The original resolutions presented by the G77 were on world monetary reform and participation by developing countries in the IMF, but resulted in resolutions on technology transfer and ‘Special Measures for the 25 Least Developed Countries’. There was a heated debate on the terms and conditions of technology transfer being institutionalised in an ‘International Code of Conduct’. Part of the difficulties in negotiations resulted from a divide among the G77 group. Salvador Allende, President of Chile, gave the address.
UNCTAD-III, Santiago
Sagasti ‘A systems approach to science and technology policy-making and planning’
Source: Sagasti, Francisco (1972) A systems approach to science and technology policy-making and planning, Estudios sobre el desarrollo científico y tecnológico No. 7, Departamento de Asuntos Científicos, Washington D.C., Organización…
Herrera ‘Social Determinants of Science Policy in Latin America’
Herrera, Amilcar (1972) ‘Social Determinants of Science Policy in Latin America’, Journal of Development Studies 9.1: 19 — 37
UNCTAD Intergovernmental Working Group on Technology Transfer
In 1971 UNCTAD set up a working group concerned with the transfer of technology to the developing countries. This action, following the establishment of UNCTAD in 1964, helped to create awareness and stimulated intergovernmental discussions on technology-related issues.
International Development Research Centre (IDRC) established
The International Development Research Centre (IDRC) was created by the Parliament of Canada “to help developing countries use science and technology to find practical, long-term solutions to the social, economic, and environmental problems they face.” IDRC’s work supports “creating a local research community whose work will build healthier, more equitable, and more prosperous societies.” (IDRC website)
World Plan of Action for the Application of S&T for Development
In 1971, ACAST submitted a World Plan of Action for the Application of Science and Technology for Development, drawing on the Sussex Report, and highlighting such issues as the need for indigenous capacity-building, the gap between the potential of science and technology and the extent of the latter’s actual use, the weakness of scientific institutions in the developing world, the problem of access to the world’s technology, and brain drain. The World Plan Action focused on building support for a) research toward new knowledge/technology, highlighting priority areas to be developed, b) the application of existing knowledge toward priority areas, c) building up of an indigenous science and technology capacity – institutional structure. (UNACAST, 1971:4) However, since the Advisory Committee did not have direct access to the political decision-making process, the World Plan of Action was not carried forward as hoped. (UNCTAD, 1997:5)
The Sussex Manifesto (The Sussex Group Report)
The UN Advisory Committee commissioned a group of researchers at SPRU and IDS, deemed the ‘Sussex Group’, to produce a report on current issues in science and technology for development and to make some recommendations for the Second Development Decade and the associated World Plan of Action. The report was considered by some ACAST members to be too radical, hence earning the nickname ‘The Sussex Manifesto’.
United Nations Second Development Decade
In the 1960s, ‘development’ strategies emphasised economic growth targets and technical ‘fixes’. Though some countries had achieved target growth rates over that decade, by 1970 there was an acknowledgement that problems of poverty, unemployment, hunger and health had not eased as a result, and so the emphasis shifted toward interest in distribution and equity.
‘Technological Dependence, Monopoly and Growth’ by Merhav
Merhav suggests that developing countries are not likely to repeat the same process of development that the developed countries have done, with regards to industrialisation and growth, and warns against ‘techological dependence’. He also argues that transnational corporate control of technology is a key factor in binding developing economies to an “open economy” policy in the international system.
Bellagio Conference on international agricultural research
At the Bellagio conference, directors of the Rockefeller and Ford Foundations met to discuss addressing world food needs, agreeing to do this through the development of specialised International Agricultural Research Centres, which eventually evolved into the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research network connected to the World Bank. These centres were instrumental in pushing forward the ‘Green Revolution’ and set up a model of science and technology production at ‘centres of excellence’. (Hardin, 2008)