should therefore be concerned not only with the postgraduate training of high-level manpower, but also with the introduction of S&T into the productive sector. The creation of jobs for scientists and technicians, as well as the establishment of incentive mechanisms for technological development in the private or public productive sectors, must thus be encouraged. This last point is of fundamental importance if the brain drain from developing to more developed countries is to be reduced to a minimum, thus ensuring a better utilization of the country's own human resources. 22. The slowing down of the outflow of professionals and technicians and the reduction of underemployment of such personnel in their own countries which is a continuing source of concern for many of them, is directly related to improvements in working conditions. Some countries have adopted, on the basis of the 'Recommendation on the status of scientific researchers' approved by the General Conference of Unesco in 1974, specific measures to bring about greater stability for their scientists and technicians, such as the official recognition of 'scientific researcher' as a profession, 'scholarships programmes integrated in R&D projects' and the provision of various incentives for researchers. Obviously, the establishment of research as a career is dependent upon the degree of development of the scientific community in a given country. 23. Regulation and control of the importation or transfer of foreign technology from abroad has been and remains a source of grave concern in the region. The countries that are members of the Cartagena Agreement Board (Junta del Acuerdo de Cartagena - JUNAC) have made noteworthy pioneering efforts in this regard. One of this Board's first steps was to establish machinery and legislative provisions to introduce such regulation. Many other countries of the region have followed the lead of the Cartagena Agreement Board and included similar provisions in their development plan with a view to rationalizing the importation of technology, creating better conditions for its' selection and adaptation to national needs, encouraging the diversification of technology sources and laying down contract norms, thus avoiding terms that would be burdensome or prejudicial to the interests of the recipient countries. 24. considerable emphasis has been laid on the establishment of scientific and technological information and documentation systems, especially from the point of view of improving the quality of the technological information available to the productive sector. The purpose of.this has been to reduce the cost of selecting, purchasing and adapting technology and to encourage existing or potential local expertise. This is the principal function of the local and international consultation networks and systems, many of which were set up with the assistance of international agencies. Within the ambit of the region there are, for example, the Latin American Technological Information Network (RITLA), sponsored by the Latin American Economic System (SELA), and the Andean Technological Information System (SAIT), promoted by the Board of the Cartagena Agreement Group (JUNAC). 25. A considerable effort has been made in many countries of the region to promote and strengthen local consulting and engineering services. Furthermore, action has been taken to improve the management of technology in the productive sectors. In this connection, the OAS programme on technological management deserves special mention.

12 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Another feature of the region has been its pioneering work in the use of the purchasing power of State institutions and enterprises as a motive force' in local scientific and technological development. Many countries have adopted provisions which have the effect of guaranteeing greater involvement of local industry in the supplying of items needed by the State (buy-local laws) and arrangements for credit on preferential terms have also been made to finance the necessary investments. Special regulations have also been established to prevent large infrastructural investment projects from leading to single block or package acquisitions ('turnkey' or 'package deal' investments) without first being broken down in order to separate the 'core technologies' from the 'marginal technologies', thus making it easier to involve national industries. The regulations and manuals for the breakdown of technological packages in the areas of petrochemicals and electricity drafted and applied by the Cartagena Agreement Board deserve mention for their innovative character. 27. In recent years, as a consequence of the pioneering activities of the region in this field, there is a widespread desire to introduce the variable of S&T explicitly into national budgets in order to give greater stimulus to the use of the State resources, which constitute the principal source of financing for scientific and technological activities. Thus was applied the concept of 'functional budgeting for S&T activities' which Unesco has since promoted in other developing regions, although its use has been less successful than in the Latin American and Caribbean region. 28. In accordance with recommendations of Unesco and the OAS, surveys of national scientific and technological potential have been carried out in the majority of the countries, along internationally established lines. Unesco's annual statistical collection of data on human and financial resources devoted to scientific and technological activities, as well as efforts made in the Andean subregion to standardize and integrate national systems for the gathering of S&T data, should also be mentioned in this connection. All the countries have demonstrated a clear commitment to having as clear a picture as possible for their potential in this sphere, since on it depend their chances of integrating their scientific research and their production sectors in an effective way. Countries which lack the scientific and technological potential to be able to take part in the processes of selection of technologies are especially dependent on the outside world. 29. Permanent statistics accruing from the National Surveys on S&T potential show a considerable growth in the volume of human resources in the region employed in S&T activities. According to the majority of documentary sources, this increase in the number of S&T professionals is more the consequence of the increase in university enrolment which has occurred in recent decades as a result of the application of particular education policies, than the consequence of policies adopted in the area of S&T. 30. In recent years, essentially in the countries with the most highly developed organizational infrastructures in science and technology, and also within subregional agencies, there has been a marked tendency towards the creation, preferably in the university sector, of groups devoted to teaching and research on science and technology policy and administration of scientific research. The region has also pioneered the institutionalization of such groups and the definition and elaboration of 'training modules' for use in systematic courses for officials and administrators connected with the management of S&T policy.

13 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The objectives of development in science and technology vary, as is to be expected, from country to country. Nevertheless, the region's particular situation permits certain common features to be identified. The search for new sources of energy, innovative industrial processes generating increases in employment, microelectronics, biotechnology, better utilization and conservation of natural resources, and the improvement of everything connected with the quality of life, appear as priorities in the majority of the development plans of the countries of the region. Some of them also give attention to more sophisticated areas, such as nuclear and space research. 32. Finally, all the countries have shown an interest in active participation in programmes and plans for international bilateral or multilateral co-operation to which reference will be made in section 1.2. Governmental structures 33. Many countries of the region have set up agencies or units that fit into one of the first two functional levels of the classification of governmental structures devoted to the management of science and technology policy. Firstlevel agencies are those responsible for formulating policies,. plans and programmes of national scope, as well as those concerned with the collection of data on national scientific and technological potential, budgeting and financing at the national level, and interministerial co-ordination; on the other hand, second-level agencies are basically concerned with the direct promotion of research by providing grants and assistance to researchers. 34. The first agencies created in the region, following the models devised in the more developed countries, were those of the second level, in which decisions were taken by the most eminent scientists in each country. Later, some firstlevel agencies were created, composed or the most part of professionals specializing in S&T planning methodologies, and these, logically directed their efforts towards integrating all STAs - not only those concerned with R&D - into national socio-economic development plans. This specific widening of the scope of these agencies has combined with other factors to produce changes in their nomenclature, since 'science and technology' has superseded 'scientific and technological research'. What is more, in many publications, these agencies are designated by the Spanish acronym ONCYT signifying national science and technology body, or national scientific and technological policy-making body. 35. In Latin America and the Caribbean these bodies of course appeared several decades after those of Europe and the United States; nevertheless, the situation has improved quite rapidly in the course of the last 20 years (see Table 1). Before 1960, institutions of this type existed in only three countries of the region: Mexico (1950), Brazil (1951) and Argentina (1958). In the 1960s eight countries set up national research councils or bodies with similar functions: Bolivia (1960), Jamaica (1960), Uruguay (1961), Chile (1967), Venezuela (1967), Peru (1968), Trinidad and Tobago (1968) and Colombia (1968). In more recent years new bodies have been created: Mexico (1970, to replace the body created in 1950), Costa Rica (19721, Guyana (1974), Cuba (19741, Ecuador (1978), Grenada (1978) and Peru (1981, to replace the body set up in 1968). In Brazil,' a Ministry of Science and Technology was created in The initiative in the creation of ONCYTs in the region came often from the scientific community. Many of them have been run basically by scientists, although in recent years representatives of ministries responsible or STAs have begun to intervene in ONCYT decisions. In other cases the initiative has been taken by the socio-economic planning sector and has given rise to the creation of S&T units within the Ministries of Planning or Economics. In no case has there been any private sector involvement.

14 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 12 Table NO 1 NATIONAL BODIBS CONCKRNED WITH OVKRALL POLICY AND PROWTION OF SCJKNTIPIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES COUNTRIES ARGENTINA CKNTRAL Uinistry or State Secretariat : SKCONACYl : SUBCYT : SECYT : SUBCYT OVKRALL POLICY (1.53' PUNCTIONAL LEVEL) IINISTRATION 1 Branch of Minimtry or Office of Plmning 1982 : SUBCYT DKCKNTRALIZKD ADMINISTRATION Autonamous Boq : CONICET 'ROMOTION (ZND PUNCTIONAL LWEI DECENTRALIZED ADIUNISTMTION 1958 : CONICET BARBADOS : NCST BDLIVIA : DICYT : ACADEMIA BRAZIL : MINCET : CNDCT : CNDCT(* : CNPq : CND~T (*) CHILE 1967 : CONICYT : CONICYT COLOKBIA la68 : COLCIWCI : COLCIENCIAS COSTA RICA : DECYT : SECYT : CONICIT : CONICIT CUBA : CNT : ACADKHIA DOMINICAN REPUBLI : UNICYT XCUADOR : DICYT : CONACYT EL SALVAWR : DECYT GRENADA : NSC 1980 : NSTC 1980 : NSTC GUATEUALA : DECYT GUYANA : NSRC : NSRC HAITI : OPITEC HONDURAS : DECYT JAMICA : OST : SRC HEXICO : CONACYT : CONACYT (**I NICARAGUA : UNICYT : DICYT PANAMA : DECYT PARAGUAY(***) PERU : CNI : CONCYTEC : CONCYTEC TRINIDAD L TOBACO : NSAC URUGUAY : CONICYT VENEZUELA : HINCYT : DSm (*) The CNDCT 1 razi1 keeps the acronym or the old CNPq (**I The first ONCYT of llcxico wac cre-ted in 1950 (***I There are no npecific agencies for ShT policy or prmotion : CONICYT : CONICYT : PINTEC Sources : - Natlonal reports prepared by participants in the Fourth, Fifth and Sixt Meetings of tbe Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin herlca and the Caribbean. - Informations caamunicated verbally by participants in the subreglonal consultations in preparation for CASTALAC 11.

15 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The activities of the ONCYTs have almost always had their origin in an effort to lend support to the scientific infrastructure of the countries; later they spread to the fields of S&T policy-making, with growing stress on technological aspects in order to promote overall integration of the national S&T systems. Their functions have traditionally been the following: (a) management of national and foreign scholarship programmes; (b) allocation of grants to researchers and research institutes (generally for specific projects); (c) organization and maintenance of services (especially scientific documentation services); (d) application of measures to improve the working conditions of researchers, either through topping-up of salaries or recognition of the profession of scientific researcher; (e) carrying out of basic studies; (f) organization of scientific meetings; (9) assistance in printing and distributing scientific and technical publications; (h) action to sensitize governments and public opinion on the need to support scientific and technological activities (STAs); (i) promotion of international scientific relations and participation in international co-operation programmes; (j) explicit inclusion of S&T in national development plans. 38. Several ONCYTs have also promoted improvements in higher education and in science teaching at the secondary level. Some of them have established, or support, laboratories or research centres, many of which have become centres of excellence. Almost all the ONCYTs have set up scientific and technical information services. 39. All these activities were basically intended to create a 'critical mass' of researchers, to develop an infrastructure for scientific and technological activities, to strengthen links with other countries, disseminate information on problems in scientific research and create a national awareness of the importance of scientific and technological activities (STAS) for the future of the countries of the region. 40. However, the work of the ONCYTs has been limited by various factors. One of these has been the insufficiency of the financial resources. Another has been the framework in which they were required to operate: on the one hand a, relatively young scientific tradition and an insufficient awareness of the value of science as a factor in cultural, social and economic development; on the other, the difficulties encountered by the national development plans within which a scientific policy might have been defined, as well as the limited ability of the national productive system to generate a strong enough demand for science, and basically for local technology. To these must be added

16 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 14 the fact that the administrative or functional place of these bodies in the institutional structure of the State often has not permitted their timely and effective intervention in government decision-making in the area of science and technology policy. There are indeed innumerable decisions of a budgetary nature (for example, allocations for university establishments, overall budget cuts) or decisions related to management of production (laws governing foreign investment, export promotion, regulation of contracts for transfer of technology, etc.), which can have a serious effect on the development of endogenous science and technology, but which generally remained outside the field of action of the ONCYTs. 41. Although in many cases the basic laws and statutes of the ONCYTs assigned them the function of advising governments in matters relating to the development of research and experimental development (R&D), as well as scientific and technological services (STS), this function has apparently been exercised only to a very limited degree. These laws or statutes gave them the power, in various cases, to formulate national R&D development plans; but when such plans have been elaborated, they have basically reflected the point of view of the scientific community. Thus the ONCYTs of the region have not managed to elaborate or implement scientific and technology policies, fully identifiable with the socio-economic development needs for their respective countries. 42. In the past, these ONCYTs have been virtually isolated from the other elements which compose the national reality - particularly those concerned with economic production, with which they ought to have had a relationship of flexible and fruitful intercommunication. There has not been sufficient concern for the vertical transfer of the knowledge generated within the country, with or without the assistance of the ONCYTs, and therefore the machinery has not been established to ensure that the results of local research find appropriate applications or give rise to innovation, or are transmitted to those bodies or sectors capable of developing them and putting them to use. Consequently, their impact on the economy, or their contribution to the solution of social problems or to other aspects of the country's life, has been poor. In some countries concern for research of a sectoral nature developed early and S&T agencies of the second or third functional level linked to their respective productive sectors, have been set up (for example, institutes of industrial technology, of agriculture and livestock technology, of nuclear technology, etc.). 43. Efforts have been made in various countries of the region to institutionalize the central agency responsible for overall S&T policy, either by making significant changes in the already existing agencies, or by creating new bodies (see Table No. 1). 44. These efforts to create agencies that would operate at the lsel of overall scientific and technological policy and not only at the level of more or less specifically oriented sectoral promotion of R&D, have given rise to a variety of problems. The first is the problem of where the ONCYT is to be situated in the institutional structure of government. In some countries it has been linked administratively with the agency responsible for national socioeconomic development planning (in Brazil, for example, the 'Conselho Nacional de Pesquisas' was transformed into the 'Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Cientifico e Tecnologico' and given its administrative place in the Planning Secretariat of the Office of the President of the Republic; the same was recently done in Argentina with the Under-Secretariat of Science and Technology). In any event, a structure has always been seen as essential to

17 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 15 situate the ONCYT in an institutional framework so that it can influence, as was mentioned above, government decision-making affecting the normal development of scientific and technological activities. To this effect, in many countries of the region it has been considered advisable to place it in direct relationship either withtheoffice of the President of the Republic or with the Prime Minister, or else with the Cabinet. But there still are countries in which the agency responsible for science and technology policy remains under a sectoral ministry, as in the case of Colombia and Chile, and this can obviously limit its sphere of action. In some countries, such as Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Mexico and Venezuela, institutional ties have been established with government departments. 45. In countries that have chosen to set up an S&T unit or department within the national planning agency, a direct administrative link has been established between those responsible for the formulation of objectives and programmes in science and technology and those responsible for the national development plan. Though this alternative shows the importance that the national planning body attributes to S&T, this type of organization cannot accomplish tasks comparable to those of a 'research council' unless one of the following conditions is met: that the unit in question work in close collaboration with the scientific community, preferably through the promotion and co-ordination body of that community (if such exists); or that, if no such body exists yet, the unit have among its staff some scientists and technologists familiar with the problems of R&D and capable of establishing effective relations of co-operation with the local scientific community. 46. Another important question has been whether a single body could continue, as had been the case up to the 1970s, to handle first-level functions, for example, advising the government on matters of science policy such as the setting of goals, determination of priorities, and allocation of budgetary resources, as well as second-level functions such as multisectoral promotion of research and direct support to researchers; or whether they should be entrusted to two different bodies. 47. This second option was the one adopted in Argentina towards the end of 1968, with the creation of the Secretariat of the National Council for Science and Technology (SECONACYT) to which first-level functions were assigned; however, those of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research, created in 1958, were not modified, and the latter retained its original first- and second-level functions. This situation gave rise to conflicts which persisted for many years. In Colombia, also, two bodies were created: the National Council for Science and Technology as a government consultative body for everything related to scientific and technological development policy, and the Colombian Scientific Research Fund (COLCIENCIAS) as an institution for the promotion and co-ordination of such development, though in practice, COLCIENCIAS assumed the functions of both. Something similar occurred in Venezuela, where the S&T Commission was created at presidential level, and then absorbed by the Ministry of the same name, in spite of the existence of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Research. Costa Rica, too, created in 1978 a Department of Science and Technology of the Office of Planning (now transformed into the Ministry of Planning) parallel to the National Council far Scientific and Techriatogical Pesearch (CONICIT I

18 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page In the other countries of the region, the decision has been to entrust to one agency the functions of both levels. Nevertheless these countries recognize the advisability of having an ONCYT of the first functional level, and of a political nature, with easy access to the deliberations of the executive branch in which problems with a direct or indirect effect on scientific and technological development are dealt with. 49. With reference to the institutions and mechanisms for the formulation of national policy in the field of science and technology, it should be remembered that the legislative arm also plays an important role in this field, either by passing laws to regulate various aspects of it (national budget, transfer of technology, foreign investment, export of technology, etc.), or as a financial watch-dog. Various countries of Latin America have created special commissions or committees for science and technology in recent years within the different legislative organs. In some federal countries the States or provinces have created their own science and technology policy bodies. 50. As a result of the action of the ONCYTs over the last ten years in the direction of establishing cross-institutional policies and co-ordination machinery, a clear tendency has emerged in the region to integrate all S&T activities, and consequently all the resources they involve (human, institutional, financial, material and informational) within an 'Overall S&T System' capable of operating in a cohesive way, with a high level of internal co-ordination and in concert with other government policies and agencies, especially with the economic and social sectors. 51. National Science and Technology Systems are mentioned in the documents of many countries of the region; in some of these countries, such as Bolivia, Brazil and Ecuador, these systems have been regulated by means of executive decrees which define them as the political-institutional structure, or complex of structures, capable of putting into practice the science and technology policy laid down by the government. Hence the system comprises not only the units at all functional levels responsible for the formulation, co-ordination and implementation of S&T activities, but also all the relationships and mechanisms which link them together. The unitary conception of the system obviously presupposes some co-ordinating action on the part of the ONCYT. 52. Efforts have likewise been made to co-ordinate the National Science and Technology System effectively with the Educational System and the Productive System (goods and services) thereby giving rise to the 'systems approach or model' in which the functions of education, science and technology, and the production of goods and services all dovetail with one another: the educatbnal function turns out the qualified human resources (by means of the systematization and transmission of existing knowledge) that are needed to carry on the S&T and the other functions; the S&T function generates new knowledge and finds new uses for existing knowledge; and fie other functions link with the production of goods and services needed by society.

19 SC-8S/CASTALAC II/3 - page In this systems approach the S&T function comprises the following types of activity : planning and general administration of S&T activities; postgraduate training of scientists and technologists in R&D; research and experimental development (R&D); transfer of scientific and technological knowledge,; scientific and technological services (STS) in support of R&D and production activities. Incorporation of 'science and technology' into the National Development Plan 54. In those countries where the systems approach has been applied, scientific and technological activities have been expressly included in national development plans, under a special heading or section of a general nature. This has not prevented the inclusion of specific scientific and technological activities under headings relating to the social and economic sectors. But the concrete and positive fact is that in recent years a strong tendency has emerged towards including Science and Technology Activities (STA) clearly and explicitly in such plans, though it should be pointed out that their implementation has been poor and their evaluation non-existent. Additionally, many countries, through their ONCYTs, have developed specific Science and Technology plans or programmes which have often fitted in with the objectives, policies, plans and strategies outlined at the national level. Moreover, it should be remembered that a real scientific and technological development plan entails not only requirements of its own but must be designed for time horizons broader than those of economic and social development, since that type of development is generally planned on the basis of 'known technology'. 55. By way of illustration, the columns in Table No. 2, under the heading 'In the National Development Plan', show the periods covered by the different overall national development plans and the treatment of Science and Technology within them, whether it is to deal with: (a) in a chapter devoted specifically to science and technology but of a general character, and with specific actions in other chapters (nine countries) ; (b) only in a specific chapter (five countries); or (c) as specific actions within the socio-economic sectors of the plan ( 12 countries). 56. The last column in Table No. 2 shows the countries which have prepared separate development plans for S&T. Brazil in particular has been enabled by the continuity in time of its planning agencies to draw up three consecutive science and technology development plans, covering the whole of the period Some countries, like Colombia, have also advanced in medium-term sectoral programming I thereby effectively including science and technology more and more in the areas of production.

20 SC-B5/CASTALAC II/3 - page 18 Table NO 2 PLANNING OF NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY (the figurer indicate the periods covered by the rerpective PlMr) COUNTRIES I IN T Specif ic Chapter with explicit actionr in other chapter8 NATIONAL DEVELOPIIENI Only in a rpecific chapter LAN Only an explicit actionr in other chapter0 IN A SPECIFIC SCIWCE AND TECHNOLOGY PLAN OR PROGRAMME ARGENTINA BARBAWS BOLIVIA BRAZIL CHILE COLOMBIA COSTA RICA cu BA ECUADOR EL SALVADOR GUATPULWI GUYANA , ; ; j_ * ' : ; ; HAITI (+) HONDURAS KEXICO NICARAGUA P A " PARAGUAY PERU WMINICAN REPUBLI( URUGUAY VPiEZUELA ; ; ; ; (+I No information available Source - National reports by countriee participating in the 4th. 5th. and 6th neetinge of the Standing Conference of Directors of National Councile for Science and Technology Policy of Latin America and the Caribbean. - Informatione communicated verbally by participante in the sub-regional conaultationa in preparation for CASTALAC 11.

