Issues Of Development: Towards A New Role For Science And Technology: Proceedings Of An International Symposium On Science And Technology For Development, Singapore, January 1979

Other Titles in the SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND GLOBAL PROBLEMS Series GVISHIANI, J. Trends and Perspectives in Development of Science and Technology and Their Impact on the Solution of Contemporary Problems RADHAKRISHNA, S. Views from the Developing World URQUIDI, V. Science and Technology in Development Planning ISSUES OF DEVELOPMENT: TOWARDS A NEW ROLE FOR SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY Science, Technology and Global Problems Proceedings of an International Symposium on Science and Technology for Development, Singapore, January 1979 Edited by MAURICE GOLDSMITH Science Policy Foundation, London and ALEXANDER KING International Federation of Institutes for Advanced Study, Paris PERGAMON PRESS OXFORD • NEW YORK • TORONTO • SYDNEY • PARIS • FRANKFURT U.K. U.S.A. CANADA AUSTRALIA FRANCE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Pergamon Press Ltd., Headmgton Hill Hall, Oxford OX3 0BW, England Pergamon Press Inc., Maxwell House, Fairview Park, Elmsford, New York 10523, U.S.A. Pergamon of Canada, Suite 104, 150 Consumers Road, Willowdale, Ontario M2J 1P9, Canada Pergamon Press (Aust.) Pty. Ltd., P.O. Box 544, Potts Point, N.S.W. 2011, Australia Pergamon Press SARL, 24 rue des Ecoles, 75240 Paris, Cedex 05, France Pergamon Press GmbH, 6242 Kronberg-Taunus, Pferdstrasse 1, Federal Republic of Germany Copyright © 1979 Science Policy Foundation All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means: electronic, electrostatic, magnetic tape, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without permission in writing from the copyright holders. First edition 1979 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data International Symposium on Science and Technology for Development, Singapore, 1979 Issues of development. - (Science, technology and global problems). 1. Science - Social aspects - Congresses 2. Technology - Social aspects - Congresses 1. Title 11. Goldsmith, Maurice III. King, Alexander, b.J909 IV. Series 301.24*3 Q175.4 79-40879 ISBN 0-08-024691-5 In order to make this volume available as economically and as rapidly as possible the authors' typescripts have been reproduced in their original forms. This method has its typographical limitations but it is hoped that they in no way distract the reader. Printed in Great Britain by A. Wheat on & Co. Ltd., Exeter Introduction MAURICE GOLDSMITH AND ALEXANDER KING In the past two decades, great changes have taken place outside the important, but numerically small industrialized countries. Decolonization has been largely achieve but many fear that a political dependence has been replaced by an economic and technological neo-colonialism. We all agree that the disparities in wealth between the rich and the poor nations are intolerable, and that the existence of nearly a billion underprivileged and hungry people calls for rapid remedy. Hence, the aid programmes and the United Nations Development Decades seek by the injection of capital and technology to reduce the gap. It seemed self-evident that the technology which had developed in the industrialized countries and greatly enhanced material well-being could transform life in the developing countries - and in a very short time. Alas, the rich have become richer, and the disparities seem to widen. Of course, there have been considerable gains within the developing world. Countries such as Brazil, with great natural resources and considerable infrastructure, are on the threshold of the developed world; first Japan, and later other countries of Asia such as Korea and Singapore, have established modern, science-based industries and general prosperity. The Third World, as a whole, has had higher rates of economic growth than the developed countries in recent years, but they start from a low base line, and much of t