| Property | Value |
| Name | Can Africa pioneer a new way of doing science? |
| Description | Dickson, D. 2005. Can Africa pioneer a new way of doing science? SCIDEVNET article. 24 Jan 2005. Those keen to build a greater scientific capacity in Africa must not fall into the trap of encouraging outdated views on how science should be practiced. If all goes well, the next few months will see a groundswell of political support for the idea that science and technology should be given a key role to play in the alleviation of poverty on the African continent. Already this idea is gaining currency in development circles. Two weeks ago, for example, the secretary-general of the United Nations received a report emphasising that greater investment in science and technology is essential for achieving the Millennium Development Goals (see Science advice 'essential' to meet development goals). Similarly the World Bank has launched a new initiative designed to put all its assistance programmes through what its president James Wolfensohn describes as "the lens of science and technology". This initiative will place a particular emphasis on looking at how lessons drawn from the role of science and technology in promoting social and economic development in Asia can now be applied to the African continent (see World Bank puts science back on the agenda). And similar issues will be high on the agenda next week at a seminar in London organised jointly by the Canadian and British governments, being held under the title 'Building science and technology capacity with African partners'.All this is good news; all too often in recent years, as we have frequently argued, the potential contribution of science and technology to development has, for a variety of reasons, been underplayed within aid policies. But enthusiasm for this change of heart needs to be tempered. It is essential that the type of initiatives and practices being promoted are genuinely responsive to the needs and resources of African states; conversely, steps must to be taken to avoid supporting out-dated practices that are in the process of being abandoned elsewhere.To put it at its simplest, science and technology must not be seen by policy-makers as determinants of development, in the sense of encouraging the idea greater investment in science and technology will somehow lead automatically to social and economic progress (epitomised in the concept of the 'magic bullet'). Rather, both must be seen, as Keith Bezanson and Geoff Oldham argued in this editorial column two weeks ago, as components of broader 'systems of innovation', in which other elements, ranging from intellectual property laws to strengthened university-industry links, have just as essential a role to play (see Rethinking science aid). |
| Filename | Link to can-africa-pioneer-a-new-way-of-doing-science.html |
| Filesize | Link |
| Filetype | html (Mime Type: link) |
| Creator | admin |
| Created On: | 11/19/2008 10:28 |
| Viewers | Everybody |
| Maintained by | Editor |
| Hits | 2601 Hits |
| Last updated on | 11/19/2008 10:29 |
| Homepage | |
| CRC Checksum | |
| MD5 Checksum |
Copyright © Participatory Research and Gender Analysis 2003-2005. All rights reserved.
The PRGA gratefully acknowledges the support of Bellanet, CIAT and Juliana Aristizábal in the development of this website.