21 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page It may thus be concluded that over the past decade significant progress has been achieved in the region with respect to the integration of science and technology policy with national development planning. This progress is reflected in clearer perception of the problem and a greater understanding of its political and practical implications. There are obviously different levels of progress in the region, owing to differences in levels of economic, political, social and cultural development. 58. All the development plans containing specific chapters for science and technology make provision for their integration with the educational and productive systems; often this involves economic measures such as the introduction of fiscal, customs or tariff exemptions, or regulations defining priority areas and creating specific schedules for training or education programmes, etc. 59. On the other hand, it has gradually come to be realized in the region that full integration of science and technology policy with national development planning and action requires an increasingly diversified network of institutions to carry out complex functions and tasks, involving education, the development of scientific and technological infrastructure, the creation and adaptation of technology, and the selection, evaluation and control of technology transfer. In this complex of institutions national science and technology policy-making bodies play a key role, though not an exclusive one, for they must co-ordinate their actions with those of other public agencies, the universities and the productive sector. 60. Proper integration of science and technology with development plans calls for a systems approach, and should help to reduce two anomalies which have been endemic in the region: (a) the emigration of scientists and technologists to other countries or their switch to other activities within the same' country, with a resultant wastage of investment to produce specialized human resources; and (b) the unnecessary and burdensome importation of technologies. Both of these constitute an obvious waste of investment in the area of science and technology. Importation and transfer of foreign technology 61. This has been one of the most debated questions in the region over the last decade, but it is clear that significant progress has been made towards coping with it. The essential aim was to reduce the needless importation of technologies which either were available in the country or could be developed locally using precisely the national science and technology infrastructure. In order to achieve that reduction there has been a tendency to promulgate legal provisions of an essentially restrictive nature, and even to set up national agencies to control and regulate the transfer of technology. Noteworthy in this regard are the initiatives taken by the Board of the Cartagena Agreement Group (Decisions 24, 84, 85, etc.). Section 3.1 of this document deals more fully with these problems.

22 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 20 Explicit integration of science and technology into the national budget 62. In almost all the countries of the region, the national scientific and technological potential, composed fundamentally of human and institutional resources devoted to scientific and technological activities, is concentrated in the public sector. It should be pointed out that in many countries in the region, most universities are financed- directly or indirectly by the State. Almost all research and experimental development institutions and those providing public services likewise belong to the public sector. Many enterprises manufacturing products from local raw materials also belong to the State or are subsidized by it. Therefore the State is generally the principal source of financing for scientific and technological activities. 63. It is therefore obvious that the State must play a leading role in the formulation, promotion and implementation of national science and technology policy, and also that the State budget must necessarily constitute the principal instrument for the adequate application of this policy. 64. However, it is not always possible to achieve that goal, because of the difficulty in correlating the objectives of the national development plan or those of the plan for scientific and technological development with the resources allocated in the budget; nor is it easy to carry out budget analyses to try to pick out the allocations really intended for scientific and technological activities, because generally such allocations are invisible or inexplicit and scattered throughout general sectoral or institutional appropriations. This is true, for example, of allocations for scientific or technological research included in university budgets. 65. The reasons for the lack of explicit provision or science and technology in national budgets must be sought, on the one hand, in the low priority assigned to scientific and technological activities by government policymakers up to about ten years ago and, on the other, to budgetary procedures not suited to activities of a cross-institutional or horizontal nature (such as science and technology) or to allocations by programme on the basis of objectives. It must also be recognized that the ONCYTs had not concerned themselves with analysing the budgetary cycle, either with a view to identifying S&T allocations, or to developing an 'indicator' which, at the beginning of every budgetary period, might give direct information concerning the total of the resources devoted by the State to 'science and technology' and their distribution among the various institutions. 66. The survey carried out by Unesco in 1977 showed that some countries had already done original work along these lines and had managed to identify the S&T function in their functional budgeting: Argentina (19721, Brazil (19771, Colombia (19771, for example. These efforts were then recognized by the other countries of the region during the fifth meeting of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies, and a recommendation was adopted on the subject which was then extended to other regional meetings also sponsored by Unesco; this recommendation encouraged the explicit inclusion of 'science and technology' as a first-level function in national budgeting. Formulation of objectives and measures for action 67. In the documents on science and technology planning, whether they relate specifically to 'science and technology' or are chapters or sections in general development plans, there are clearly two groups of objectives, policies and courses of action: those relating to the harmonious and integrated functioning

23 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 21 of the National Science and Technology System, and those which relate to the particular socio-economic sectors that each country considers to be relatively more important than others. It is easy to make comparisons and classifications within the first group of objectives, but this is not possible with the second, unless the priority sectors - agriculture, fishing, mining, nuclear energy, new sources of energy, biotechnology, electronics, etc. - are very similar from one country to another. 68. As regards the first group, two general objectives stand out which, in practice form the nucleus of all the rest, and various instrumental measures for the ONCYTs. Obviously, no account has been taken either of those objectives which are too abstract and general, or of those which clearly do not belong within the framework of science and technology policy, although it must be admitted that they may have extremely negative effects. 69. These two objectives mentioned are: (a) to strengthen the scientific and technological infrastructure, qualitatively and quantitatively, enough to improve self-sufficiency in decision-making and in the generation of new knowledge or new uses for existing knowledge, as well as to improve the capacity to seek, select, negotiate, assimilate and adapt exogenous technologies and knowledge; (b) to improve the integration of science and technology with economic and social development in order to help to improve the quality of life of the whole population, especially that of the more socially and economically underprivileged sectors. 70. As regards practical measures and courses of action, they can be classifield as follows: (a) those of a general nature; (b) those relating to human resources; (c) those relating to scientific an; technological services, and particularly to information services; (d) those relating to technological innovation. 71. The measures of a general nature are as follows:. -_ (a) linking scientific and technological activities more closely with the objectives and goals of social and economic development; (b) formulating medium- and long-term plans and programmes for scientific and technological development, adjustable from year to year, which will guarantee continuity of orientation and of the inputs necessary,for the achievement of the established goals; (c) making explicit provision in annual national budgets for the allocations necessary to ensure that these 'science and technology' plans and programmes are put into effect;

24 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 22 identifying explicitly in the annual functional budget of the State all the allocations intended for scientific and technological activities, enumerating them by institution and by programme, project and activity; reinforcing the role and functions of the national scientific and technological policy-making body to enable it to carry out more efficiently its role of nexus between the scientific-technological community and the structure of government; establishing mechanisms for dialogue between the different public and private institutions participating in the national development of science and technology, thereby enabling them to contribute to the elaboration of the above-mentioned plans and programmes; establishing and strengthening financial machinery for assistance to the productive sector, both public and private, in order to increase the number of posts available for scientists and technologists developing technological innovations; sponsoring the use of methodologies which can be used to break down scientific and technological requirements on the basis of the objectives of economic and social development; making periodic inventories of national scientific and technological potential; preparing programmes, to be broadcast through the mass media in order to improve the general public's understanding of different facets of the connections between science and technology, development and society, and the social application of technological innovations; making adequate use of international co-operation, both multilateral and bilateral, as a complement to national actions and programmes. 72. The practical measures relating to human resources are: establishing or strengthening machinery for support and career recognition for scientific researchers in order to ensure adequate continuity and career structure in research work; establishing rewards in terms of prestige and money for the best scientific and technological work; strengthening manpower training programmes for research and development ar.d in particular promoting activities and courses which favour the development of creativity and the utilization of scientif ic methods ; co-ordinating high-level scholarship and manpower training programmes with research and development programmes in order to ensure that the knowledge acquired is applied and the trained researchers can continue to work, thus minimizing the harmful effects of the brain drain or of underemployment within the country.

25 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Measures relating to Scientific and Technological Services (STS) are: (a) establishing and strengthening the infrastructures necessary for the development of the STS; (b) organizing and strengthening, in particular, information systems and scientific and technological libraries and documentation centres. 74. Measures to promote endogenous technological innovation are: directing the purchasing power of public enterprises, institutions and entities towards the national scientific and technological system in order to stimulate endogenous national development; in particular, promoting the undertaking of scientific and technological activities by public research institutions, including universities; regulating the import of technology in order to promote the development and use of endogenous technology; encouraging the use of methods of breaking down technological packages or blocks in order to separate the core technologies from the marginal ones; introducing preferential incentives encouraging enterprises to produce exportable technologies in fields where they can compete advantageously. 75. An initial handicap that affects a number of countries in the region is insufficient political support and the consequent paucity of resources of all kinds available for the development of 'science and technology'. In point of fact, and in view of the poor participation of the private sector, almost always for lack of economic motivations or incentives, the State itself has had to promote that development. This however has not always been done by adopting a clear and well-designed position on the relative priority assigned to the development of 'science and technology', with the consequent sanction of legal provisions and the allocation of financial resources. Only after positive decisions have been taken, and once the resources allocated are on a par with the known needs, can restrictions and difficulties begin to diminish. 76. In certain countries of the region constraints arising from insufficient governmental support of scientific and technological development may be aggravated by political factors or lack of interest in supporting research in the human and social sciences. 77. A new difficulty has arisen in recent years owing to the adoption, in some countries of the region, of economic policies that, under the declared pursuit of efficiency, have not been able to avoid difficulties in the productive infrastructure, the flight of capital, unemployment, recession and an acute balance of payments deficit, etc. The next stage, with the usual measures of local currency devaluation and restrictions on expenditures and productive investments in an effort to correct the imbalances, inevitably spells financial problems for the public treasury.

26 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Both periods had unfavourable consequences for scientific and technological activities. During the first, powerful foreign competition discourages local technological development by making it uneconomic; at the same time, the machinery set up favours the importation of unintegrated technologies and of semi-finished and finished goods. On the other hand, the revaluation of the local currency limits exports and hence the possibility of competing technologically abroad. During the second period, the recession is extremely acute and the scientific and technological activities suffer heavily from the financial stringency designed to combat inflation. 79. It is in such periods of crisis that imagination and creativity are called for to deal with new problems and challenges. Scientific and technological activities will probably receive a powerful stimulus as productive activities increase, since rapid adaptation to new needs will require building up and strengthening the research and engineering work-force again. That will be the time to attempt to set in place machinery for greater support of local research activities, in both the public and the private sectors, notwithstanding the uncertainties and vicissitudes of a political and economic nature. 80. These observations apply principally to those countries that have made great efforts in the last 25 years to create and strengthen their scientific and technological infrastructure, and more particularly those that now have technological development centres capable of taking part in the designing, assembling and launching of technological innovations that take advantage of the particular assets of each country. In this regard, prospective studies - especially those conducted with an eye on the technological innovations in the more developed countries - would make it possible to foresee well in advance which forms of national 'science and technology' development would be required in order to catch up by taking intelligent advantage of any opportunities for integration or participation. Furthermore, the current industrial upswing in the more developed countries might give rise to a greater demand --for strategic minerals, raw materials and intermediate products from the region, which, however, along with its positive aspects of influencing prices favourably, could also contribute dangerously towards a certain deindustrialization of the region, unless at the same time its capability of turning out modern manufactured goods were strengthened. 1.2 At the regional and subregional levels Background 81. Despite the major differences between many of the Latin American and Caribbean countries, the other view presented above makes it possible to perceive certain similarities in the way their various science and technology policies have developed, or at least resemblances between specific groups of countries. It is not surprising that repeated attempts have been made to institutionalize scientific and technological co-operation at the multinational level. These attempts have benefited in some instances, from the signing of co-operation or economic integration conventions. 82. On the overall regional level, the oldest initiative is probably that which had its origin in the first Conference on the Application of Science and Technology to the Development of Latin America (CASTALA, Santiago, Chile, 1965). A recommendation was adopted at that Conference requesting the Director- General of Unesco to convene annual meetings of national policy-making bodies

27 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 25 in the field of science and technology, or institutions responsible for research policy. Thus was born the 'Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean' whose achievements and prospects will be discussed in Chapter V of this document. 83. An important event that took place subsequently was the regional Conference on the Application of Science and Technology to Development in Latin America (CACTAL) that was held in Brasilia in 1972, convened by the Organization of American States (OAS), another international body that has been active in promoting the scientific and technological development of the region. Various other bodies have likewise helped to sponsor activities of a regional or subregional nature to encourage scientific and technological development. Noteworthy among these are the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the.economic Commission for Latin America (ECLA), the Board of the Cartagena Agreement Group (JUNAC), the Permanent Executive Secretariat of the 'AndrBs Bello' Agreement (SECAB), the Permanent Secretariat of the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), the Latin American Economic System (SELA), and the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC). These bodies have frequently acted in association with Unesco. The Mexico Declaration (1974) 84. International scientific and technological co-operation has become a major aspect of science and technology policies in all the countries of the region. This was expressly recognized by the Standing Conference which, ten years ago, approved the Mexico Declaration (December 1974) in which it was stated that 'the integration of Latin American countries at the scientific and technological level must favour, in particular sectors of a country, subregion or the region as a whole, the setting up of a creative and innovative capacity, which serves as a dynamic element in the integral development of the "ccmntries"'. It is emphasized that co-operation must strengthen priority scientific and technological areas for Latin American development and must contribute to the creation of regional capabilities, independently determined by the countries of the region, and designed to benefit all these countries, but especially the less developed among them. 85. It is worth while to quote the final paragraphs of the Mexico Declaration since they largely indicate the guidelines and trends followed by national policies concerned with regional co-operation in science and technology during the last decade: 'The instruments of regional co-operation should be founded on basic concepts and objectives commonly accepted by countries of the region. We must therefore have a truly regional philosophy containing a minimum of comn principles on which the means of action and legal provisions governing science and technology are based. These instruments must give priority: to the urgent need to train personnel, especially in those fields in which there currently exists a marked dependency on foreign sources ; to the advisability of increasing the physical capacity of research and development, by means of creating and strengthening centres;

28 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 26 to the orientation and improvement of technological capacity, which could lead inter alia, to the opening up of new markets; to the urgent need for a regular exchange of scientific and technological information among the countries of the region; to the harmonizing of legal provisions relative to the legal registration and use of technologies, industrial property and attitudes towards transnational corporations; to the importance of gaining common access to the greatest possible volume of information on current experiences and facts in connection with the transfer of technology to each of the countries'. The Vienna Programme of Action 86. Five years later analogous ideas emerged at the Vienna Conference (United Nations Conference on Science and Technology for Development, Vienna, 19791, which stressed the importance of endogenous scientific and technological development and co-operation among countries of the same geographic region and subregion. The Vienna Programme of Action defined three major areas of activity: the strengthening of the scientific and technical capacities of developing countries; the restructuring of international relations in the area of science and technology; the strengthening of the role of the United Nations system in the area of scientific and technical co-operation, including the provision of greater financial resources. 87. By the express agreement of its General Conference at its twenty-first session (19801, Unesco decided to lend maximum support to the application of the Vienna Programme of Action. It was recalled in this context that, by virtue of its constitutional mission, its considerable experience gained in the field of science and technology, as well as its privileged relations with the international scientific community, Unesco was the most appropriate institution of the United Nations system and the best equipped to foster the progress of science and technology and its application to development. Despite budgetary limitations, Unesco's financial contribution to its scientific programmes has increased during the past few years. Another important factor is the grouping of some of Unesco's activities within 'major regional projects' for the application of science and technology to development. These projects were started in 1981 and three of them concern Latin America and the Caribbean: major project on research, training and demonstration applied to the integrated management of arid and semi-arid regions ; major regional project on the rational utilization and conservation of water resources in rural areas; major interregional project on research and training leading to the integrated management of coastal systems.

29 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page These projects, as well as the other major regional projects initiated by Unesco, are characterized by their integrated nature and tend to draw together all the activities that fall within Unesco's competence. By means of such projects, co-operation between countries having similar problems is nurtured at the same time. Technical co-operation among developing countries (TCDC) has become an important concept ever since the 1978 United Nations Conference which approved the Buenos Aires Plan of Action. This plan contains recommendations formulated at national, regional and subregional, interregional and international levels. These recommendations seek to promote, reinforce and apply technical cooperation among developing countries by means of a series of clearly defined objectives aimed at improving the endogenous capacity of such countries in the field of science and technology. 89. A study of the application of the Vienna Programme of Action was made early in 1984 at a meeting of an ECLA Committee of Experts on science and technology for development. At that meeting it appeared that progress made in the region since the programme's approval has been slight, and that its full implementation would require greater efforts in order to attain a higher degree of co-ordination and consistency of the activities involved. The Committee took note of the current situation - including the financial, productive and international trade aspects - 'inflicted on the region as a result of a serious economic recession, the rise in inflation deteriorating real income,.and an external debt rate unprecedented in its economic history'. 90. The Committee of Experts proposed the adoption of a series of measures designed to improve substantially the application of the Vienna Programme of Action. Some of these measures are expressly related to regional co-operation: to promotetheuse of horizontal machinery for co-operation among countries in the region, by studying and proposing measures aimed at strengthening mechanisms designed to promote, mobilize and co-ordinate international and, above all, intraregional co-operation, which would help to combine the efforts of all intergovernmental bodies at work in the region within the same pragmatic framework; to identify and choose priorities for Latin America related to the activities in the Operational Plan and in the interdisciplinary scientific and technological fields in which regional study and action must be stressed. Scientific and technological co-operation in the region 91. A comparative study of the reports of the last two meetings of the Standing Conference (in 1978 and 1981 respectively) reveals that, during this period, scientific and technological co-operation in the region increased. At times, this increase was due to the initiative taken by the countries themselves, and at other times it was the result of co-operation on the part of regional and subregional institutions. Thus, programmes of co-operation with developing countries in other regions are increasing, even though at a relatively slower rate. 92. There is continued hope that all international organizations may coordinate their action in each country receiving assistance from different sources in order to achieve greater effectiveness and avoid duplication. The countries themselves are paying greater attention to this matter, either by enacting legislation or by creating bodies specially devoted to co-ordinating all activities related to international programmes.

30 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page As far as the modalities of co-operation are concerned, the Standing Conference has studied, on several occasions, the relative advantages and disadvantages of the four major modalities generally recognized to be valid, especially for co-operation in research and development work (R&D): (1) creation of centres and institutions by international conventions; (2) networks of national centres that are regional in scope; (3) jointly managed research and development projects; and (4) concerted ad hoc arrangements. It cannot be said that any one of these four modalities in particular predominates in the region, but there does appear to be a clear trend - and indeed a rather generalized one - towards seeking to work together on projects of common interest, with the result that the system of joint management is just beginning to be introduced. 94. Another aspect that needs to be pointed out at the outset is the growing importance of subregional co-operation among various groups of countries (to which further reference will be made later). It is thus recognized that what several countries can achieve collectively is greater than the sum of what these same countries can do separately. To this aspect must be added the collateral benefits of international contacts, the importance of which cannot be underestimated when it comes to scientific and technological work. 95. Lastly, it is easy to understand that the degree of progress in cooperation progsammes largely depends on the support obtained in the respective countries from both the technical and the political points of view. From a technical standpoint, it can be disregarded only in the unlikely case where such bodies were to have ample funds at their disposal. Trends in science and technology policies 96. The science and technology policies of countries in the region have progressed in the past decade, as was indicated above, in the direction of strengthening multinational efforts along lines or in areas of common interest. In several cases a systematic search for such areas has been made jointly by certain groups of countries that have listed their preferred areas by discipline and by objective so as to concentrate efforts on those areas of greatest interest to most of them. 97. Reports by individual countries concerning changes in their science and technology policies in recent years reveal some trends along the lines described, which may be summarized as follows: There has been a tendency to take a more realistic approach to cooperation projects on the basis of national interests, established priorities, the resources and needs of the country, and in some cases on the basis of the extension of such activities abroad, while at the same time endeavouring constantly to adopt internal measures designed to strengthen those same sectors. Several countries even have a real co-operation strategy aimed at achieving concrete goals; or aimed at considering such co-operation as a support or temporary substitute for domestic projects; or aimed at dovetailing regional co-operation with national policy goals. An effort has been made to concentrate international co-operation funds, instead 03 wasting them on minor short-lived projects, with a view to channelling them into sectors or subsectors of national interest.

31 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 29 The countries of the region have attempted to direct their co-operation along lines or towards areas that they consider to be of common interest. Such co-operation is increasingly governed by the belief that many of the relevant solutions and experiences needed by developing countries for their scientific and technological progress are to be found in countries with similar characteristics, rather than in the sophisticated technologies of the highly industrialized countries. In any case, co-operation is not looked upon as an end in itself but rather as a means of fostering the independent economic development of the countries as a whole while attempting to solve - with considerable savings in resources - the problems they have in common as a result of the interests arising from the interdependence of their economies. Growing attention is being paid to co-operation in the sphere of scientific and technological information and documentation, and attempts are being made to utilize the advantages offered by modern data-processing methods. This is an area of vital importance to scientific and technological development in which achievements have already been made, such as the setting up of the Latin American Technological Information Network (RITLA) and the Andean Technological Information System (SAIT). There is a growing number of instances in which scientific co-operation is being promoted beyond a strictly intergovernmental level. National machinery responsible for scientific and technological cooperation has slowly been improved, though there is no uniform model for the region. In general, those bodies that determine national science and technology policies, national planning agencies and ministries of external affairs participate to a greater or lesser extent in such co-operation. The basic purpose is,to promote scientific and technological co-operation and make optimum use of it. Co-operation through regional science centres 98. Another activity at the regional level that has developed since the first CASTALA Conference is co-operation through regional science centres, initially set up with the assistance of Unesco and devoted respectively to the biological sciences (CLAB), mathematics (CLAMI), physics (CLAF) and seismology (CERESIS). 99. At its fifth session in Quito (1978), the Standing Conference resolved to support the action of the regional centres and to recommend that governments provide financial assistance and backing to these centres, since such assistance was still inadequate. At the same time, it was recommended that these centres establish or strengthen their relations with other regional organizations, whether they were intergovernmental or not, which had similar goals. The importance of seeking ways of further involving the centres in programmes to improve science teaching at all levels was also stressed. Co-operation between universities and research bodies 100. A good example of inter-university co-operation in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean is that of the Inter-University Centre for Development (CINDA), an international academic institution comprising the major universities of Latin America, the purpose of which is to link them together

32 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 30 and enable them to deal jointly with the main development problems of the region. The Centre's activities for the biennium included the following three programmes: university, science and technology (technological management, S&T activities, interdisciplinary projects; university and development (social development, rural development, regional development, cultural development, professional market) ; university management and policies (university teaching, university administration, higher education: background and prospects) Another recent initiative, that went beyond the scope of the university, was the Meeting of Chairmen of Scientific Research Councils and Rectors of Latin American Universities, held in Buenos Aires in September The fruit of that meeting was a declaration in which, among other items, it was affirmed that 'present economic circumstances, which are unfavourable to the development of science and technology, constitute a threat to existing institutions and make it advisable for States to set up national and multinational machinery to facilitate the inclusion of the 'science and technology' variable so as to help solve difficulties by providing instruments which in the short, medium and long terms, would make for the harmonious insertion of this variable into models of social and economic development. Support for national science and technology systems, including bilateral and multilateral efforts, must take concrete form in programmes of action that tend to integrate the peoples of the region and lead to the formation of a set of social values and goals for the common good, instead of letting social, cultural and political diversity constitute an obstacle to this aspiration'. Bilateral co-operation 103. There are many bilateral agreements for scientific and technological cooperation between countries of the region. Their scope and effectiveness vary considerably, but the subregional consultations in preparation for CASTALAC I1 have shown that they seldom serve much purpose. Even between neighbour countries scientific and technological relations are sometimes very poor and need to be appreciably increased by bringing the productive sectors into the picture. CASTALAC I1 may help to improve this situation considerably, by opening up new avenues of co-operation, or enlarging old ones, where the government authorities and the scientific communities can meet beneficially, look into the needs of both science and technology, and ensure the continuity required if the agreements are to yield their fruit. These ideas apply to both bilateral and multilateral co-operation. Subreaional co-oderation 104. The foregoing sections of this chapter demonstrate that efforts of a' regional nature have not been lacking and that all countries of the region are participating in such activities. Nevertheless, the size of the region, the large number of nations comprising it, and its linguistic and geographic particularities are such that many activities have tended to be carried out jointly by three different groups of countries which constitute as many subregions:

33 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 31 (a) the Andean countries; (b) the countries of the Central American Isthmus; (c) the Caribbean countries These three groups of countries have been developing their own forms of scientific and technological co-operation in recent years. This fact was recognized by the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy- Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean whose fifth session, held in Quito (19781, approved a recommendation in which specific reference was made to them in the following terms: '(1) that total support be given, in particular by Unesco and the UNDP, to activities carried on within the framework of the 'Andrgs Bello' Convention, in order to harmonize the science and technology policies of Member States parties to the Convention and reinforce existing co-operation links within the Andean Group, in the field of science and technology; (2) that due attention be paid by qualified bodies to the fact that the subregion of the Central American Isthmus is undergoing an integration process which includes efforts undertaken to harmonize science and technology policies of the countries concerned and stimulate them to form links of co-operation in the field of science and technology; (3) that definite support be granted, by the appropriate bodies, to the implementation of the decision of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee's second session, namely, the creation of a Caribbean Council for Science and Technology to co-ordinate member countries' activities in the field of science and technology, and to encourage the establishment of the links that this implies' The sixth session of the Standing Conference, held in La Paz (1981) continued this approach and approved recommendations designed to achieve greater support for efforts to bring about co-operation in science and technology throughout the Caribbean and Central American subregions through the creation, in each region, of permanent technical offices of Unesco which would function as branches of the Organization's Regional Office for Science and Technology in Montevideo, and work in close contact with Unesco's Paris-based Division of Science and Technology Policies. Similarly, the sixth session approved another recommendation requesting Unesco to lend technical and financial support to Central American integration bodies in order to help them to formulate and implement their scientific and technological development programmes and projects The development of subregional co-operation during the past decade in the three above-mentioned geographical areas will be described below. THE ANDEAN SUBREGION 108. The Andean Group, which includes Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela, constitutes a subregion of the South American continent which has distinguished itself by its pioneering efforts in favour of scientific,

34 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 32 educational and cultural co-operation in general. In the space of a few years, these countries progressed to the stage of 'technical co-operation among developing countries' (TCDC), later sanctioned by the United Nations at the Buenos Aires Conference in 1978 as a new concept for stimulating development. The experience of closely related countries having more or less similar physical, biological and cultural characteristics is undoubtedly of significant value for them all and should be taken advantage of, which is why the 'Buenos Aires Plan' accords great importance to the work of the subregions. The 'Andrbs Bello' Convention 109. As a result of the first subregional Conference of Ministers of Education, the Andean countries in 1970 concluded a pact known as the 'Andres Bello' Convention (CAB), later joined by Spain and Panama. Its major goals are as follows: to foster knowledge of and fraternity among countries of the Andean subregion ; to preserve the cultural identity of the peoples of the subregion within the framework of the Latin American heritage that they have in common; to intensify cultural communication among these countries; to make joint efforts, through education, science and culture to bring about the total development of these nations; to raise the standard of living of peoples of the subregion through the application of science and technology The provisions of the Convention specifically cover many points directly related to science and technology at the subregional level. Thus, among the activities advocated are the following: to exchange technical assistance in those sectors and areas in which a given country may be stronger than its neighbours; to organize periodic meetings of experts to study especial subjects or to compare experiences; to stimulate the development of multinational and national programmes of research, experiment, innovation and technology transfer in both public and private institutions; to promote meetings of scientific academies and institutions in the States party to the Convention in order to combine efforts towards common goals; to foster the exchange of research specialists, as well as information on research projects under way or in preparation, with a view to coordinating them if possible, and also getting the area's most advanced institutes to offer their services to other countries in the search for solutions to their problems; to plan scientific and technological research in accordance with the needs of the subregion, and especially those which spring from the economic integration of the countries that have ratified the Convention; to co-ordinate the use of international technical assistance.

35 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page In order to achieve its goals, the 'AndrBs Bello' Convention relies on a fund whose interest finances the annual budget of the Operating Plan, which is the instrument whereby all the scientific, educational and cultural integration activities are programed and carried out. The Permanent Executive Secretariat of the 'AndrBs Bello' Convention (SECAB) is its executive body In 1979, there was created within SECAB the post of Co-ordinator of SCience and Technology to monitor more directly all questions concerning this sphere of activity, under the responsibility of a science and technology commission (there also exist under the Convention, two other advisory commissions, one for culture and one for education). This commission comprises representatives of national science and technology policy-making bodies of member countries which are thus involved in the work of SECAB while at the same time having a forum for subregional consultation and links The action of SECAB in the field of science and technology has developed on two fronts: first, a sphere of general or horizontal activities which have a positive effect in all scientific areas through the training of human resources, communication and information, better management of science and technology programmes and projects, etc.; and a second front where the aims to identify and promote specific, vertical programmes and projects in adequately selected areas of co-operation In the first of these two groups, there are four projects whose very titles indicate their content: training and exchange of experience in the management of science and technology projects in the Andean subregion; an Andean science catalogue (scientific and technological potential and ongoing projects); scientific communication in the Andean integration process; encouragement of scientific activity among young people In the second group, namely, programmes and projects of co-operation in specific areas, SECAB relied on the collaboration of Unesco and the UNDP for the formulation and execution of Project RLA/78/017, entitled 'Cooperation among national governmental science and technology policy-making bodies in the "Andr6s Bello" Convention countries', which got under way in Its objectives were to contribute to: (i) (ii) (iii) the scientific and technological development of 'AndrBs Bello' Convention Member States by means of the identification, definition, organization and assessment of Andean multinational research and experimental development projects (R&D), in priority areas of common interest; the process of educational, cultural, scientific and technological integration, through joint activities co-ordinated by SECAB; the introduction in the Andean region, as an instrument of technical co-operation in the field of R&D, of a system whereby projects are placed under joint management (or administration), a technique that allows better utilization of the human, financial, institutional and informational resources available, and so stimulates scientific and technological development.

36 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The areas in which these projects would have to be formulated had already been chosen by the 'Andr6s Bello' Convention's Science and Technology Commission on the basis of coinciding priorities, previously studied with the help of Unesco. There were: the utilization of plant resources; the development and conservation of hydro-biological resources; the development and dissemination of appropriate technologies. Work simultaneously accomplished in selecting and formulating the three specific projects served to advance the operation and consolidation of a permanent, institutionalized system for identifying priority areas and formulating, executing and monitoring R&D programmes and projects. If this system could be strengthened, it would constitute an instrument of permanent collaboration among 'Andr6s Bello' Convention countries, and would contribute to reinforcing and developing national systems of science and technology. The Andean Council for Science and Technology 117. To conclude this overview of actions at the subregional level in the Andean area, mention must be made of a recent event which concerns the five countries of the subregion that are members of the Cartagena Agreement (Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Venezuela). In 1983, a plan was approved under the aegis of the JUNAC for reshaping the Andean process of integration, with major repeicussions in the field of science and technology. This is one of the eight priqrity areas for which the plan defines corresponding sectoral strategies for action The first result has been the creation of an Andean Council for Science and Technology, the first meeting of which, held towards the end of 1983, approved the above-mentioned strategy for science and technology which is ftindamentally geared to effecting a transition from the former defensive or =rely accommodating approach to a more active phase of the scientific and technical development. $19. The principles underlying the strategy spring from the basic features Of the initial phase of the Andean process and its new exigencies. These are BS follows: scientific and technological capability should serve the objectives of economic and social development; scientific and technological development should be programmed in such a way that the generation or importation of technology can provide the requisite solutions in an appropriate form; member countries should strengthen their ability to take independent decisions concerning the most suitable scientific and technological solutions ; the criteria offered by science and technology should be incorporated in the definition of objectives and strategies for overall as well as sectoral development; the scientific and technological effort should be geared to satisfying specific social needs in the Andean countries; the plans, programmes and projects that are the expression of this strategy should constitute joint activities that contribute to the attainment of the national and subregional development objectives.

37 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The new strategy is centred on and should be implemented in a national and international social and technico-economic context that differs substantially from the one that was prevailing in the early 1970s. In future, scientific and technological development efforts will be determined and guided the changes that are taking place in the priorities that the countries are assigning to economic and social development and by changes in the process of integration,; the nature of the industrial reconversion processes of the developed countries and the reshuffling of international markets; the possibilities of bringing about, through joint action, major qualitative improvement in present scientific and technological levels, both in current priority sectors and in those which, because of their socio-economic importance, will be made part of the integration process later on. THE CENTRAL AMERICAN ISTHMUS SUBREGION 121. In 1970, Unesco sent a first mission to Central America to conduct a study on the state of science and technology policy in the six countries of the Isthmus. At that time, science and technology policy-making bodies existed in none of those countries, nor were there any special units responsible for this aspect of planning in national ministries, bureaux or councils of socioeconomic planning On the other hand, as part of the effort to bring about economic integration at the subregional level, there had already been in operation for some years various entities directly concerned with the problems of science and technology. Among these are: the Institute of Nutrition of Central America and Panama (INCAP) established in 1945; the Central American Technological Research Institute (ICAITI) whose creation dates from an agreement signed in 1952; the Permanent Commission for Agricultural Research of Central America, established in 1967; the Higher Council of the Central American Universities (CSUCA), which dates from 1948, although its Permanent Secretariat only started functioning in 1959; the Federation of Private Universities of Central America (FUPAC) Three other subregional institutions might also be included as being concerned with science and technology, namely the Permanent Secretariat of the General Treaty for Central American Economic Integration (SIECA), the Central American Development Bank (BCIE) and the Central American Institute for Public Administration (CAIPA).

38 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The 'First Consultation on Science and Technology Policy in the Central American Isthmus' was held in San Jose, Costa Rica, in 1974, jointly sponsored by Unesco and Costa Rica's National Council for Scientific and Technological Research (CONICIT) which had just been created. This meeting adopted a series of recommendations for countries of the Isthmus. These recommendations were implemented in varying degrees by the countries, but on the whole they constituted a set of actions to be carried out for the formulation of national and subregional scientific and technological development. This meeting, the first of its kind in the Isthmus, had in addition the significant feature of bringing together representatives of the science and national planning sectors 125. Other events took place from that time onwards among which should be mentioned: Seminar on the Scientific and Technological Development of Central America, which was organized by ICAITI with the collaboration of the Canadian International Development Research Centre (IDRC) and the OAS. The creation by the OAS, in the second half of the 1970s, of a Commission for Scientific and Technological Development in Central America and Panama whose objective was the elaboration of a Central American scientific and technological plan; the Commission recently (1982) revised its work and adopted a plan for future action. The creation, by the Pernanent Secretariat of the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration (SIECA) of a Department of Science and Technology. The presentation by this department, at the sixth session of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy- Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean (La Paz, 1981), a study on 'Science and technology policy and planning in Central America'. Taking into account the difficulty in totally integrating the countries' aspirations into a single, united and cohesive structure, SIECA considers it temporarily more feasible at present to promote a complementary operational development scheme moulded to a 'Central American science and technology development programme', which opts for the concept of integration by projects, which no individual member country(1) would be able to execute so effectively. A study made by the High Council of the Confederation of Central American Universities (CSUCA), in 1982, with the support of Unesco of university science and technology policies in the Central American Isthmus and gathered a considerable amount of useful information and data on this theme. The following year (19831, it again collaborated with Unesco in organizing an experimental course on training and research in subregional science and technology policy and planning for Central America. (1) Pursuant to the resolution of the Foreign Ministers of the Central American Isthmus, adopted at the meeting in San JosB (Costa Rica) on 14 and 15 March 1980, the term Central American Isthmus (or Central America) should include Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Panama. Even though the SIECA report mentions only the first five countries which signed the General Treaty on Central American Economic Integration, it is anticipated that Panama may participate in the programme.

39 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page In concluding this brief overview of the Central American subregion, it is interesting to note that, precisely at the initiative of the two organizations mentioned, SIECA and CSUCA, there was recently created ( ), the Inter-institutional Committee for subregional science and technology development affairs. This is a technical working group on the Central American integration bodies and related institutions that deal with questions of scientific and technological development. Representatives of ICAITI, CAIPA and the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (BCIE) took part in negotiations preparatory to the creation of this committee, a fact which seems to indicate that the bank considered the financing of science and technology a priority area and was drawing up a programme for such financing in Central America. The major aims of the Inter-institutional Committee are to co-ordinate and aid the various Central American integration bodies and related institutions in science and technology development matters, in order to avoid duplicating efforts and to obtain optimum use of available financial resources and greater efficiency in defining and executing subregional science and technology programmes. THE CARIBBEAN SUBREGION 127. The process of institutionalizing scientific and technological cooperation in the Caribbean subregion is the most recent of the three considered in this,chapter, but has witnessed rapid and promising growth After a period of information-gathering with the collaboration of Unesco and ECLA, a project took form in the second half of the 1970s for the creation of an intergovernmental co-ordinating body called the Caribbean Council for Science and Technology (CCST). The initial decision to set up this Council was taken in 1977 during the second meeting of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee (CDCC), and was supported by several international bodies, including Unesco In a very short time for a project of this nature, the necessary consultations were held and the Statutes of the Council were prepared and finally adopted and signed by 11 countries in Airil CCST constitute an outstanding operational mechanism in the region, designed to promote co-operation and mutual assistance in science and technology among member countries. Through it the subregional capability is being reinforced without reducing the independence and sovereignty of the individual countries. CCST is open to all member countries of the Caribbean Development and Co-operation Committee (CDCC) that accept and ratify the Statutes CCST was conceived as a nucleus of functional co-ordination for science and technology in the subregion, whereas the execution of activities falls under the responsibility of national institutions. Its specific goals include: (a) achieving the objectives of the Caribbean Development and Cooperation Committee, by drawing up and executing specific joint science and technology projects which are appropriate, and advising the committee and its Member States on questions concerning science and technology ; (b) identifying institutions which can participate in projects and establishing mechanisms for co-operation; (c) proposing means for developing specific projects where relevant institutions do not exist;

40 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 38 (d) designing procedures for an effective dissemination of the results of R&D projects carried out in the Caribbean and their application in member countries; (e) promoting, in general, the establishment and strengthening of suitable national and subregional bodies and mechanisms for the development and application of science and technology All countries participating in CCST have the right to designate Council members, one of whom must be a scientist designated by the government of his country. The Council meets annually in plenary session to review questions within its purview and to support subregional projects. There is an Executive Committee which meets at least twice between plenary sessions in order to assess the progress of projects and to consider the draft of the annual report, and that of the programme and annual budget, before presenting them to the plenary session Already during the planning phase of the CCST and in order to contribute both to it and to the preparation of its activities, a joint Unesco/UNDP project was approved entitled 'Science and technology development planning in the Caribbean'. Under this project a consultant was dispatched to Caribbean countries and regional organizations in order to examine with them the possibilities of scientific and technological co-operation in the Caribbean subregion. The project also included the holding of a meeting of experts of these countries to consider the consultant's report and to identify activities that might be of interest to the Caribbean and make it possible to have recourse to international financing The fruit of these efforts and of subsequent consultations was the identification of a series of projects which enabled CCST, in 1982, to carry out the first phase of its action. These all fall satisfactorily within the framework of general characteristics that the Council considers important, including the following: promoting collaboration among member countries; completing and supporting other regional efforts while avoiding duplication; working towards establishing bridges or links between academic and technical sectors and among users; inclusion of mechanisms for the wide dissemination of results among member countries As an example, the titles of several projects approved by the Council are listed below. They show some of the priorities of Caribbean countries in the field of science and technology: 'Assessment of national scientific and technological capabilities'; 'Creation of a science and technology journal'; 'Preparation and exchange of audio-visual material for education in science and technology'; 'Study of the consequences of the development of energy crops on food supplies';

41 'Conservation and exchange of germ-plasm of crop plants'; SC-%5/CASTALAC II/3 - page 39 'The development of agro-industries and employment opportunities, in particular at the rural level'; 'Potential and limits of new technologies, with special reference to developing countries' Considering the request made by the countries involved, Unesco has decided to increase its support to the subregional effort by naming a Subregional Adviser for Science and Technology to the Caribbean. As or ECLA, through its Caribbean Office, it has taken over temporary responsibility for acting as the CCST secretariat. The above-mentioned UNDP/Unesco project has been extended with a view to supporting a series of specific subregional actions in the field of science and technology.

42 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 41 CHAPTER I1 SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND DEVELOPMENT IN RURAL SETTINGS 2.1 Introduction 136. The sixth session of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean, held in La Paz, Bolivia, in 1981, included in its agenda the topic 'Relationship between science, technology and employment in rural settings'. The recommendations of the sixth session led to the adoption of the 'La Paz Declaration on Science, Technology and Integrated Rural Development' which recognized that serious problems existed in this socio-economic sector, considered one of the foundations on which the integral development of the Latin American and Caribbean countries should rest. The Conference recommended that this topic be selected as the main theme of the CASTALAC I1 Conference The La Paz Declaration, which was based on the conclusions of the fifth session of the Standing Conference held in Quito, Ecuador, in 1978, and which was endorsed by the Vienna Programme of Action, recognized that it was possible to raise considerably the contribution that science and technology can make in rural areas to solve the problems affecting small- and medium-sized production units in agriculture, forestry, fishery, agro-industries and handicrafts; it stressed the need to consider their socio-economic context; and it recommended that governments strengthen or launch national programmes for the scientific and technological development of the rural sector and delegate considerable responsibility for the planning and co-ordination of such programmes to their national agencies responsible for science and technology policy The La Paz Declaration also stresses the integral character of the solutions that should be found for the problems of rural settings, laying particular emphasis on the social aspects involved and on the heterogeneous nature of the regions and development models, each of which should offer specific solutions taking into account: the satisfaction of social and economic needs; the conservation and management of rural resources; the correction of certain structural situations, both social and economic; employment in relation to the utilization of appropriate technologies; rectification of the imblance between modern and traditional sectors; the need to elaborate instruments to determine the scientific and technological inputs required for the promotion of socio-economic development and employment Following the meeting of the Standing Conference in La Paz, the 'First Seminar on Science, Technology and Development of Rural Settings' was held in Lima, Peru, in 1983, organized by the Peruvian Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y

43 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 42 Tecnologia (National Science and Technology Council, known as CONCYTEC), under the auspices of Unesco and at the request of Argentina, Bolivia and Peru. The papers read at this seminar and its final report and recommendations have been reproduced in a publication In this chapter, and in accordance with the agenda of CASTALAC 11, the problems involved in the application of science and technology to the development of rural settings have been studied. That development, to be sure, also depends on another series of factors that fall outside the purview of S&T and that have not been considered here. International agencies such as FAO, ILO and WHO have contributed to the analysis of those factors and to the search for feasible solutions to the related problems of the rural world. Practically all the governments of the region are mindful of these matters in their policymaking, and many of them have formulated and applied rural development programmes with varying degrees of success. Regional bodies like OAS have frequently lent their support to action of this kind, and Unesco has particularly endeavoured to incorporate or strengthen the role of the science and technology variable. 2.2 Influence of science and technology on rural society and on its environment Society and environment 141. The deterioration of the environment as a result of human activities came about with the emergence of sedentary societies and seems to have worsened with the arrival of the European colonizers whose policy of extractive exploitation of natural resources with a view to shipping them to their respective countries, initiated the intensive exploitation - which sometimes amounted to plundering - of natural resources to the detriment of the local forests which stretched up to an altitude of 4,000 m and whose timber was used to shore up galleries in the mines in those same mountain areas from which precious metal ores were extracted During the colonial period, the expansion of agricultural activities - apart from food-producing activities which were carried out by the indigenous country people along traditional lines - was spread over several periods which varied from one country to another but usually coincided with expansion in other economic sectors such as mining and fishery. The principal economic activities were concentrated in the vicinity of the main communication and transport routes - seas, rivers and roads - by which the resources extracted from or produced in the interior were carried towards the coastal areas. This process in fact is still often in operation today. The extensive practice of monoculture on traditional lines leads to the exhaustion of the soil, tract after tract, until there is no natural fertility left, as this type of farming spreads across the country The social history of rural peoples, beginning with pre-columbian. societies, was narked from time to time by climatic disasters which damaged the crops or by epidemics which decimated the population, not to mention the expansionist or defensive wars which also caused high losses. The arrival of the European conquerors led to a profound transformation of the aboriginal culture with the introduction of a new religion, and a disruption of the local economy through the employment of country people in mining and foresting and, finally, in agricultural undertakings of a latifundio type. This entailed, among other consequences, the gradual abandonment of ingenious farming methods

44 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 43 that were well adapted to the environment and formed a whole system in which natural resources, human resources and productive activities all coexisted in a slowly evolving equilibrium. world crisis, demography, food and development strategy 144. The difficulties that became evident in the industrial system of the developed countries as early as the 1960s, heightened by the rise in the price of oil-based energy in the mid-1970s and subsequently compounded by the monetary and financial crisis, constitute the general framework of the world crisis and its adverse consequences for the socio-economic development of many developing countries. This situation which is affecting Latin America and the Caribbean has had repercussions on the rural environment. The cost of imports has risen sharply and that of foodstuffs has risen at the same rate, while there has been a relative decline in salaries, with the result that the buying power of the population has fallen - sometimes considerably - during the past ten years With regard more specifically to the rural world, it is disquieting to note that despite the flight of the rural population to urban.industria1 centres - 50 per cent of the population is now urban - demographic pressure on the land has hardly fallen in rural settings, since population growth at 3 per cent per annum has generally offset migration towards urban centres. In addition, the cost of production inputs has made the price of food prohibitive and modern technology has proved inoperative on marginal lands - desert, equatorial and highland areas - to which the original rural populations have been relegated. There is therefore a need to formulate a new rural development strategy in order to take this contemporary problem fully into account An important feature of this strategy must necessarily, at least throughout most of the region, be.the express concern for problems that affect smallscale rural production or smallholding agriculture, which will be dealt with below. Production of this kind is largely for the subsistence of the rural population itself, but, at the same time, it yields a considerable range of products for consumption by the rest of the population. An understanding of this twofold function is essential if national food policies are to be correctly defined Turning now to socio-economic strictures, i.e. the context in which science and technology policies are applied to rural development, the Latin American and Caribbean countries have undergone a gradual development which can be described as follows. Towards the 1950s, a certain awareness of some of the problems of the rural world prompted Latin American governments, occasionally encouraged by the industrialized countries, to find an answer to the stagnation of their agricultural sectors through agricultural reforms and farreaching political and structural changes in order to achieve a more equitable redistribution of land and of economic resources in general. Faced with the problem of carrying out such reforms and securing valid production results, governments, sometimes under pressure from international bodies, decided to resort to solutions which were rather technical and financial in nature in order to attain their stated goals, solutions which, moreover, frequently lacked the requisite political support With world economic crisis in full swing, it is difficult to develop technical and financial solutions. Moreover, the green revolution experiment discussed in the next section seems to show that the problem of rural

45 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 44 underdevelopment cannot be solved solely from the economic point of view through the introduction of new agricultural technologies. The mere multiplication of harvests through the use of fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides and mechanization does not seem to be the best means because ultimately it depends upon the increased use of expensive forms of energy which is more costly for the rural worker. And manpower remains, in a large number of rural areas, the prime factor of production. But manpower implies a human context, that is to say culture, education, health, living conditions, means of communication and transport, employment and income, etc.; in a word all the factors that determine the levels of the quality of life. This is why new governmental rural development policies tend to cover all the conditions of life and work. These initiatives have been further strengthened by an ecological approach to issues, long advocated by Unesco, one which takes into account the principle of the interdependence of the various components of the ecosystem. Implications of science and modern technology in the rural environment 149. The impact of science and modern technology on the rural world is a twentieth-century phenomenon. More particular in Latin America towards the 1950s producers in the subcontinent gradually began to adopt fertilization practices based on chemical products, to protect their crops by synthetic pesticides, and to replace brawn by motorized mechanization. This policy of technological innovation failed to gain a real foothold in the region until the early 1960s, well after its appearance in developed countries. This lag had a number of causes, some economic and some technological. Among the latter, one of particular importance was the lack of sufficiently large research and experimental development institutions which began to be created only at the beginning of the 1970s. It was then that a process of modernization took place, making it possible to increase agricultural production by more than 3 per cent annually This modernization process had its origins in the 'green revolution' which started in Mexico with high-yield wheat varieties and continued in the Philippines with rice. Of all the recent rapid advances of science and modern technology in agriculture, the green revolution is undoubtedly the one most discussed. It was marked by the provision to farmers of seeds which sometimes allowed harvests to be increased tenfold. This practice, the results of which are tied to the use of a complex technological package, calls for modern knowledge and a relatively high capital investment by farmers. In the Latin American and Caribbean region, agricultural mechanization was mainly developed in the temperate zone of the southern part of the continent where intensive cultivation was carried on by medium- and large-sized producers. A number of improved varieties have also been added to the long list of crops However, although modernization is important overall, it varies considerably in degree and in its economic and social effects. Technological change appears mainly associated with the crops which are also important in the industrialized countries and in connection with which these countries have carried out intensive technological development. Hence modernization is principally associated with temperate zone and primarily affects countries with structures of production which are most similar to those of the industrialized countries where the technology was developed. It also tends to be concentrated in commercial agriculture and occasionally in the agricultural export sector, particularly where the prevailing economic policy favours the

46 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 45 introduction of technology through capital investment. In such cases, considerable increases in production are achieved, flooding the markets at better prices and sometimes forcing traditional producers to stop selling or to underprice their own production. Nevertheless, there are some examples which show that modernization, when protected by favourable market conditions or appropriate agricultural policies, has had a positive effect on small peasant production In short, technology has had a varying impact which, naturally, has not always been beneficial from every point of view or for all sectors of society. If technology has been responsible for increases in production that contribute to the region's exports and better nourishment for its population, it has also, in some cases, led to an increase of the holdings of rich farmers, and to the transformation of a part of the rural population into landless farm workers. In general, it has contributed little to the creation of employment, and, in some cases, has caused the migration of workers from rural areas to the towns, contrary to the best interests of the countries concerned Other criticisms in connection with the green revolution refer to a reduction in the quality of products which is sometimes observed, and to ecological aspects of the rural environment as a whole (chiefly, pollution of the environment - soil, atmosphere, surface water, groundwater and fauna - owing to the repeated use of toxic pesticides). Finally, mention must be made of the fact that the widespread adoption of certain high-yield plant varieties has destroyed a good number of traditional varieties. This reduction in the wealth of the world's genetic heritage threatens the survival of germ-plasms needed for the research that may have to be undertaken if the results obtained prove inadequate or inappropriate. The problems of smallholding agriculture 154. In many countries of the region, small- and medium-sized plots constitute the majority of agricultural holdings. To a great extent, these small land-owners bear the burden of marginal social status and economic deprivation in spite of which they make a significant contribution to the entire country's food supply. The conclusions of various study meetings on these questions indicate that science and technology can help to solve rural marginalization and poverty, provided that the starting-point is a more comprehensive approach to the problem, that the socio-economic environment of the small farmer is not disregarded, and that the technologies that are introduced are suited to his specific situation Whereas commercial agriculture is principally concerned with the production of raw materials and exportable products intended for major national and foreign markets, smallholding agriculture is geared to inefficient regional marketing networks which handle much of the food produced for direct consumption. These differences in the structure of production and in distribution give rise to problems that vary with the type of agriculture involved. Commercial agriculture generally takes up the best land, using monocultural systems that are intensive in their use of agricultural chemicals; it attracts most of the financial resources available or the sector, takes full advantage of the irrigation infrastructure, and makes maximum use of the available technical assistance facilities.

47 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 46 ' 156. Smallholding agriculture, on the other hand, is usually restricted to hillside areas and land of inferior quality, practising complex traditional systems of production, with a low consumption of 'modern inputs' and limited access to the resources available for the sector. However, while it is generally accepted that smallholding agriculture is characterized by low levels of productivity and inefficient practices, very little is really known about the nature of its production systems. Thus, its performance is measured in terms of the parameters of commercial agriculture which often fail to reflect fully the characteristics of these systems. The principal function of smallholding agriculture is to provide the means of support for its production unit, while possibly sending part of this production to market in order to obtain essential items that are not produced by the unit. In principle, it is linked to the market for reasons other than accumulation or profit. Consequently, the output of a smallholding tends to be quite varied, being the fruit of production systems that are generally based on crop combinations which, in turn, forms part of a whole that includes the raising of domestic animals and some artisan production The combined crop system involves the sowing of various crops that have compatible growth cycles on the same smallholding, at the same time or at different times. Many combinations have been discovered involving ephemeral, perennial and forest varieties. Any combination implies complementarity and competition between crops; some provide a more favourable environment for their neighbours, while others restrict them. Nevertheless, the farmer is not necessarily concerned with the yield of a single crop so much as the overall yield of the smallholding. On this basis, some researchers have discovered that although each crop within the combination, considered separately, has a low yield in comparison with a monoculture, the overall efficiency of land use may be superior. These points may be debatable but, in any case, they confirm a lack of understanding in relation to the system of production on smallholdings and the technological processes that they involve. Improvements in the standard of living of the smallholders, apart from their opportunities to transcend mere subsistence farming, require a more thorough knowledge of the rationality and organization of their production systems in both technical and economic terms. Rural technology, employment, cost and energy 158. The' foregoing analysis shows that modern technologies often have socioeconomic and ecological consequences that do not benefit the rural societies. Technological options have, above all, a major impact on the level of agricultural employment. For example, when the degree of technology increases the volume of production per hectare (and consequently the amount of work involved in preparing, maintaining, harvesting and processing the production), this result - positive in itself - becomes controversial when it goes hand in hand with the mechanization and modernization of agricultural work. The latter leads to the displacement of manpower, without providing, in most cases, other outlets in the same sector. It is probably for that reason that those made redundant in this way then go on to swell the ranks of the urban underemployed a@ unemployed. On the other hand, the mere mechanization of muscular labour, be It human or animal, has an intermediate technological intensification effect which increases the efficiency of labour without causing a major displacement of manpower.

48 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Nevertheless, it should be recalled that the generalized use of agricultural machinery increases the technological dependence of the client country on the supplying country. This is why as from the 1960s, Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and some other countries started to manufacture or assemble their own tractors and other agricultural machinery. At present, the costs and technical characteristics of these tractors are subject to the pressure of constant innovations in motorized mechanization in the industrialized countries. This has resulted in a relative impoverishment of agricultural technology in the developing countries, to which the rise in fuel prices has contributed With particular reference to those areas where smallholding agriculture is predominant, the processes of generating or adopting new technologies must start by recognizing, as pointed out earlier, the specific particularities of that type of agriculture, and by understanding the logic of the smallholders' production systems, which are almost always disregarded because they are based on models that are of little relevance for the analysis of those systems. In short, the low level of adoption of modern technology is almost always the result of its failure to coincide withtheeconomic possibilities and the technical needs of small farmers However, the comparative impact of modern and conventional technologies should not be analysed from the socio-economic point of view only. The ecological aspects are.also important because they shed light - although in an indirect way - on the question of raw materials and energy, by taking the natural resources into account. Indeed, it is in the agricultural sector of rural settings that the primary catchment of energy takes place, which in turn triggers off the food chain that sustains life on our planet. Thus, the outcome of productive activities in the rural environment should have a positive energy balance. In other words, a balance in which the investment of energy in production is far below the energy value of the products obtained. It is curious to note in this regard that traditional technologies generally present an investment/production energy ratio of 1 to 5, whereas modern technology, properly used on some occasions and on others improperly - as is generally the case - has an energy ratio of 1 to 2. From this point of view, the efficiency of traditional technologies is at least twice as good as that of modern technologies. On account of the cost and limited availability of energy, greater attention should be given to this type of ecological analysis when the effectiveness of systems of production in rural environments is being judged, and it must be included, for the same reason as economic or social cost/benefit calculations, in studies on the choice of technologies. Ecology, society and participation in decisions regarding scientific and technological options 162. Ecological aspects do not seem to have played an important part thus far in regional meetings on various aspects of rural development. None the less, some of the papers read at the Lima Seminar (1983) mentioned above did refer to ecology. Indeed, studies conducted by outstanding sociologists and anthropologists have revealed the major impact that certain technological choices may have on rural societies. As a result, firstly, concern has arisen regarding the dangers stemming from the indiscriminate introduction of 'aggressive' technologies, those that disrupt natural ecosystems and represent a threat to future generations. Secondly, there is a new trend towards 'ecodevelopment' which strives at all times to preserve the environment.

49 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page In the rural sector, science and technology have been directed towards seeking remedies for the ever-threatening scourges of malnutrition and hunger. While there would seem to be a consensus regarding the type of solutions to be sought, opinions differ as to the procedures and strategies for applying them in practice. In other words, while there is agreement regarding the need to step up agricultural production, there is no unanimity either within governments or among the public regarding the policies to be followed in order to achieve that objective; such policies usually ran up against prejudices of an ideological, social or cultural kind. It is precisely against this complex background that controversy over public participation, and in particular the involvement of the rural populations, in the determination of science and technology policies to be followed, must be seen. In this context, it should be recalled that the meeting of experts on Science, technology and employment in rural areas held in Bogotd (1980) stressed the need to devote due attention to the needs and aspirations of rural populations. 2.3 Science and technology systems for rural development Structures and functions 164. Most of the Latin American and Caribbean countries now have the activities of their national science and technology systems co-ordinated by a governmental agency that deals with science and technology policies. They were created during the period but most of them have now become operational as was seen in Chapter I Most of the research units working in R&D that have to do with rural areas are connected with ministries of agriculture. Owing to the lack of resources, few universities have been able to put a really dynamic R&D policy in this field into practice but have been obliged to make do with limited experimental work in plots of land placed at their disposal on university campuses and therefore quite far removed from the down-to-earth life of the rural world. There are, however, some higher study centres and agricultural research units which do have sufficient resources (often obtained from bilateral or international assistance) and highly qualified personnel and this allows them to undertake a considerable amount of research whose findings are made available to agricultural workers in different socio-economic groups. In some countries several of these centres are sponsored by private organizations that have to do with specific agrarian products, such as coffee, sugar, bananas, etc So far, most agricultural research has been governed by the models of monoculture in temperate zones, in which, moreover, producers are typical businessmen who accede to technological innovations through market connections. Accordingly, agricultural research has been used primarily in the region as a support for commercial agriculture, whose technological development has followed the same pattern as agriculture in developed countries. On the other hand, technical production problems stemming from the fact that most of the agriculture in the region is tropical, a fact that decisively influences the effectiveness of the technological models used, both in arable farming and stock-breeding, and in forestry production, have scarcely been taken into account. Similarly, problems raised by the smallholding system of agriculture have nearly always been ignored. Rural development plans drawn up recently in some countries of the region have proposed a shift of emphasis in certain research programmes towards the problems of small rural farmers, and some specialized technical assistance

50 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 49 arrangements have been made for them; however, the pace of technological improvement in agriculture does not seem to have risen significantly in the nation as a whole, and where it has been observed locally, it affects more particularly those fringe production units that are closest to commercial agriculture, in terms of both systems used and degree of connection with the market. Parallel technologies and structures 167. In the classical structural systems, the traditional rural communities invented centuries ago forms of 'science' and 'technology' along practical lines that were appropriate to their own cultural, social, political, economic and ecological context. Unfortunately, these are not given the place they should have when it comes to defining and implementing policies for the application of today's science and technology, from which rural communities ought to be the first to benefit and which should include in greater measure 'feedback' from the scientific and technological acquisitions of the traditional cultures developed by their ancestors. Moreover, the difficulties encountered in actually incorporating modern technology profitably into traditional rural societies have led to doubts being expressed about the effectiveness of modern science and technology in underdeveloped societies whose qualitative and quantitative characteristics differ widely from those of advanced ifidustrialized societies Hence there emerged the concept of appropriate technologies. If, for example, one wishes to create an abundance of jobs in rural settings, attempts must be made to cut down the cost of creating each job, and this can be achieved by introducing lower cost appropriate technologies for this purpose, which are labour-intensive, without harming competitiveness. The concept of soft technology, which grew out of the world energy crisis, was introduced later. When this concept was applied to the developing countries, it was called 'socially appropriate technology' and was primarily concerned with the overall problem of communities outside the mainstream of economic and social development, including rural populations, of course In traditional rural settings, appropriate technology is drawn not only from the acquisitions of modern science but also from the empirically acquired knowledge of popular and ancestral 'science'. From a strictly economic viewpoint, appropriate technologies are those which, taking account of the cost of the factors of production (for example, labour and capital), encourage rational use of those factors, reduce consumption of the most costly factors and encourage the use of the cheapest. It is assumed that the prevailing price and salary structure should suffice for producers to make the most suitable choice of the technology they need. The same should apply to the scientists and technologists who design the technology, or to countries when attempts are made to control technological change in rural settings. However, this argument is based on the assumptions that prices reflect the relative abundance or scarcity of resources, and, above all, that these resources are distributed quite fairly among producers. These assumptions are generally not fulfilled in the smallholding type of agriculture already mentioned In Latin America and the Caribbean, the agricultural sector is characterized by a highly diversified structure in terms of the size of farming units, and the different incidental costs of the factors of production incurred by both large and small farms are more indicative of the internal availability of resources than of the economy in general, and normally deviate from market prices, as some case-studies have shown.

51 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The integration of technological innovations into the production process can be influenced to some extent by these prices, but it depends basically on the specific economic and social context in which it takes place; even in the case of producers not closely connected with the market, any increase in productivity stemming from a technological innovation must be accompanied by identical or reduced unit costs of production; otherwise, it is highly probable that the producer will not adopt the innovation, or will do so only partially Technological change also has another series of effects which are related to the amount of capital required in order to adopt a new technology. Above a certain level, the size of this amount becomes a barrier which excludesless wealthy producers and prevents new producers from gaining access to a certain kind of cultivation, regardless of the type of earnings that it might bring. These barriers are an obstacle to more widespread technological change, and consequently affect the possibilities of agriculture as a whole In the specific case of small subsistence farmers, the two features noted in connection with the relationship between production costs and capital investment are also to be found to the extent that these farmers are a part of the market; but, if the adoption of technology is to be feasible, then the above-mentioned peculiarities of smallholding agriculture must in addition be borne very much in mind. Otherwise, the technology made available to them will not be appropriate for their technical needs or economic possibilities, and is most unlikely to be accepted Lastly, it must be stressed, R&D should obviously not be exclusively confined to the rehabilitation of indigenous technologies or to the development of intermediate technologies, for these alone would not be capable of solving all the complex problems of rural settings in the field of agriculture, exploitation of natural resources or medicine; it is also necessary, as the case requires, to have recourse to more advanced modern technology The national scientific and technological system must therefore be organized in such a way as to be capable of incorporating all the data and knowledge required for rural development, from whatever source, and must include both advanced technologies as well as appropriate and traditional technologies in its implementation and extension networks. In short, the scientific, analytical and rational approach (researchers, engineers and technicians) must dovetail with cumulative, intuitive empiricism (inventors and traditional users). 2.4 Science and technology policy for the integrated development of rural settings Science and technology or integrated rural development 176. Integrated development of rural settings involves planning, programming and co-ordinated efforts to set up adequate infrastructures and services, to adopt commercial policies that will ensure free-market access for agricultural products and to bring about a better distribution of the means of production (land, seeds, livestock, etc.) so that rural inhabitants can benefit equitably from the fruits of growth. On the other hand, at the regional level, there is an awareness of the advantages of establishing regional or subregional common markets for the foodstuffs of which some countries have surpluses and others,

52 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 51 shortfalls. In the Andean region, for example, plans are currently being made for agricultural development, food strategies and the protection of the environment. International organizations like Unesco, FAO, ILO and OAS are likewise directly interested in the issue of rural development The starting-point in working out efficient science and technology policies for rural settings must be a review of general conditions in rural areas and the way in which they relate to the remainder of the productive system. Putting such integrated rural development policies into practice will require the strengthening of national scientific and technological systems, starting with the machinery that already exists but is too weak to yield the expected results. In this regard, it must be stressed that the main structures on which science and technology policies for integrated rural development must be based are, on the one hand, the universities, and, on the other, the research centres of the ministries concerned, those of some private bodies connected with the production sector and some regional or subregional centres. From this point of view, it is therefore of great importance to provide all of them with the best resources and bring them much closer to the rural environment. This holds true, in particular, for schools of agronomy The development and dissemination of appropriate endogenous technologies, including the rehabilitation of local technologies, is one of the tasks which could be taken on by the universities in conjunction with national, regional and international networks that disseminate information about worldwide developments in this type of technology. Useful activities along these lines might include the establishment of a regional data bank on operative production technologies and rural organization, and the adoption of regional agreements for the preparation and publication of teaching materials on experiments in the use of 'appropriate technologies' Another, more general, aspect to which national science and technology systems should also lend support is t'he implementation of economic and social policies to encourage the optimal use of natural factors of production - soil, water, fauna, flora, climate - with a conservationist approach, under which the authorities would assume their responsibility towards the people of today as well as those of tomorrow. The Lima Seminar (1983), mentioned earlier, endorsing the agreements of the sixth session of the Standing Conference (La Paz, 1981) recommended the launching of major national R&D programmes oriented towards rural development that capitalize on the natural and human resources of each country in Latin America and the Caribbean. It should, however, be pointed out that the implementation of these policies will naturally depend on the model adopted by each country for its socio-economic system and type of planning (indicative or normative planning) The Lima Seminar also recommended that efforts be combined in order to generate, adapt and disseminate the scientific and technological inputs required for rural development and that such efforts be co-ordinated regionally in close co-operation with national science and technology policy-making bodies, the universities, R&D institutes and the S&T services of the countries involved. Signs of such co-operation already exist, especially at the subregional level, supported by OAS (Central America) and by JUNAC (Andean countries) Emphasis was also laid on the need to orient rural development as well as scientific and technological systems towards the establishment of greater social justice. As a consequence, the promoters and beneficiaries of rural

53 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 52 development should be called upon to work together for the framing of strategies for development through science and technology, which would therefore be implemented with the consent and support of the rural populations affected Lastly, the need was stressed for a general improvement in the output of agricultural products in the countries of the region through the use of better technologies. In this connection, it should be recalled that many countries depend on some particular agricultural product as their main source as foreign exchange. Science and technology priorities for the rural sector 183. The practical implementation of the above-mentioned policies and strategies would require, above all, the development of methods that would make it possible to identify the scientific and technological priorities and inputs needed to promote rural development in each of the socio-economic and ecological regions of the countries involved. These methods, actively applied, especially by those who are to benefit from improvements, should make it possible to identify the options likely to bring about balanced and sustained development of the various ecological micro-regions of each country, while fully respecting national development policies for the rural sector This undoubtedly requires resolute action by the ONCYTs, with the political backing that is essential if technological development in rural settings is to become a reality. Only in this way can the production capacity and the comparative advantages of the region - which still has a food surplus - be maintained on the international market. A major feature of this technological development is its heavy dependence at present on industrial inputs, i.e. produced outside the agricultural concern. Outstanding examples of these inputs are hybrid seeds, fertilizers, agrochemicals and agricultural machinery. The development and constant improvement of these industrial inputs depends on R&D which is highly complex and costly This has two important corollaries. The first is that this knowledge has so far, to a large extent, been produced in industrialized countries, and is linked with basic research in areas traditionally considered to be remote from agricultural research. Consequently, the R&D required for agricultural development has now become far bigger in its scale and broader in scope than it used to be. For example, there are some fields of biotechnology or genetic engineering that could revolutionize certain areas of agricultural research in the future. The second corollary is that the growing importance of this type of technology has placed the transnational private sector in a very strong position, since access to the technological information developed in the industrialized countries is a fundamental factor of market competitiveness. Taken together, these two corollaries are of vital importance, since they give rise to the new and major consequence of 'technological dependence'. The danger now is not only that a country may adopt technologies that do not correspond to its actual needs; in addition there is the real though not immediate possibility that trade practices or international conflicts may lead to situations whereby a country is cut off from world scientific progress and consequently will fall irremediably behind in the technological race..) 186. A second, diametrically opposed, factor of market competitiveness is the need to integrate rural production, which is of tremendous economic and social importance in some countries in the region. Such integration requires, as

54 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 53 stated above, the development of technologies that are appropriate to the particular circumstances of the unit of production, both in terms of agricultural ecology and in terms of resources and size, To solve these problems, a major effort on the part of competent national agencies will be required, the results of which should be very favourable if at the same time adequate regional and subregional scientific and technological co-operation is organized with a view to promoting the development of ecological micro-regions, and hence solutions that are comprehensive from the human point of view and are alone able to provide a satisfactory answer in the long term to the problems of the rural world. At the subregional level-there are, of course, valid precedents for this type of co-operation. 2.5 The fields of R&D activity applied to integrated rural development 188. In continuation of the foregoing analysis, it is undoubtedly useful to delimit more precisely the fields of R&D activity devoted to solving rural problems, since national science and technology policies in Latin America have made only very timid attempts to do so thus far. This is doubtless the result of the difficulties of formulating such policies, due, on the one hand, to the complex nature of the system of factors governing rural development, and, on the other, to the broadening range of possible technological alternatives, varying with the socio-economic diversity of the different rural contexts In the first place, if not all the necessary basic information is available, a few general studies may have to be carried out for the country or area in question on: production and processing technologies already in use; types of producers, classified according to capital, labour, technologies used and access to markets, with clear distinctions between commodity producers and those engaged in processing, through industry or craft; size of production units; types of inputs and existing levels of technological control, mechanization of cultivation, harvesting, storage and transport At the same time, consideration should be given to those fields of activity which are fundamental for solving the problem of agricultural production on a long-term basis and within an integrated approach. In order to ensure the coherence of agricultural, food and environmental conservation policies, which would be both a solution to immediate problems and a guarantee of survival for future generations, it seems that the activities to be undertaken should respect these four general principles: the agricultural environment and the fertility of the land should be conserved and improved; the peculiarities of smallholding agriculture should be recognized; integrated systems of forestry, farming and grazing should be adopted; the conservation and processing of products should take place at three levels: the production unit, community and ecological micro-regional levels.

55 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The emphasis placed on the qualitative aspect and on the micro-regional dimension is important since these involve the ecological, technical and marketing aspects of production Furthermore, the extensive growth policy of agricultural production should not jeopardize the conservation of lands which are already being exploited. The conservation and improvement of the rural environment call for land-use measures so that a balance is maintained between forested and agricultural lands and pastures, in proportions and areas specific to each region. A balance of this kind should make for a certain regularity in the microclimate and water regimen, prevent erosion and create the necessary conditions for the establishment of integrated production systems. These general guidelines usually involve rural engineering, soil conservation and irrigation/ drainage infrastructures to improve soil fertility and good water management Taking into account these general principles and guidelines, and depending on the micro-regions chosen in various rural areas, research could be carried out in connection with the following: botanical associations, with a view to reafforestation for environmental or commercial purposes ; the optimal extension of forested zones in order to strike a natural balance in the factors of production; suitable conditioning of agricultural lands in an effort to control erosion; the stabilization and restoration of the potential fertility of arable soils and pastures; combinations of crops on small farms; management of surface water with a view to its natural accumulation and annual availability (volume and seasonal distribution); genetic improvement of food production according to optimalization criteria based on an integrated management of farming systems; the study of selected issues with a bearing on the development of agrobusinesses ; the integrated management of forested tree-crop, woodland pasture and mixed-farming ecosystems; integration of agricultural, livestock, forestry and craft activities into the productive system of small farm units; integrated biological efforts (including genetic resistance) to protect plant and animal products; agricultural practices for the preparation of land and maintenance of crops and harvesting systems which optimize 'labour' variables (time, costs and energy used); post-harvest technologies which affect the quality of product conservation and processing;

56 SC-85/CASTAtAC II/3 - page 55 the energy balance of integrated systems of forestry, agricultural and livestock production, as a complementary variable of economic planning; diversified, intensified and integrated systems of agricultural and tree-crop production; evaluation and improvement of indigenous or traditional agricultural technologies ; development and dissemination of appropriate technologies for the rural environment (construction of low-cost housing, energy production systems, design of farm implements, systems for the drying and storage of products, etc.) ; development of small local industries With regard to those features which have a direct effect on society, research could focus mainly on employment, distribution of income, nutrition and environmental hygiene. R&D would then deal with: the employment and income component as an integral part of economic planning, through the indirect means of appropriate technological development policies; the qualitative aspects of foodstuffs, i.e. their naturalness, digestibility and biological value; small-scale and industrial processing; the sources and ways of applying efficient means of processing foodstuffs, mainly in regions lacking conventional sources of energy.

57 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 57 CHAPTER I11 GOVERNMENT INSTRUMENTS AND MECHANISMS FOR THE PLANNING OF SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES 195. This chapter covers those items on the agenda of CASTALAC I1 that can be regarded as government instruments and mechanisms for planning the development and implementation of science and technology policies. The purpose is obviously not to make a general review of all such instruments and mechanisms, which would doubtlessly include issues as important as setting objectives or devising strategies, plans and programmes, but only to present those which are to be discussed by CASTALAC 11, on the basis of the recommendations of the sixth session of the Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy- Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean In selecting these issues, the Standing Conference certainly took into account the current state of the art of science and technology policy-making and management in the region. Progress in this area has been very significant in the past decade, as is borne out by the numerous projects completed and documents published, among which.mention might be made, for example, of methodological studies on national budgeting for science and technology activities, carried out and applied by Unesco ( , on studies of ways and means of science and technology policy, funded by the Canadian International Development Research Centre ( ) and on studies of science and technology policy and planning instruments in Central America and Panama, funded by OAS ( ) Other themes corresponding to the more highly developed stages of science and technology management had therefore to be selected, with particular attention to thosethatwould become increasingly important in the coming years, such as better assimilation of imported technologies, greater use of local scientific and technological infrastructures by the productive sector, and concerted action by the various institutions and individuals involved in scientific and technological activities at different functional levels. Experience has shown that it is not enough to draw up guideline documents such as plans and strategies; it is also necessary to make more sophisticated arrangements for incentive and co-ordination, reinforced wherever possible by direct or indirect management of financial resources, focusing on specific activities selected as priorities. To complete the planning cycle, methods and mechanisms must also be available to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of research units where the creative work that constitutes the nucleus of scientific and technological development is actually being performed These are therefore the items on the agenda of CASTALAC I1 and consequently they are dealt with in this third chapter on the main working document. 3.1 Acquisition and implantation of technologies 199. Activities geared to obtaining and implanting technologies are generally included within the broader concept of 'technology transfer'. This in turn encompasses activities ranging from the identification of technological requirements to the dissemination and, where appropriate, the marketing of the technologies once they have been introduced. Clearly, then, the subject is a vast one, since, in addition to the specific aspects of technological development

58 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 58 involved in these activities, there are also the commercial, legal, institutional and administrative aspects which usually come under the concept of 'technology negotiation'. In the past ten years this issue of negotiation has been much discussed at various meetings and conferences in the region, especially those connected with UNCTAD and UNIDO, and therefore this brief account will deal primarily with the specific aspects of technological development involved in the technology transfer process. This does not in any way imply lack of recognition of the importance of the negotiation process It may be helpful to quote one definition of technology most comonly used in the region: Technology, in the broadest sense, is the systematized body of all knowledge used for the production, distribution (through commercial or any other channels) and utilization of goods and services. Consequently, it encompasses not only scientific and technological knowledge generated by research and experimental development (R&D) but also knowledge yielded by empirical activities, traditions, manual crafts, intuition, imitation, adaptation, etc Accordingly, it is precisely this concept of the 'systemized body of all knowledge' and not merely the 'aggregate or juxtaposition' of such knowledge that presupposes the existence of a creative, intelligent and specific process in that it brings together, in optimal scientific form, the knowledge needed to satisfy a specific social demand as reflected in the production of a particular commodity or the provision-of a particular service. In this regard, it should be stressed that technology is not normally generated in a social vacuum, but is a response to a specific, real or potential, demand While technology is always seen as being closely bound up with science, it should not be thought that these are two identical, or even analogous, concepts. Science is basically concerned with the discovery, interpretation and analysis of natural and social phenomena and, as such, is the product of hypotheses and theories leading to general accepted and experimentally verifiable knowledge. Technology on the other hand, is concerned with the practical application of such knowledge essentially in order to produce the goods and provide the services that society requires. Hence technology must be tailored specifically to the particular situation in which it is to be applied Technology has existed for as long as mankind; it is no modern invention. However, its importance and sheer scope have increased enormously in recent decades, as a result of the tremendous impact of modern technological development, since these can modify directly or indirectly, voluntarily or involuntarily, the social, economic and cultural contexts of the societies that are the beneficiaries thereof. To this must be added the speed of technological change. Formerly, society generally speaking had the necessary time to accommodate to and assimilate newly developed technologies; seldom were any rejected. By contrast, the differences in development contexts today between the countries that provide the technology and those that receive it, and the speed with which such technologies are introduced into the receiving countries, often result in their being rejected, in addition to producing various negative effects in those countries Formerly, technology comprised a corpus of rules that were generally not written but rather transmitted individually within each corporation of craftsmen. Technology subsequently started to be regarded increasingly as a real commodity, around which a highly atypical market has been established, owing

59 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 59 to the monopolistic or oligopolistic structure of its suppliers; this atypical character however, later weakens in newly industrializing countries, when the local market opens up to foreign-competing products or processes. The great disparities between the social contexts of the beneficiary countries, structural shortcomings in negotiations owing to the specific nature of the applications, and a general lack of information - which is important not only at the beginning of the process, but also during the above-mentioned market opening up stage - are all factors typical of the complexity of the acquisition negotiation, and also confirm the mercantile nature of technology, in sharp contrast with science. The process is further complicated by the host of international, regional, national, private and public organizations all negotiating on the technology market. In the most highly developed countries, firms have even been set up which do nothing but produce technologies All countries are producers of technology, but only some of them develop those advanced technologies that are needed for the processing industries, for the manufacture of goods and for the provision of services without which any country finds itself gradually left behind by the rest of the world. Logically, this structural disparity strengthens the technological dependence of the nonindustrialized countries upon the achievements of the industrialized nations. The science and technology function on the one hand and the production of goods and services on the other hand, tend to become disconnected in the nonindustrialized countries, since the demand for technology is not met by local supply, owing to the absence of any long-term plans, programmes and other instruments or mechanisms whereby the capacity required to meet such demand could be gradually acquired. As a result, the productive sector prefers to import tried and tested technologies, sure in the knowledge that they can put them into practice in the short term without running any risks; the outcome is the technological dependence mentioned above, which has frequently been more harshly termed 'technological colonialism' The commercial flow of technology has increased enormously over the past few decades, especially since the Second World War, as a number of developing countries have endeavoured to set up their own industries to produce the goods they need and thus make it unnecessary to import them. As is known, the prevailing pattern in the past was the 'centre-to-periphery' model, whereby the underdeveloped countries imported from the metropolitan centres the manufactured goods that they required both for their domestic consumption and for the purpose of extracting their natural resources, which were then exported to the metropolitan centres. The technology was imported essentially in 'packaged' form, i.e. it was part and parcel of the equipment and plant needed to extract the natural resources and provide a number of essential services. This situation changed substantially in some countries of the region when their governments adopted industrial development policies, designed essentially to do away with the importation of consumer commodities and semi-manufactured goods. These protectionist policies designed to foster production encouraged the inflow of foreign capital and technology, stemming essentially from the transnational corporations, which immediately perceived the advantages of having a captive market, one moreover that had the benefit of various subsidies, privileges and other economic incentives inherent in the protectionist policies. By and large, no priorities were established, with the result that decisions regarding what was to be produced and what markets were to be exploited remained in the hands of foreign investors.

60 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page It is against this background, then, that commercial flows of 'disembodied technologies' have begun to increase from the central or metropolitan countries to those on the pheriphery, basically in order to ensure the efficient operation of the subsidiary companies of the transnational corporations From the mid-1960s on, and particularly during the early 1970s, a number of groups of research specialists who were concerned to promote endogenous technological development and worried about the harmful or at least undesired effects produced by the importation of technology - such as the employment of expatriate rather than local personnel in enterprises, the excessive outflow of foreign exchange in payment of capital gains and interest on loans, and in royalties for technological concessions - began to voice their disquiet and carry out the appropriate studies. The first governmental measures adopted for that purpose were aimed at foreign investments. Later, consideration was given to the aspects relating to trade and the transfer of technology. Reconciling the need to speed up the rate of economic growth, firstly with the need for progress in low-productivity traditional sectors whose technological absorption capacity was low, and secondly with the need for full employment, which called for the introduction or choice of mare labour-intensive technologies, tended to be the criterion determining the choice and subsequent adaptation of foreign technologies All of these tendencies led to the establishment of legal regulations to control the importation of 'disembodied technology' in its different forms: concessions, provision of know-how, technical assistance, etc. Within a short period, national authorities responsible for exerting such control were set up throughout the region: Colombia (1967), Brazil (1970), Argentina (1971), Mexico (1972), Bolivia, Chile and Venezuela (1974), Ecuador and Peru (19751, Guatemala and Nicaragua (1979) and El Salvador (1983) Of particular significance in this area has been the adoption by JUNAC in 1970 of Decision 24 and its implementing regulations on 'a common regime for foreign capital and concerning trademarks, patents, licences and royalties', various articles of which regulate the transfer of technology from abroad. Equally important is JUNAC's Decision 85, concerning industrial property, which provides a new legal framework for patents, brand names and trademarks; it forbids patents for pharmaceutical products, food products and animal feed; introduces the concepts of conditional patent, compulsory licence and blanket patent, as well as lapse of patent for non-exploitation, it prohibits brand names on clothing and abolishes commercial trademarks Moreover, JUNAC's Decision 84 lays the foundations for a subregional technological development policy through the Andean technology development projects (PADT), designed in such a way as to facilitate generation of the specific skills required by the productive sector in certain areas. The areas chosen by the PADTs correspond to strategic socio-economic sectors in which there has been extensive, far-reaching co-operative action among the Andean countries. The implementation of these projects has 'made it possible to set up multinational teams of specialists and technicians and to mobilize external financial resources balanced by considerable amounts of national funds. In addition, specific technological disparities among member countries have been reduced and project results indicate the ways and means of completing the technological cycle, from the generation of technologies to industrial innovation By extension, the model is applicable to co-operation, which is highly desirable in the process of technology negotiation. So far, the struggle has

61 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 61 been aimed at unbundling up technological packages, but in this new phase attempts should be made to bring together the relevant components of technologies adapted or generated locally - duly taking into account the requirements of international commercial standardization - to be supplied by local producers under co-operation arrangements with foreign technology suppliers. The intraregional dissemination of these 'local' technologies will, undoubtedly have a very beneficial multiplier effect Ultimately, the aim of all these moves is to strengthen the role of the endogenous scientific and technological infrastructure with a view, on the one hand, to improving the capacity to negotiate the transfer of those technologies that need to be imported, and, on the other, to limiting such imports to those that are strictly essential. This approach not only serves to reduce unnecessary expenditure of foreign exchange but also makes for greater participation by research and development laboratories, scientific and technological services, and local production enterprises In order to achieve these aims, mechanisms should be instituted for effectively linking up national S&T infrastructure with the goods and services production sector. In the majority of the countries now becoming industrialized, the creation of such mechanisms is being promoted essentially by the State, which as a rule is also the main promoter, executive agency and beneficiary of scientific and technological activities. As effective channels of communication and consultation are established, the capacity to obtain scientific and technological knowledge will increase and, with it, the ability to adapt and assimilate the imported technologies, thereby making it possible to adjust them to conditions that are different from those in which they were first produced. It will also become possible, assuming that other conditions are met, to reach the stage where technologies are exported It is apparent that a rapid change of attitude towards this question has occurred in the region. As was mentioned above, the prevailing approach until the early 1970s had been to minimize imports of technologies, limiting them strictly to actual requirements. In recent years, and above all as a result of the shortage of foreign exchange, the idea has been to export products and technologies in order to help to solve the balance of payments crisis that is preoccupying most of the countries in the region. The scientific and technological infrastructure must play a key role in the strategy of providing the production sector with guidance, in order to assist in the selection, negotiation, acquisition, transfer, installation, assimilation, adaptation and subsequent dissemination of the technologies required It usually takes between ten and 15 years for a laboratory devoted to research and experimental development to produce applicable results. In most of the countries of the region that began to strengthen their laboratories in the past decade, such laboratories should therefore soon be able to participate in the technological development process of the productive sector. Such participation should be encouraged by the State through the establishment of financial mechanisms for the award of tax exemptions and subsidies to those companies that conclude contracts for technological development schemes with the laboratories in question. In this way, the risks with which management must content as a result of uncertainties relating to delivery deadlines and the quality of local products would be gradually offset. Obviously, the local laboratories should be able to offer at the very least the same guarantees as those offered by foreign suppliers in regard to the delivery deadlines, quality, standards, performance, etc., of their technology.

62 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Other means of linking the S&T infrastructure with the productive sector involve 'mobility' of the human resources of those infrastructures so that they can participate in activities carried out in the productive enterprises. There are already a number of examples of technological extension in the region, in both the agricultural and the industrial sectors: R&D laboratory specialists co-operate with production establishments by passing on knowledge, solving small practical problems and picking up ideas and needs which could respectively be developed or met in these laboratories. These extension workers are an effective link between the world of researchers and that of producers. Similarly, public sector researchers, scientists and technologists could be used - there have not been many experiments in this sphere in the region - under the administrative 'secondment' system, for periods between one to three years, so that they could take part in the scientific and technological activities in the productive sector. In general, the first year's salary of the researcher on secondment is paid by his institution, whereas that of the following years is the responsibility of the beneficiary enterprise Clearly, programmes for training highly qualified laboratory personnel locally and abroad are a sine qua non if a certain advisory capacity in matters of selecting, negotiating, transferring and adopting technologies is to be drawn up. It should not be assumed that the importing of technology can simply be discontinued, since today there is not a single country in the world that is totally self-sufficient in matters of technology; even when countries draw first and foremost on their own resources, those resources are not usually sufficient in all areas, and so they are forced to turn to foreign suppliers to meet some of their technological needs In many countries of the region there are still numerous barriers standing in the way of enforcing and appropriate policy for endogenous technological development that will serve to strengthen local scientific and technological capacities. Of these, mention may be made in particular of: (a) the lack of a coherent, explicit and clearly defined policy for promoting endogenous technological development; (b) major shortcomings in the socio-economic infrastructure; (c) a shortage of qualified manpower (scientists, engineers and technicians) ; (d) dearth of managerial and administrative personnel; (e) a limited domestic consumer market for manufactured goods; (f) inadequately developed scientific and technological infrastructure; (9) a want of incentives to adopt new technologies In recent times many recommendations have been formulated for the purpose of setting up technological information systems capable of pinpointing and storing data on 'freely available' technologies, or technologies that are not subject to the provisions governing industrial property. Such technologies are normally described in handbooks, technical publications, and records of patents that have lapsed, the technical reports produced by R&D laboratories, etc. However, making use of these technologies is not always an easy matter, and a team of engineers and technicians is generally required in order to adapt them to the specific conditions in which they are to be used. Hence enterprise managers still prefer in some cases to buy modern technologies whose distribution is restricted in order to ensure their own predominance in the market and the consequent economic benefits.

63 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page With regard to the adaptation of technology, suitably qualified human resources are needed in order to match the acquired technology to the conditions and requirements of the environment in which it is to be used. Such adaptation should take account of the availability of raw materials, the relative prices thereof, consumer tastes and habits, etc., all clearly aimed at the economic objectives of minimizing costs and increasing output. In many cases, the technology has been all too obviously unsuited to the purposes for which it was imported, and has led to consequent economic losses and social complications. Generally speaking, every effort must be made not to disrupt the social and economic context into which the technology selected is to be introduced It would be over-simplifying matters if we were to reduce the problem of acquiring and launching new technology solely to a recipient country's intensive participation in all phases of that process. Nevertheless, this is undoubtedly the key factor. And it is this factor that should sway both government authorities and corporate management to work together to establish a clear-cut policy to promote endogenous technological development that allows foreign technology to be introduced but with the proviso that it must be used to strengthen local scientific and technological capacities. In principle, it should perhaps be made mandatory in the case of any new technology introduced into the country, once a maximum period of three to five years has elapsed, for that technology to be transmitted by means of training courses for the personnel of the R&D laboratories corresponding to the branch of industry concerned. 3.2 The financing of R&D and of technological development in the Droductive sector of the economv 223. The shortage of financial resources has become much more acute and widespread during the last decade as a result of crises caused, inter alia, by the combined action of: (i) the large increase in oil prices between 1973 and 1976; (ii) the recession, which some observers say worsened as a result of the adoption of monetarist economic policies by some of the most highly industrialized countries; (iii) the fall in international prices of raw materials of plant and animal origin available mainly from developing countries; and (iv) the excessive rise in the indebtedness of the countries of the region, since in many cases their respective annual debt repayments account for a high percentage of their export earnings The majority of the countries affected by these constraints have had to adopt measures to regulate and protect their financial resources and to reduce severely those costs regarded as not producing any return in the short term, while abandoning traditional forms of medium- and long-term planning and programming. Although there has not always been any specific decision to this effect, that is in fact what has happened. Inevitably, such decisions have had an unfavourable influence on the financing of scientific and technological activities, on account of the inevitable unpredictability of their results; and because results can be achieved only in the medium and long term, many countries have preferred to channel their scarce financial resources into activities which appear to be economically more productive in the short term Nevertheless, the considerable contribution which scientific and technological activities make towards national economic and social development has continued to be emphasized. Accordingly, both the scientific community and those responsible for national policies in science and technology have unanimously agreed in their public statements on the need to promote scientific

64 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 64 and technological development as one of the few possibilities which countries have to help improve the quality of human life and to increase economic growth. Accordingly, efforts have continued to be made, both at the national level and also in regional and international forums, not only to increase the traditional sources of finance, but also to encourage the creation of new sources and means of financing for scientific and technological activities Hence, a review will be made in what follows of the principal mechanisms for financing scientific and technological activities. This is subject of great importance for the countries of the region, mainly because of the recent growth of their science and technology infrastructure and the need to link them efficiently with the productive sectors. Insufficient attention has been paid to these issues at earlier meetings of Unesco's Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean. They are dealt with at greater length in a conference room document which will be made available to the participants in CASTALAC 11. In order to describe these financing mechanisms, it will be necessary first to consider the different patterns of institutional structure and scope of scientific and technological activities. It is also important to take into account the different sources of funds, the possible intermediaries for channelling resources and the various practical procedures whereby those resources can reach the beneficiaries. The various combinations of sources, intermediaries, types of users and of scientific and technological activities to be implemented make up a whole range of financial mechanisms to which great attention will have to be paid in the years ahead Traditionally, the first mechanism to be established in any country for financing R&D is concerned almost exclusively with basic or fundamental research and it usually operates under the responsibility of the national body for the promotion of scientific research. The way resources are allocated in practice is that an overall budgetary allocation is laid down in the general State budget for the national body already mentioned and the latter awards selective grants to researchers on an individual basis. In the region much experience has already been acquired in this field, although it should be pointed out that no documents are yet available which would make it possible to carry out an overall comparative analysis for the countries in the region which would take into account the different variables which characterize such R&D promotion funds (sometimes called science foundations) : methods of presentation of requests, criteria of evaluation and selection, procedures for follow-up activities and for the presentation of results, etc Those countries which were first to set out on the path of industrialization in order to produce import substitutes and promote exports, and which have consequently had to develop technological capacities both in order to assimilate and adapt imported technologies and also to develop endogenous technologies, have come up against problems in defining the legal and institutional basis to support this process, and this has hindered the rapid development of such capacities. On the one hand, there have been problems in defining the area of scientific and technological activities. For example, where and what is the area's limit, as compared with those activities which are normally carried out for the production of goods and services? Does it lie in the detailed engineering design work or the technical feasibility studies or the marketing of technologies - to mention just a few of these activities? Should such activities be regarded as coming within the field of science and technology or within the field of production? On the other hand,

65 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 65 where this area of activity comes into contact with the university world, should postgraduate fellowships, for example, be regarded as methods of promoting science and technology or, on the contrary, should they continue to be part of strictly educational policy? Consequently, there is a whole series of functional and institutional problems which need to be analysed in order to define in greater detail the scope of scientific and technological activities, principally so that these activities can be harmoniously integrated into the endogenous development of the national decision-making capacity in the field of science and technology. For this analysis, the 'systems approach' which has already been widely studied and developed in the region, has proved to be of great value. Accordingly, the activities coming within the field of science and technology, and which should therefore be financed through the mechanisms specifically established for this purpose, would be the following: planning and general administration of S&T which covers all management activities associated with the development and effective use of the national scientific and technological potential; R&D training of scientists and technologists during the postgraduate stage of higher education which represents the transition between systematic and formal education on the one hand, and professional R&D (or STS) activities on the other; research and experimental development (RGrD) which is the creative hardcore of the science and technology activities; scientific and technological services (STS) which consist of a group of routine activities related to R&D and forming an active link between R&D and the productive sector These services are often subdivided in three groups of a rather different nature : support services for R&D such as data collection, standardization, metrology, scientific museums, etc.; information and documentation services, such as information systems, documentation centres, scientific libraries, data banks, etc.; techno-economic services such as patent services, consulting and extension engineering, marketing of technology, etc To these activities tend nowadays to be added in the region a transitional group of activities linking S&T activities to actual production; it includes detailed engineering design, building and operating semi-industrial pilot plants, and the initial production and commercialization of technological innovations In addition, there have been limitations of an institutional nature concerning the beneficiaries or users of the subsidies allocated to the R&D promotion funds mentioned above. As long as such allocations were restricted to university circles, to which most of the researchers belonged, there was no need either to modify the criteria and norms for assessing and allocating the subsidies or to create new financial mechanisms. However, when it became necessary to raise the level of productivity in the primary sector (agricultural production or mining), the secondary sector (processing and manufacturing production) and the tertiary sector (the provision of services), it was decided first of all to set up specific institutions and then to establish financial mechanisms intended to stimulate the productive sector to develop technological innovations.

66 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page It should be borne in mind that there is a considerable structural difference between the industrialized countries and those which are attempting to industrialize. In the case of the former, technological development originated in the manufacturing firms themselves and State encouragement was not necessary; furthermore, branch research laboratories were established on the initiative of the chamber of commerce or business associations in order to increase overall production in their particular fields. On the other hand, in the industrializing countries, the productive sectors show little or no interest in establishing links with the national scientific and technological system since, in general terms, not only can they see no economic benefits to be gained in such action, but in many cases they are already very closely tied to ideas and methods imported from abroad Hence the need for positive State action to promote scientific and technological development in the enterprise sector, both private and public. Such a policy must continue to support for basic science, whose inputs are certainly becoming particularly necessary in several branches of advanced technology Thus, in the developing countries, and even more particularly in those countries which are attempting to increase endogenous technological development in the productive sectors, the State has a special role to play by acting as both intermediary and pace-maker of the countries' actions in the field of science and technology. This action by the State may take different forms on account of its triple role as the main implementor, the main user and the main promoter of scientific and technological activities. It is the main implementor since most scientific and technological activities are carried out in establishments which are either public or which belong directly or indirectly to the State. It is also the main user, when there is no increased demand for science and technology from private enterprises. By pursuing an appropriate policy in the way it uses its own purchasing power, the State channel financial resources (which are probably much greater than those obtainable from any R&D promotion fund that might be set up), towards manufacturing industries, which in their turn can direct them towards either their own or other technological development laboratories. Finally, the State is also the main promoter, since, by means of taxes, duties and other compulsory fund-raising systems, it can channel either directly or indirectly such revenue towards those activities which it wishes to promote, and in this way it fulfils its role as an intermediary. This?attern, which reflects the present situation in most of the countries in the region, will be changed gradually as the private sector starts to participate more in R&D activities. Mention is made later of some of the mechanisms intended to promote such participation, which is apparently indispensable to a country's technological take-off With regard to funding sources, it must be recalled that at the microeconomic level, i.e. at the level of the units implementing scientific and technological activities, inventories on S&T potential usually indicate the origin of resources, whether from the public sector (State budget and extrabudgetary funds), the national private sector (service or development contracts) or foreign (bilateral or multilateral co-operation, and, in some special cases, foreign firms interested in specific research or technological development). However, at the macro-economic level, a matter of fundamental interest is the channellingof any economic surpluses that may be derived from manufacturing activities or labour, which must necessarily pass through the hands of intermediaries: and the State, as stated above, is generally foremost among these. But, in addition, extra-governmental funds may exist which do not meet the requirements of 'budget universality and unity' and which receive financial

67 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 67 resources originating from 'earmarked' taxation or other compulsory fundraising systems. Account must also be taken of economic surpluses that can be channelled through the banking system, in the form of loans which may (or may not) have a joint risk component. Lastly, there are also funding corporations for innovation, which collect investment surpluses and channel them into technological development The financing of scientific and technological activities is not a simple task: in the first place, it is profoundly dependent on the total volume of resources in the national economy. In the second place, and this is particularly true of many countries in the region, owing to the uncertainty of its results and to the relatively recent implantation of utilitarian R&D activities in the region, local private enterprises show little enthusiasm for investing in technological development. In the third place, there needs to be an explicit policy for long-term technological development so that the financial mechanisms for its implementation will be compatible with the period of development, of production and return on investment in technological innovation. As far as the last point is concerned, it should be noted that important technological innovations, which are likely to produce a technological multiplier effect, do not generally depend on 'short-term markets', but on the forward-looking studies necessary to maintain long-term competitiveness. Technological development is, therefore, a fundamental element in the ability of a firm to maintain its position in the market. However, this brings with it a technical and economic risk. The technical risk concerns the probabilities of successfully solving the many different problems raised by technological innovation, while the economic risk is concerned with fixing the price of the product and choosing the right time for launching it on the market. A technologically worthwhile innovation would be of little use if its cost were higher than that of its competitors or if, by the time it was brought on to the market, it might be regarded as obsolescent In addition, the task of establishing specific financial mechanisms for particular activities or actions, such as those in the field of science and technology, raises the problem of deciding priorities in the distribution of government funds. It is very often the case that there is only a fixed volume of financial resources available, and in such circumstances to assign priority to science and technology means scaling down the priority given to any other sector of the budget, and such decisions can only be taken after appropriate negotiations at the highest government level. If, however, the decision is simply taken to create new sources of revenue, by broadening the taxable basis of the population, the economic consequences may be of another kind. However, although there is quite clearly a need to finance scientific and technological activities as a guarantee of the future and of national independence the sums concerned are generally not very large but merely involve budgetary increases of the order of 0.5 to 1 per cent of the overall total of the general State budget. In general, in those countries where the scientific and technological community is already well-organized and where most of the machinery for coordinating, promoting and financing scientific and technological activities already exists, the volume of financial resources which the State allocates to them is between 4.5 and 9 per cent of the general State budget, namely between 1.5 and 3 per cent of the gross national product, if we assume that the budget represents 30 per cent of the gross national product. In such circumstances, budgetary increases for S&T should not normally exceed an annual accumulative 15 per cent in constant terms so as not to oversaturate the capacity for effective absorption. As a result, there are not too many financial problems

68 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 68 in guaranteeing the above-mentioned rate of growth in the scientific and technological field, in order that the net volume of expenditure may be doubled within a period of five years, a period which is generally compatible with the development of technological research projects. Undoubtedly, many countries in the region already find themselves in such a situation. It is therefore desirable that when an overall assessment of the events of recent years is made, taking into account the situations which the region will have to deal with in future years, common resolutions should be adopted concerning the levels of financing needed for supporting the scientific and technological activities carried out in the countries of the region, including those of subregional and regional interest It should be mentioned at this point that several countries of the region have recently been developing machinery for the general co-ordination of national budgets, through the introduction of the science and technology function in such budgets, while some have already begun to carry out programmed budgeting in scientific and technological activities, through the use of a general co-ordination mechanism based on the science and technology budget function. However, some progress still needs to be made if the results are to be compared with what may be obtained from the periodic inventories of scientific and technological potential and of the fully fledged systems of functional budget for science and technology at national level In addition, the region is quite well endowed with mechanisms for direct financing, by means of special, individual funds, although in fact they are all funded from the national budget. There are also some cases of indirect mechanisms based on fiscal means, tariffs or credits in order to encourage productive enterprises (mainly in the private sector), to carry out technological development activities. When there are priorities or preferential lines of approach laid down in the national development plans, such indirect methods of stimulation are increasingly used in order to channel financial resources to the private sector. However, it is clear that the success of such mechanisms in the field of scientific and technological development strongly depends on the capacity for technological assimilation and development existing in the private manufacturing sector. As some unsuccessful experiments in the region have already shown, there is little point in establishing financial mechanisms if the previous state of S&T manpower training necessary for such activities is lagging behind Generally speaking, in those countries where the rate of capital accumulation in the private sector is extremely weak and slow, it is better to establish first of all mechanisms for direct financing, such as subsidies and loans for joint-risk ventures and even preferential bank loans and offers of capital for the establishment of joint-venture corporations and equity capital corporations for innovation. A complementary mechanism consists in the creation of a 'loan guarantee fund', to cover the financial risk of bank loans intended for the development of innovations; under this system the risk taken. by the banks is covered and there is no need to demand real guarantees or endorsement for repayment. 3.3 Concertation mechanisms 241. The development of science and technology is governed essentially by the creative ability of scientific researchers and by the opportunities open to them to exert their talents. Although characterized the high level of uncertainty

69 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 69 regarding the successful outcome of scientific research and the practical application of its results, these results may exert a tremendous impact upon the social, cultural, economic and even political structures of nations. Consequently, scientific researchers have an undeniable social responsibility to mankind. Hence, in so far as is possible and without implying any restrictions or placing any conditions upon their individual intellectual freedom, their creative endeavours must be evaluated. This question will be examined in the next section of this chapter. Suffice it to say for the moment that the evaluation of the scientific excellence of their work should rest in the first place on their peers. Moreover, since decisions that must today be taken at government level entail commitments in regard to education, technology, natural resources, land-use planning, the environment, energy, etc. that would themselves be difficult to undertake without first seeking the responsible and well-informed advice of the scientific and technological community. Hence the members of that community have at least two advisory duizies that cannot be eschewed or delegated: one to their own colleagues, involving the evaluation of their respective activities, and the other to the government and its institutions; requiring them to express their views as to whether the decisions taken are those that are most appropriate for the optimal harnessing of natural resources and the promotion of the well-being of society In this connection, it may be useful to recall some of the provisions of the 'Recommendation on the status of scientific researchers' adopted by the General Conference of Unesco at its eighteenth session (Paris, 20 November 1974) : '11. Scientific researchers in the context of national policy-making 7. Member States should cultivate opportunities for scientific researchers to participate in the outlining of national scientific research and experimental development policy. In particular, each Member State should ensure that these processes are supported by appropriate institutional mechanisms enjoying adequate advice and assistance from scientific researchers and their professional organizations. 8. Each Member State should institute procedures adapted to its needs for ensuring that, in the performance of publicity supported scientific research and experimental development, scientific researchers respect public accountability while at the same time enjoying the degree of autonomy appropriate to their task and to the advancement of science and technology. It should be fully taken into account that creative activities of scientific researchers should be promoted in the national science policy on the basis of utmost respect for the autonomy and freedom of research necessary to scientific progress. IV. The vocation of the scientific researcher 14. Member States should seek to encourage conditions in which scientific researchers, with the support of the public authorities, have the responsibility and the right: (a) to work in a spirit of intellectual freedom to pursue, expound and defend the scientific truth as they see it;

70 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 70 (b) to contribute to the definition of the aims and objectives of the programmes in which they are engaged and to the determination of the methods to be adopted which should be humanely, socially and ecologically responsible; (c) to express themselves freely on the human, social or ecological value of certain projects and in the last resort withdraw from those projects if their conscience so dictates ; (d) to contribute positively and constructively to the fabric of science, culture and education in their o m country, as well as to the achievement of national goals, the enhancement of their fellow citizens' well-being, and the furtherance of the international ideals and objectives of the United Nations; it being understood that Member States, when acting as employers of scientific researchers, should specify as explicitly and narrowly as possible the cases in whichtheydeem it necessary to depart from the principles set out in paragraphs (a) to (d) above. 18. Member States should welcome all the advice and assistance scientific researchers can provide, in socio-economic development efforts that will contribute to the consolidation of an authentic culture and of national-sovereignty' From the point of view of the society as a whole, the members of the scientific community are required to perform tasks in three generally distinct areas, in addition to the field of science and technology itself: (a) firstly, they should provide advice at the decision-making levels, in both the public and the private sectors, so as to help define the socio-economic objectives and the strategies and resources needed to attain them. The scientific and technological community, which occupies a privileged position thanks to its knowledge of natural and social phenomena, can influence to a considerable extent the definition of the desired model of society, which will be reflected in the objectives and strategies adopted. Furthermore, they will be able to point out where the scientific and technological resources needed to assist in attaining these objectives are available, and where they are lacking; (b) secondly, they should promote the development and spread of scientific and technological knowledge and culture, and of the rational, critical and inquiring habits of mind that characterize the scientific method, throughout a broad cross-section of society, thereby fostering an objective attitude towards the realities of nature and society, and, hence, a better understanding of them; (c) thirdly, they should play a key role in training highly qualified specialists capable of becoming useful members of the scientific and technological community These obligations should be performed in a spirit of social responsibility, solidarity and commitment. Obviously, scientists enjoy considerable freedom in opting for one or the other of these areas; however, they must not neglect any

71 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 71 of them. Some may wish to devote themselves to advancing knowledge and the spread of knowledge; others will prefer to train human resources. However, they should all contribute, with advice and guidance, to the appropriate selection of social and economic objectives, and take an active part in providing the scientific and technological inputs required in order to attain them. Consultation and concerted planning 245. The views of the scientific community can be made known through at least two procedures: through consultation, and through concerted planning. Both procedures are normally used by the authorities either to canvass the views (through consultation) or secure the agreement and co-operation (through concerted planning) of leading scientists and organized groups in regard to decisions that the authorities are called upon to make By and large, consultation is the procedure followed in the case of persons who are brought in from outside the sphere of influence of the authorities who must decide what action is to be taken. Consequently, when canvassing views or advice, the authorities concerned (for example, a government agency consulting a scientist) do not consider themselves obliged to act upon the recommendation, while for his part the consultant does not feel formally bound by the views or advice given. A typical case of such consultation would be an advisory commission composed of recognized specialists in a specific field By contrast, concerted planning requires that those involved join their efforts to achieve one or more objectives shared by all. It is a procedure whereby different partners, who operate in their own right and are generally independent of one another, come to an agreement beforehand regarding the course of action that each of them must follow in order to attain one or more common objectives; concerted planning is therefore a mechanism of participation, whereby joint decisions by autonomous parties are prepared; this is an essential feature of this mechanism. Some typical examples are: multiinstitutional research programmes inolving different institutions from both the public and private sectors; industrial production plans, agricultural and stock-breeding programmes, mining projects, etc., all of which normally involve private enterprises; collective bargaining in which management and trade unions in a particular branch of industry negotiate wage settlements, etc. It is worth pointing out here that there is a difference between co-ordination and concerted planning. Whereas co-ordination presupposes a measure of authority exercised by the co-ordinator over those who are being co-ordinated (to coordinate, it is useful to possess organizational skills) in the case of concerted planning the partners are independent and act in their own right, that is, there is no formal authority, even though one of the partners may be the government. Obviously, concerted planning is used more in societies with a higher level of socio-cultural development, where tolerance and respect for the opinion of one's partners constitute a basic principle The consultation mechanism is generally used by the government when it wishes to consult leading figures or groups representing public opinion with respect to decision-making regarding national objectives that it has sole responsibility for formulating and implementing but that may affect the interests of the community at large. The ONCYT, on any other science or technology body, is usually responsible for carrying out the consultation where scientific matters are concerned. Those consulted will as a matter of course be of undisputed competence; moreover, it is important that such persons should

72 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 72 have no links or interest-based relations with the government in any other field, in order to ensure that the views expressed are genuinely objective and independent. In some circumstances it is customary to set up consultative commissions; it is recommended that their members serve in a personal capacity, and not by virtue of the functions or responsibilities assigned to them by organizations external to the authority that is to be advised. It is obvious that in countries where the main, and sometimes the sole, employer is the State, it may well be virtually impossible to secure such wholly objective, independent advice Such 'consultation' generally occurs.in the case of public bodies whose purpose. is to promote research by providing funding in the form of grants or subventions (R&D promotion funds). In general, such bodies have advisory committees for specific fields of science, composed of eminent specialists whose function it is to express their views regarding the requests for assistance submitted to them. In some countries, for example, the national agency responsible for science and technology policy-making has its own advisory committee(s) comprising, among others, the country's most distinguished scientists and technologists The result of 'concerted planning' may take various foes. It may, for example, be limited to the exchange of information, the definition of positions and the establishment of a tentative agreement, without this being formalized; each party then remains fully free to.take such decisions as may be considered most appropriate in pursuit of its interests. The usefulness of the meetings held will be reflected in the joint effort to think the problems through and in a greater general awareness of the options open. Another situation that may arise is that one of the parties (e.g. the government) commits itself unilaterally to carrying out the decisions that lie within its competence. Hence, the decisions pertaining to the other parties are not considered binding, although they may of course also be carried out. This situation indicates a show of goodwill on the part of the government, designed to initiate action by setting an example, and thereby to ensure that the other parties make good their part of the agreement. Naturally, if the government fails to obtain the results expected, it always has the option - since the undertaking given by it is a unilateral one - of modifying its positions The third possibility is that of effective concerted action by the parties, that is, the ratification of the commitment made by each of them to carry out the work devolving upon it. As has already been mentioned, typical examples are collective wage agreements, multi-institutional research programmes, and technological development programmes in which private-sector institutions and commercial companies take part. As is readily demonstrated, concerted planning is one of the most appropriate procedures for drawing up and executing scientific and technological development schemes involving both independent institutions in the public sector and public and private productive enterprises Concerted planning may take place at different levels of the institutional structure of science and technology. Obviously, the form that it takes will vary in accordance with the levels at which the parties involved are represented. For example, at the level of the national agency responsible for science and technology policy, the parties will be the ministries and the country's main independent research institutes, which should in principle be represented, in any collectively negotiated agreement, by their most senior officers. On the other hand, in the case of inter-institutional research programming, it will be those in charge of the respective research programmes of the participating institutions who will be conducting the joint negotiations.

73 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 73 Inter-agency concerted planning 253. In the region, the first concerted national programmes began to be drawn up jointly by various institutions in the early 1970s for the purpose of carrying out research in certain specific areas: food technology, electronics, endemic diseases, social housing schemes, etc. Normally, each programme has a distinguished scientist acting as its executive secretary and a concerted planning committee composed of the directors of research of each of the participating institutions. The national science and technology policy-making body supplies a technical secretary as well as the organizational infrastructure for holding the committee's meetings. The task of the technical secretariat in this set-up is to prepare the documents relating to programme planning and evaluak?on, while it is naturally for the committee to take the appropriate decisions in concert. For example, the objectives, plans of action and material inputs of certain S&T programmes, were co-ordinated by the national agency responsible for science and technology of Argentina (1972), and were decided upon jointly by the representative of the different institutions taking part Another recent example is the 'Plan for National Concerted Action in Science and Technology for Development ' of Colombia, promoted by COLCIENCIAS. It includes 11 strategic sectors, within each of which a concerted planning process had been developed involving representatives of the public sector, the scientific and technological community and the users of the results. An important concerted planning process has also been developed in Brazil in connection with the formulation of the 'Third Science and Technology Development Plan' These examples demonstrate that concerted planning is in itself an excellent means of increasing participation. Joint programme schemes have been gradually spreading throughout the region, and at present they can be said to exist in all those countries where the national science and technology policymaking bodies have the power and the financial means to promote scientific and technological development. This system is also to be found at the subregional level, as is borne out by the Andean technological development programmes (PADT), governed by JUNAC Decision Other important examples of inter-agency concerted planning are those aimed at regulating the responsibilities and contributions of a series of institutions within a general planning process. The higher the degree of autonomy of the participating institutions, the greater the need or multilaterally binding concerted planning. These institutions may depend on several ministries of a central government, or there may be concerted planning between the central government and the government of one of the States within a given country, in order to implement specific development plans of that particular State. 3.4 Evaluation of the effectiveness of research institutions and units Statement of the problem 257. The increasing role played by governments in the promotion of R&D raises the question, at all levels of the management of national scientific and technological systems, of the effectiveness of research and experimental development activities.

74 SC-8S/CASTALAC II/3 - page Experience over the past 50 years shows that the financial outlay made by the developed countries on behalf of R&D is not only a highly productive long-term investment, but also represents a firm guarantee of their national, economic and political independence. Here, however, as elsewhere, the law of diminishing returns operates: the benefits do not increase indefinitely in direct proportion to the outlay. It is, however, possible to slow down this relative decrease in 'productivity', by improving the effectiveness of the R&D; hence the interest shown in these countries in the question of the evaluation of scientific and technological research During the same period the developing countries have proceeded to establish their own national, scientific and technological systems: universities, State research institutions, research laboratories belonging to productive enterprises and bodies responsible for national policy in the field of science and technology. This is a major effort towards 'endogenous development', but its results are not yet conclusive in most cases, and accordingly it frequently meets with some incomprehension in the countries themselves and in international circles. In such circumstances it is quite understandable that the governments of developing countries should experience some hesitation in financing national R&D on a regular and continuing basis, when its effectiveness has not been submitted to systematic, objective evaluation. Performance, quality and profitability 260. The problem of the evaluation of R&D poses itself in very different terms according to whether one takes up a position within the process of research itself or whether one attempts to assess its effects on the outside world. That is why the evaluation now takes into account: on the one hand, the efficiency of R&D activities, which measures the productivity of the research process and which may theoretically - at least - be evaluated with the help of input/output type of methods; on the other hand, its effectiveness, wh'ichevaluates R&D activities in relation to the economic, social or any other objectives which have been laid down The process of evaluating R&D activities has proved to be a difficult one indeed since, even in the case of experimental development (D) where the specifications of the final products are known in advance, it is generally impossible to anticipate all the stages to be covered and the difficulties to be overcome in order to reach the objective which has been laid down Hence, R&D is radically different in this respect from the activities involving the production of goods or services, and the criteria and methods generally used to evaluate the performance of industrial or commercial undertakings are not applicable mutatis mutandis to the evaluation of R&D. For example, the above-mentioned concepts of efficiency and effectiveness must be coupled in R&D work with the notion of the quality and even the elegance of the research work, based on criteria of excellence determined through 'peer judgement', a method of which more will be said below Although quite another problem, mention should also be made of the notion of R&D profitability which differs from the notions of efficiency and effectiveness as defined above in the sense that it is mainly concerned with the idea of

75 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 75 the economic return achieved on the overall investment in technological innovation, that is to say, in the research and the production combined. This notion is of paramount importance for productive enterprises and only really concerns the experimental development work (D) to which the methods of cost/ benefit analysis can more easily be applied. It will therefore not be discussed further in what follows. R&D evaluation criteria and methods 264. No one yet really knows (and perhaps will never know) the fundamental intellectual laws and processes which govern the operation of scientific research, whether it be on an individual or collective basis. It was, moreover, only at the beginning of this century that epistomology, a new branch of philosophy, came into being. Its aim was to study science, its methods, its principles and its value and there now exists an abundant literature in this area of study, which is still flourishing. It is to the French philosopher Bachelard that we owe the statement that 'the epistomologist must accept the facts as ideas', no doubt wishing to express thereby the need in this field to proceed from experience and from the observation of facts and not from a theory Given the lack of 'criteria' to which one can refer for an appreciation of the value of a piece of scientific research, it is to a concensus universalis of the international scientific community that we must apply in order to judge the scientific quality of research work. This is the method of 'peer judgement', which has long been used in selecting manuscripts submitted for publication to scientific periodicals, in awarding prizes and honorary degrees by the academies of science, in allocating research grants by scientific foundations and in making appointments and promotions in university faculties. This system is obviously not faultless and its credibility depends on both the eminence and the independence of those who are chosen to sit on the committees of evaluation During the 1960s, at a time when R&D was becoming increasingly more 'collective' and more expensive, the need was felt to evaluate the efficiency and effectiveness of research activities, from a programmatic - and institutional point of view according to other 'criteria' than merely the scientific value of the results obtained. This new pragmatic approach was a response to the management and organization needs of R&D and, in more general terms, to the introduction of an effective national policy in the field of science and technology. The study of the operation of the 'national scientific and technological system' (and of its various elements) has given rise to a new discipline whose name is still somewhat uncertain: science of science, research on research, science policy studies, science dynamics, research technology, etc. Its quantitative aspects are known as scientometrics. The aim of this latter discipline is to carry out the objective measurement and mathematical study of scientific and technological phenomena and it draws, in particular, on the statistical input/output indicators of R&D, which make it possible to assess the scientific and technological potential (or capacity) of a given country and thereby analyse trends and make international comparisons. All these new disciplines now form an extremely useful complement to the older, well-established disciplines such as philosophy, sociology, psychology and the history of science and technology. Problems involved in the evaluation of research activities 267. At the same time, and for the same reasons, there has developed the whole problem of the evaluation of R&D, which has led to the following distinctions being made and, consequently, the separate treatment of:

76 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 76 the evaluation of scientific research workers; the evaluation of research programmes and projects; the evaluation of research units and institutions The evaluation of the individual scientific research worker is concerned principally with the value and quality of his work. It should be recalled that ~ ~ this type of evaluation is based mainly on the 'peer judgement' and that the criteria thereof are well known in universities, academies of science, learned societies and major scientific journals. This approach is however - for the reasons mentioned above - of limited use for the scientific administrators in governments, State research institutions or commercial laboratories, mainly because it currently only takes into account the qualitative aspects of the results obtained Conversely, when it comes to evaluating research programmes or projects, the question is usually limited to considering the objective pursued, the means used and the time available for achieving the expected results. The criteria and methods used are based on input/output analysis, generally of the cost/benefit kind, and of the 'Programme Evaluation and Review Technique' (PERT). It should, however, be borne in mind that research programmes and projects postulate the existence of specific objectives and an implementation period fixed in advance. It is clear therefore that the relevance of this approach rapidly diminishes when we turn from experimental development to applied research, and that it is no longer o any use whatsoever or the evaluation o basic research in which only the theme is known at the beginning, since its real objectives usually only become apparent as work progresses. This diminishing relevance is related to the 'risk factor' which increases the closer one approaches basic research. Need it be said, in this connection, that scientific research workers of a bold and creative spirit should hardly be reproached for taking risks? 270. It should be observed, moreover, that input/output analysis tells us very little about the art of R&D management; it can only reveal an existing state of affairs, a posteriori, when it is already too late to plan corrective measures such as improvements in the methods of organizing and managing the research It is therefore nowadays generally agreed that the evaluation of research activities should be a process, covering not only the conception and execution of the work but also the publication of its results. In this sense, the evaluation is truly an integral part of the research process The aim of ex-ante evaluation is to make a prospective assessment of the efficiency and effectiveness of the research activity to be undertaken; this assessment may include studies as to its social impact, commercial prospects, technical feasibility, etc. Evaluation of ongoing research is performed at specific times or at decisive stages in the execution of the research work. Finally, ex.post evaluation is performed once the research work is finished Evaluation of research programmes and projects has been the subject of many studies and the techniques thereof are well known; it will therefore not be dealt with any further in this chapter. Attention will rather be focused in what follows on the specific problems linked with institutional evaluation of research units in which scientific researchers are working together in teams, whatever the projects or programmes are which occupy them at a given moment.

77 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Rare indeed are nowadays the researches being conducted by isolated research workers, except in the case of theoretical research in a single discipline. Most contemporary research is now carried out by teams, and the more mission-oriented it is, the stronger its interdisciplinary nature. The performance of research units is consequently a factor of crucial importance for the overall effectiveness of a country's R&D For a variety of reasons the universities, ministries and firms have all been led to establish, more or less simultaneously, a number of research units in, respectively, university departments or faculties, research institutes and commercial laboratories. The sharing of resources such as heavy equipment, mainframe computers, libraries and information systems, logistical services; etc. makes it possible to increase the individual efficiency of research units of a similar nature grouped within a single 'institution'. In addition, it is hoped that the overall performance of a research institution will considerably exceed the sum of the performances of its individual research units (the synergic effect) Such considerations have led to a reversal of the problem of R&D evaluation whereby, on the one hand, the effectiveness of research work is considered without any reference to its objectives and the time available to reach them and, on the other hand, the evaluators' attention is concentrated on the factors (or, if one prefers, independent variables) which condition the effectiveness of R&D in the most varied organizational contexts. In such circumstances, therefore, the role of the managers of science is to establish the best possible conditions for the efficient operation of the research units and institutions and, for the rest, to place their trust in the inventive genius of the scientific researchers. Accordingly, a similar change occurs in the evaluation: it adapts itself to the creative work which mainly characterizes R&D while deliberately turning its back on the traditional rules which govern it in the case of repetitive activities such as the production of goods and services. Evaluation of research units: an approach developed by Unesco 277. During the 1970s, Unesco consequently decided to undertake an international comparative study of an empirical nature, carried out on the basis of computerized surveys and multivariate analysis on the dimensions and principal variables which govern the organization and performance of research units.(l) About 15 countries belonging to the five regions of the world have already participated (including Argentina, Brazil and Mexico for Latin America) in groups of five or six for each round of the study It very quickly emerged that the research units and institutions were pursuing (separately or simultaneously) widely differing objectives, such as the advancement of knowledge, the training of scientific research workers, the development of technology, the solution of socio-economic problems, etc., and that it was therefore impossible to evaluate their efficacy on the basis of one single criterion. It also emerged that the criteria of efficacy corresponding to the main objectives mentioned above were not (or very seldom) correlated and that an excellent performance vis-5-vis one of these in no way implied an identical performance for the others. This fact alone clearly proves that the (1) This study is known by its acronym ICSOPRU: International Comparative Study on the Organization and Performance of Research Units. See the corresponding separate CASTALAC I1 reference document devoted to this study.

78 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 18 evaluation of R&D is a multidimensional problem and that it is therefore a serious mistake to choose one of the aspects of efficacy of R&D and to extract from it one single normative criterion for the evaluation of all research institutions and units. Other significant aspects intervene, such as the scientific or technological discipline(s) concerned, the age and size of the research units, their institutional set-up and their leadership, and many others which emerged from the Unesco study. The practical interest of this study for the managers of R&D both at the national or institutional level and also within individual research units resides in the fact that the main organizational and management factors which have a significant influence on the effectiveness and efficiency of research units operating within a given context have now been identified, and that it is becoming possible to define their optimum values, even in cases where the national R&D systems seem to present considerable differences from the qualitative, quantitative or organizational point of view. It therefore becomes possible to discover gradually the objective principles and operational guidelines for the effective management of R&D, and also the varied, specific and significant criteria for the evaluation of research units and institutions. In fact, the results obtained in the various countries taking part in the study have already enabled the various authorities involved to carry out a self-evaluation and take, each one as its own level, appropriate corrective measures - in the organizational and management field - which are likely to bring about a considerable improvement in the effectiveness of their national R&D. Conclusions and proposals for action 279. There is no need to insist on the usefulness of the evaluation of R&D carried out in firms operating within a market economy. The inexorable laws of competition and the profit motive soon lead to the elimination of inefficient research units It should however be borne in mind that governments nowadays tend to finance at least half the cost of research carried out by firms, and to pay the whole cost of the research carried out in the general services sector and in higher education. Thus, in today's world, R&D takes place in an essentially protectionist climate and this can lead nolens volens to complacency, which in its turn may produce irresponsibility and waste Governments and political leaders therefore feel the need to justify the allocation of public funds to R&D, partly by defining research priorities more rigorously and, partly, by evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness of the beneficiaries of public funds, namely the research institutions and units. The latter, for their part, are constantly being reminded of the principle of public accountability and their managers are expected to be increasingly aware of this problem The result of this - or at least the result which is hoped for in governmental circles - is an increase in the national and international prestige of the scientific and technological system of the countries concerned and, for the scientific researchers easier access to the public funds which they need if they are to continue their work Thus, there is an increasing need for the evaluation of research institutions and units, not only in order to improve the quality of national R&D,

79 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 79 but also in order to develop a country's scientific and technological system. Indeed, it may even be the sine qua non for the provision of regular and adequate financial support for R&D in modern societies Given the present state of affairs, both those responsible for deciding national scientific and technological policy and the managers of R&D, feel the need of developing suitable criteria and methods for evaluating research institutio.ns aneunits, which would be : easy to understand and to apply; inexpensive, i.e. which do not demand an excessive amount of time (especially on the part of the scientific research workers themselves) and only require a minimum amount of work to assemble the data to be processed by computer; sufficiently safe to allow effective corrective measures to be taken Apart from the evaluation of the scientific quality of R&D work, which can only be properly carried out by the scientific community itself, it is henceforth clearly established that the evaluation of research institutions and units should aim at assessing, as objectively as possible: the use of the research results, not only by other research workers working on behalf of the advancement of science and technology, but above all by the firms producing goods and services; the impact of the utilization of research results on'the realization of national development objectives in different fields and at different levels of human activity Considering that the problems involved in the evaluation of research institutions and units have not yet received truly satisfactory solutions in Latin America and the Caribbean, three proposals for concerted international action in this area are being presented below: (a) exchange of information on the methods used to evaluate R&D in Member States with a view to developing criteria and procedures, which provide simple and reliable means of evaluating the efficiency and effectiveness) of research institutions and units: in higher education; in scientific bodies belonging to the general State services; in the laboratories of public enterprises and enterprises under government control. the implementation of a regional co-operation programme between the national scientific and technological policy-making bodies of the countries of the region which have participated in the Unesco International Comparative Study on the Organization and Performance of Research Units (ICSOPRU) and which are therefore in a position to develop, on solid empirical institutions and units belonging to the various organizational and administrative entities of their national scientific and technological systems; extension of the Unesco ICSOPRU to interested countries of Latin America and the Caribbean which have not yet participated.

80 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 81 CHAPTER IV EDUCATION AND RESEARCH IN THE FIELD OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICIES FOR DEVELOPMENT - ROLE OF UNESCO 4.1 Science and technology policy training needs 287. The growing interest shown in the last decade by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in the development of their science and technology policies is reflected in the establishment, expansion or improvement of institutions responsible for formulating these policies. At the same time, the gradual increase in research and development (R&D) activities and scientific and technological services (STS) is now resulting, despite existing constraints and difficulties, in the strengthening of various located research institutions or units which attain the 'critical mass' required to get going in an organized way This trend brings with it the need for personnel who are trained to perform the tasks of: (i) planning and managing science and technology policy in general; (ii) directing the scientific and technological activities of the various ministries (agriculture, health, industry, etc.) ; (iii) promoting, co-ordinating, financing and assessing R&D and STS; (iv) managing R&D and STS activities, especially those institutions which have reached a certain minimum threshold of efficiency The professional qualifications required of such personnel will vary according to the special field of work and the level of responsibility of the post held, but it may be stated in general that they call for a wide scientific culture, an understanding of basic mathematics, sound knowledge of planning and management methods, familiarity with economics and budgeting, and the ability to use computer techniques, plus other qualities of a more general nature, such as an appreciation of social needs and human rights, together with the ability to take both a general and an analytical view of problems, including those of a multidimensional nature. As they become more closely involved in execution, such personnel should have as a minimum qualification the ability to identify with a type of creative activity such as R&D, or with highly technical and specialized activities, such as scientific and technological services (STS) It is not easy to find personnel with professional qualifications of this type, and if specific measures are not taken to train them, it can only be hoped that they will acquire such qualifications in the course of their work. Even so, it is highly desirable to contribute some external input in the form of training. Whatever happens, countries will have to think about setting up suitable facilities to provide the necessary training for these 'new professionals' which, by its very nature, will be interdisciplinary; it will also, as experience has shown, involve people originally trained in widely differing branches of science, engineering and the social sciences or people from professional fields such as law, economics and public administration.

81 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The subjects to be covered by this training, or, to put it in another way, the conceptual and practical content of science and technology policy, including all its forms and special areas, are going through a continuing process of evolution and improvement. A study of this matter should be closely tied, wherever possible, to the work of training as such, as is usually the case in any field of higher education in which training activities converge with R&D activities. It is therefore logical to speak of 'training and research in the field of science and technology policies for development'. 4.2 Unesco' s response 292. As in other areas of its activities, Unesco has given voice to these needs, which are generally more acute in developing countries. Unesco's science and technology policies programme has always included a training component, with specific activities such as the holding of training seminars in science and technology policy, the award of study grants or fellowships for training courses, the collection and dissemination of information on courses in these subjects and the actual organization of such courses Given the interdisciplinary nature of activities of this type, as stated above, it is particularly necessary to specify their scope. This has been done by drawing up the 12 categories listed below based on a systematic survey of existing courses and current research projects in the field recently carried out by Unesco: , Theory, philosophy and systematization of science and technology. History of science and technology. Sociology and ethics of science and technology, science and society. Creativity and psycho-sociology of scientific researchers. Economics of science and technology (i.e. planning, management and financing methods). Analysis and assessment of scientific and technological potential (i.e. personnel, funds, information, institutions, equipment and facilities). Theories and practices of national science and technology policymaking; national legislation concerning science and technology. Science and technology forecasting and assessment. Transfer, diffusion and implantation of technologies. Organization and management of scientific and technological activities at the institutional or performer's level. International co-operation, policy and legislation in science and technology. Societal analysis and assessment of the content and results of scientific and technological plans, programmes and projects.

82 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page By means of the wide-ranging survey mentioned above, Unesco collected information from 84 Member States which made it possible to identify a total of 3,000 research projects, studies and courses related to the above aspects of science and technology policy, in the broadest sense of the term. This survey was conducted during and the findings were published in the form of a world directory containing basic data on the units identified and the type of activity carried out, in addition to a comprehensive index section including a list of more than 1,000 periodicals publishing material in the field of science and technology policy The world directory highlighted the rapid development of these activities throughout the world during the preceding decade. In many cases a 'critical mass' had been attained at the national or regional level, and of course at the international level. Below are some significant details which should be noted: Nearly three-quarters of the research courses and projects listed are located in North America and Europe. The United States of America alone possessed nearly one-quarter of all the units identified, followed by the United Kingdom, Canada, the USSR, France, Australia, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden. At the time of the survey, the 1,117 units listed were providing 1,368 training courses and carrying out 1,606 research projects. Sixty per cent of the units were offering courses, 80 per cent were conducting research projects, and 40 per cent were involved in both types of activity. The total number of specialists involved in training courses and research (or equivalent studies) was 5,184 of whom 1,600 were instructors. The group of researchers published the findings of their work in periodicals with an international circulation, mainly in English, Russian, French and Spanish. The directory identified 1,080 periodicals throughout the world publishing articles on science and technology policy, as well as 640 publishers issuing publications other than periodicals in this field. The facilities and equipment available to the units listed were relatively satisfactory (60 to 70 per cent had specialized libraries, computerized data-processing facilities, publishing facilities, etc.), but there was a very wide gap between the industrialized countries and the developing countries, whose resources were much more limited. 4.3 Project for an international training and research programme 296. Concurrently with these developments, the programmes and budgets of Unesco since 1977 have made provision for action aimed at the possible establishment of an international scheme to co-ordinate and give impetus to all these activities. The original idea was to set up a 'international institute for training and research in the policy and planning of scientific and technological development'. As approved by the General Conference, a feasibility study was carried out, and an analysis was made through various expert meetings and specialist consultations, of several options for the establishment and functioning of the projected mechanism.

83 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page The findings of these studies and the discussions of the General Conference of Unesco itself made it clear that the aim should be, not to set up a new institution as such, but a more informal and flexible scheme (there was even a tendency to avoid the word 'institute'), in which full advantage would be taken of activities that already exist and by means of which attempts would be made to perform basically the following three functions: (i the training of specialists in the policy and planning of scientific and technological development, with a choice of subjects and levels of instruction and training courses in keeping with the needs, priorities and varied situations of Member States; ) the promotion and co-ordination of research and studies on these subjects ; (iii) the collection and dissemination of specialized information, activities which are complementary to (i) and (ii) above Expressly ruled out - and not even envisaged - is any suggestion, possibly entertained by mistake, that the functions of the projected mechanisn: would include carrying out work in, or on behalf of, Member States on science and technology policy at the level of decision-making or of the preparation of countries' general or sectoral scientific and technological development planning. There is no doubt whatsoever that only Member States themselves are qualified to do so, and to develop their autonomous and sovereign decisionmaking bodies in the field of science and technology policy In addition, all these ideas are in accordance with the Vienna Programme of Action which, on the subject of the measures and machinery to strengthen the scientific and technological capacities of the developing countries, recommends, in its paragraph 34(d) relating to human resources, the development of an endogenous managerial capacity in science and technology One important criterion in reaching more specific decisions was of course the eventual views of the groups of countries belonging to each region or subregion, so that programmes of action would be formulated according to the specific needs perceived in these groups of States. To this end Unesco, which began in by contacting all the National Commissions individually to find out their views on the need for the 'institute' then envisaged, its aims, functions, structural organization and financial implications, in held regional consultations on two specific aspects of the feasibility study: (i) the need to undertake teaching and research activities under Unesco's auspices in the field of scientific and technological development policies; (ii) the operational forms that these activities might take. 4.4 Situation in Latin America and the Caribbean 301. With regard to Latin America and the Caribbean, the world directory prepared by Unesco made it possible to identify a total of 96 units with teaching, study or research activities in science and technology policies, spread over 18 countries. Most of the studies focused on the following three aspects: theories and practices of national science and technology policymaking; analysis and assessment of scientific and technological potential;

84 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 85 transfer, dissemination and implantation of technologies. The main field covered by the courses was 'the theory, philosophy and systematization of science and technology' In comparison with other developing regions, Latin America and the Caribbean seems to be the best endowed with units of this type, and also leads in the number and quality of specialized journals published in this field. This situation is the result of a long evolutionary process which probably started with the first CASTALA Conference (Santiago, Chile, 1965). Successive meetings of the Unesco Standing Conference, set up under the CASTALA agreements, contributed to the training of science and technology policy specialists and managers. This promoted the establishment of teaching and/or research units in the governmental bodies concerned and in a number of universities or foundations in the region, which were given help with undergraduate and postgraduate courses, the preparation of teaching modules, contacts with similar institutions in other countries, the publication of specialized works, the dissemination of the findings of studies and research by means of thematic seminars or in specialized journals. For example, in 1983, 2,000 copies of the book 'AdministrayZo de Ciencia e Tecnologia' edited by Professor J. Marcovitch, were sold in Brazil The regional survey was conducted through the Regional Office for Science and Technology for Latin America and the Caribbean in Montevideo (ROSTLAC) and covered 29 national bodies (14 replies), 16 regional or subregional intergovernmental organizations (ten replies) and five regionally oriented national foundations (three replies) - Nearly all the replies opted for the establishment of a network comprising teaching and research units on science and technology policy issues located in the region, with machinery for regional co-ordination which might be set up within ROSTLAC itself Meanwhile activities of this kind continued in response to the needs felt by different countries or groups,of countries. In Brazil, for instance, there are some 16 teaching and research groups concerned with S&T policies. They are to be found in various universities and form part of a national work programme that generally covers both activities (most courses are extramural, but at least three of them are given at postgraduate level). Other recent examples are the experimental Unesco courses on training and research in policy and planning of scientific and technological development, provided, with similar programmes, in San Jose, Costa Rica for the countries of Central America (1983) and in Lima for the Andean countries (1984). In both cases, Unesco co-operated with various subregional organizations, notably with the Confederation of Central American Universities (CCAU) for the former, and the Executive Secretariat ofthe 'Andres Bello' Convention (SECAB) and the JUNAC for the latter These courses, each lasting a week, were used to test - with very successful results - one form of course which is particularly appropriate when designed for high-level civil servants and academics with responsibilities in the field of science and technology policy. The working sessions take the form of seminars, starting with the presentation of the subject, followed by a wideranging debate and exchange of views. In this way, the training function coincides with a highly useful discussion on issues of great interest between the officials of national science and technology policy organizations and university representatives (for example, vice-rectors of research establishments or those holding similar posts).

85 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Networks of teaching and research units 306. The co-ordination of units that carry out this type of activity can be very useful in facilitating their work. This was the conclusion reached from the surveys conducted by Unesco in other regions, particularly in Asia and the Pacific, where it was also the stated majority opinion that the most appropriate solution would be for Unesco to help to set up a network of units in the region, together with co-ordinating machinery. This has therefore been the line taken by Unesco, following consultations with the other interested agencies in the United Nations system, in carrying out the provisions of Subprogramme IX.2.4 of the Medium-Term Plan for the period entitled 'Training the skilled personnel needed for the planning and managment of national scientific and technological development' The main goal of this subprogramme is 'to establish an international system for training planners, analysts and administrators who will be engaged in preparing and implementing national plans and programmes of scientific and technological development' The programme and budget approved by the General Conference of Unesco for the current biennium provides for a start to be made on these tasks in the region through preliminary studies in Latin America and the Caribbean with a view to the establishment, in the next biennium, of a regional network of teaching and research.units in scientific and technological development policy. 4.6 Prospects for action 309. The ways in which Unesco can work towards this end with the countries of the region call for appropriate consultations and will depend primarily on the resources available and the extent to which these match countries' priority needs. Some issues to which thought should be given are listed below With regard to training courses, it should be borne in mind that in general there are four clearly differentiated groups of people who may wish to be trained in the field of science and technology policies: students who already hold a university degree and wish to continue their training in this field at the master's or doctorate level. This means courses and/or research over a period of time to take place in units located in universities or centres of higher education offering specialization in this field; students who wish to include in their normal university curriculum a course on science and technology policy - usually a general introductory course of about 30 hours and preferably during their last year at university; managers and specialists in public or semi-public science and technology policy bodies, both central and sectoral (ministries of health, agriculture, industry, etc.), including persons interested in technology management; managers and specialists in R&D institutions and in State scientific and technological services or productive enterprises.

86 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 87 The latter two groups are usually interested in attending retraining and/or further training courses, lasting two to three weeks at the most Another matter which deserves thought is the identification of specific areas in which the training of specialists and co-operative research projects would be most useful. This is naturally related to the situation in each country (where greater attention should be given to local priorities), but it should be borne in mind that, especially at the subregional level, areas of common interest can easily be found which are related to key science and technology requirements, such as: the strengthening of the ties between the planning of science and technology on the one hand and socio-economic planning on the other, in order to produce greater integration; the setting of R&D priorities in relation to national development objectives; matters relating to R&D and STS budgeting and funding; the management of R&D activities and their interaction with productive sectors in order to derive the greatest benefit from them in the country or the region; questions relating to the substantive aspects of technology transfer, that is to say, basically, the strengthening of capacities to assess, choose, acquire, adapt and develop technologies; problems affecting the relationship between science and technology and society; the identification and use of scientific and technological development indicators; the societal impact of scientific and technological development; questions relating to the status, career development and working conditions of scientific researchers With regard to studies and research, an essential first task is to provide or improve suitable 'teaching modules', starting with an analysis of what is meant by 'suitable', depending on the type of course. Specialists studying or doing research on these subjects could help to prepare the modules A further important activity is the pooling of information on all subjects related to scientific and technological policies in general, and to courses and studies on these policies in particular. Within a given region, and even more so, within each subregion, such exchange of information is especially useful on account of the frequent similarity of the situations in the countries. In the specific area of training in the planning of science and technology policy, 'case-studies' are of great educational value; the exchange of information among the developing countries in the subregion can lead to the formation of a 'critical mass' of case-studies which are particularly relevant for either individual or comparative analysis.

87 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Lastly, another point to which thought should be given has to do with the characteristics and the functions of the regional co-ordinating machinery. Among these functions consideration should be given to: (i) (ii) promoting and facilitating the exchange of information between units in the region involved in training and research in the field of science and technology policies; contributing to improved knowledge of existing needs in this field, viewed at the regional level; (iii) attempting to have the efforts of the different countries complement one another at the regional level and perhaps even more so at subregional levels; (iv) (v) (vi) facilitating the holding of meetings of experts to discuss technical issues such as those concerning the most suitable programmes for different types of courses, possible teaching modalities, the preparation of teaching modules, contacts between study groups and the users of their findings, specific co-operation between similar groups in the various countries in order to undertake more ambitious studies, etc.; maintaining the most appropriate type of relations with similar institutions existing or being established in other regions; helping to raise funds, bearing in mind the need for diversification.

88 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 89 CHAPTER V EXAMINATION OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS AND FUTURE PROSPECTS OF WORK OF THE STANDING CONFERENCE OF NATIONAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY POLICY-MAKING BODIES IN LATIN AMERICA AND THE CARIBBEAN MEASURES TO BE TAKEN TO GIVE EFFECT TO THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF CASTALAC I The Standing Conference of National Science and Technology Policy-Making Bodies in Latin America and the Caribbean was established as a result of the agreements adopted by the Conference on the Application of Science and Technology to the Development of Latin America (CASTALA), convened by Unesco in Santiago, Chile, in September This meeting approved a recommendation inviting the Director-General of Unesco, through its Regional Office for Science and Technology, with its headquarters in Montevideo, to convene annual meetings to be attended by the institutions in each Member State of the region which are responsible for national policy in matters of science and technology or for the nationwide promotion of scientific and technological research The first meeting of representatives of those institutions was held in Buenos Aires (1966) and it was proposed that such meetings would be held biennially and would take the form of a Standing Conference In accordance with the recommendations of CASTALA and those of the first meeting held in Buenos Aires mentioned above, Unesco has so far convened a total of six sessions of the Standing Conference. While the interval between meetings has been somewhat more than two years it has never exceeded three. Below is a detailed account of these meetings. With the exception of the first meeting, the main purpose of which was to set the machinery in motion, the final reports have all been published in the following numbers of the Unesco series 'Science Policy Studies and Documents': First meeting: Buenos Aires, Argentina, 5-12 July Document Unesco/NS/ROU/133 of 1 August Second meeting: Caracas, Venezuela, December 'Science policy in Latin America', Paris and Montevideo, 1969 (No. 14 in the SPSD series). Third meeting: Vina del Mar/Santiago, Chile, 6-13 July 'Science policy in Latin America: 1971', Paris and Montevideo, 1972 (No. 29 in the SPSD series). Fourth meeting: Mexico City, 9-17 December 'Science policy in Latin America - 3', Paris and Montevideo, 1977 (No. 37 in the SPSD series). Fifth meeting: Quito, Ecuador, March 'La politica cientifica y. tecnologica en America Latina y el Caribe - 4', Paris and Montevideo, 1979 (No. 42 in the SPSD series). Sixth meeting: La Paz, Bolivia, October 'La sexta Reunion de la Conferencia permanente de organisms nacionales de politica cientifica y tecnologica en America Latina y el Caribe',

89 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 90 Paris and Montevideo, 1983 (No. 53 in the SPSD series). 'National and subregional reports on science and technology policy in Latin America and the Caribbean'. Paris and Montevideo, 1983 (No. 54 in the SPSD series) The first four meetings were classified as 'expert meetings' (Unesco category VI) and were convened by the Director-General following a decision as to which bodies in the Member States of the region should form part of the Standing Conference. These bodies put forward the names of those of their leaders best qualified to take part in the meetings, and the Director-General invited them to attend as experts, in their personal capacity This procedure was subsequently altered and the meetings from the fifth (Quito, 1978) on were classified as category 11, i.e. on the Unesco scale, 'Intergovernmental meetings other than international conferences of States'. The participants in the Conference are now representatives of the governments of Member States in the region. This change in itself constitutes a significant development which, in addition to its broad political implications, would seem to indicate that governments are playing a more active role and assuming greater responsibility in the field of science and technology policies A purely quantitative view of the level of participation in the successive meetings of the Standing Conference is provided in Table 1, which shows the number of national participants and-the number of observers and representatives of various organizations. Table 1: Participation in meetings of the Standing Committee Number of National Representatives countries participants and observers First meeting Second meeting Third meeting Fourth meeting Fifth meeting Sixth meeting The structure of all the meetings of the Standing Conference has been somewhat similar, and they have been characterized by the following main features : exchange of information among countries; general discussion on the development and implementation of science and technology policy in the countries of the region; Unesco's presentation of conceptual outlines and practical mechanisms obtained from its experience in collaboration with its Member States throughout the world; detailed discussion of specific themes selected in terms of their interest for the region;

90 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page 91 consideration of various questions relating to scientific and technological co-operation within the region; approval of certain recommendations, aimed by and large at the governments of the countries of the region and/or Unesco; preparation, in some instances, of important declarations on matters of interest to the region A more detailed examination of some of these factors could provide data or lead to conclusions that might be instrumental in assessing the work of the Standing Conference, with a view to determining how positive an effect its work had had on the countries of the region, and deciding whether the many themes discussed and the actual form of the Conference's work has been appropriate. A brief summary of this examination is provided in the ensuing paragraphs; it is, however, based on a more detailed analysis of all the documents resulting from the meetings. All assessments are naturally subject to the judgement of CASTALAC I1 itself, which may wish to gauge the effectiveness of the Standing Conference as an intergovernmental institutional framework and to adopt whatever recommendations it deems advisable for its tasks in future. 5.1 Presentation of national reports 323. All the meetings of the Standing Conference began with the presentation of the countries' national reports, prepared by the countries themselves, following a common outline which facilitated comparison and helped the debate to be better organized. These reports were published by Unesco in the volume for each meeting and are in themselves extremely useful for following the development of science and technology policy in the region. At each meeting the reports were the basic factor in the exchange of information among countries, and particularly useful at a stage at which most countries have been planning, establishing, perfecting or developing their own institutions concerned with science and technology policy, research centres and related services For obvious reasons, it is difficult to establish causal relationships that are absolutely certain, but this exchange of information, supplemented with the critical remarks made by the participants in their presentation, particularly as regards problems and limitations - and with Unesco's conceptual and practical contributions, has obviously done a great deal to promote and direct the institutional development of the structural framework underlying science and technology policy in the countries of the region. This is substantiated by the fact that the participants in the meetings were mostly persons responsible for those subjects in the various countries, and also by the similar conditions that frequently prevailed in particular groups of countries, thereby making it easier to assimilate the lessons drawn from the experience of others. Unesco, for its part, has relied on its direct knowledge of the way in which this process of institutionalization has developed in many countries with widely varying degrees of development throughout the world. 5.2 General science and technology policy debate 325. Following the presentation of the national reports, the meetings discussed their most salient points, i.e. fundamental questions of science and technology policy, especially those most topical in the region at any given moment or which aroused the participants' interest. The presentation of the reports proper has always been followed by discussion, and this has doubtless played a vital part in the process of institutional development of science and technology policy mentioned in the preceding paragraph.

91 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Table 2 reflects this process in purely numerical terms, using the successive meetings of the Standing Conference as landmarks. In some c0.untrie.s there is a separation between the bodies responsible for the first functional level (planning, preparation, decision-making and overall evaluation of national S&T policy), as distinct from those responsible for the second functional level (promotion, selective funding, follow-up and co-ordination of R&D activities), but in many countries a single institution is still responsible for both. Table 2: Bodies responsible for the first and second levels of science and technology policy in the countries of the region Meetings of the Standing Conference Total number of countries having such bodies First meeting, 1966 Second meeting, 1968 Third meeting, 1971 Fourth meeting, 1974 Fifth meeting, 1978 Sixth meeting, The bodies to which the numbers in Table 2 refer vary considerably from one country to the other, and their resources as well as the extent of their achievements are frequently quite different. A careful examination of the recommendations put forward by the six meetings of the Conference shows successive stages of development and improvement of the proposed objectives, to the point where there is now a tendency to incorporate all of each country's scientific and technological activities in a real 'national science and technology system' whose broad objectives are consonant with government science and technology policy. Those systems are expected to be able to function coherently with a high degree of internal co-ordination and in harmony with other government policies, especially in the economic and social spheres This gradual process is perfectly logical. By and large, the bodies responsible for the second level were the first to be set up, in most instances for practical reasons: the fact that those bodies were closer to the scientific community made it initially easier to launch them at a time when governments had still not sufficiently assimilated their management role and their national responsibility in the field of science and technology policy. Science and technology policy is very complex and it would certainly have been inappropriate for the Standing Conference to expect to attain long-term goals at once, especially since many of the concepts involved were novel to most of the countries in the region. Another practical factor must also be taken into account and that is the fact that the active co-operation of the scientific and technological community is a prerequisite if such a policy is to succeed, and is much more difficult to achieve with initial assertions based on considerations that are too remote from science and technology itself.

92 SC-85/CASTALAC II/3 - page Selection of some specific themes 329. Among the widely varying subjects dealt with in the science and technology policy discussion that followed the presentation of the national reports, special mention should be made of those which have been most frequently repeated and on which the meetings of the Standing Conference seem to have had the most direct influence, especially when they were the subject of specific recommendations. Sometimes those subjects have been given an individual place on the agenda and have been dealt with in greater detail - in most cases - following the presentation of a document prepared by Unesco for the occasion The selection which follows serves the dual purpose of providing information for the CASTALAC I1 Conference, about some of the main themes dealt with at the meetings of the Standing Conference, and indicating the possible influence that such treatment may have had on the progress made by the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean in formulating science and technology policies An initial problem that is at the very heart of science and technology policy is the need to harmonize science and technology activities (STA) with the objectives of socio-economic development. The second meeting recommended 'the formulation of a science policy with a view to the nation's economic, social and cultural development plan'. The theme is formulated with great precision and detail in the important 'Declaracion de principios de politica cientifica y tecnologica', approved in Quito by the fifth meeting of the Standing Conference (1978). Chapter I of this background document assessed the extent to which the countries of the region have fulfilled these directives and mentioned the significant progress achieved in integrating science and technology planning with national development planning An essential element in policy formulation is the surveying of scientific and technological potential, to which a great deal of attention was also devoted by the Standing Conference, which, with Unesco's assistance, did much to establish such an inventory in the countries of the region. Furthermore, a seminar of experts on this question was held in 1968 in Montevideo, following a method of work adopted for subsequent meetings, i.e. the holding of ad hoc meetings on themes dealt with by the Standing Conference or included on the agenda of its forthcoming meetings. So far as scientific and technological potential is concerned, the Standing Conference at its successive meetings has followed the development of information obtained by the countries and submitted in their national reports, which have revealed the achievements and shortsomings of the various national systems; for example, the scarcity of human resources for the scientific and technological activities, which several reports of the Standing Committee point to as one of the main constraints for scientific and technological development in most countries of Latin America and the Caribbean This theme is connected with the exodus (often called 'brain drain') of scientists, engineers and other qualified personnel, a subject also dealt with on several occasions by the Standing Conference, whose records show the efforts m&e to find policies and measures to counteract this exodus The problem of scientific research in universities was specifically dealt with as early as the third meeting of the Standing Conference (1971), which acknowledged the importance of the universities' responsibility as regards plans to promote accelerated development in the countries of the region. Subjects such as the following have specifically been dealt with: the place of the universities in national development policies; research as an activity inherent