THE PANEL OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON SCIENCE AND
TECHNOLOGY FOR DEVELOPMENT
28 - 30 November 2007
Kuala Lumpur
ICT-EMPOWERING SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND
ENGINEERING FOR INNOVATION AND CAPACITYBUILDING
by
Mr. Andrew W. Reynolds
The views presented here are the participants ' and do not necessarily reflect the views and position
of the United Nations or the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development
S&T, ICTs for Development, Innovation
and Knowledge Society:
Common Themes Worldwide
Organization of American States - Lima Plan of Action
- investment in S&T, engineering education, research
- emphasis on K-12 science/math; societal education
- public/private partnerships for shared infrastructures, ICTbased portals, data bases, virtual libraries; e-government;
R&D networks (“redCLARA”), including with Europe, US
- with WFEO, “Engineering for the Americas” curriculum
African Union – January 2007 Addis Ababa Declaration adopted
African Ministerial Conference on S&T (ARMCOST) Consolidated
Plan of Action (CAP) to
- increase S&T, engineering capacity in core research fields;
watershed management; combat climate change,
drought, desertification; foster assets for rural electrification
- improve mechanisms for policy and innovation
- build capacity in S&T, engineering research and education
S&T, ICTs for Development, Innovation
and Knowledge Society:
Common Themes Worldwide
UNESCO – General Conference 2007 Decisions, Conclusions
from RT “S&T for Sustainable Development” to emphasize:
- Basic and engineering sciences in grad and post-grad
education for knowledge-based economies; open
courseware; digital libraries; distance-learning techs
- Public/private partnerships for institutional capacity-building
between governments, universities, industry, financial
institutions, other NGOs
- With sister IOs, national sustainability indicators, innovation
and R&D benchmarks, best practices for curricula, promote
S&T and development theme for UNGA
- Assist African Union in implementing AMCOST CPA, focusing
first on “flagship” initiatives for capacity-building in science
policy, innovation (including STI e-library); S&T education;
African virtual campus based on Avicenna Virtual Campus
Goals of the Iraqi Virtual
Science Library Project
Science and
Technology
Adviser to
the
Secretary
Outreach to support capacity building in Iraqi science
and engineering education and research
Enhance S&T capabilities critical to the future of Iraq
Connect/Reconnect Iraq with current S&T data,
information and core research papers,colleagues,
collaborators in the international science and engineering
communities
Foster more cooperation and mutual understanding
through promotion of science and engineering
Develop regional and institutional training programs to
support the use of the library
IVSL Content
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
The IVSL provides organized, single portal access to:
•
•
•
Over 17,000 journals from
a) major publishers
b) professional societies
c) free publications
d) online course material and books
Millions of full text articles, research papers
Digital resources from US Government
The Iraqi Virtual Science Library
IVSL: Public-Private Partnership
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
Project Funded and Supported by:
U.S. Department of Defense
U.S. Department of State
Project Implementation:
U.S. National Academy of Science
Civilian R&D Foundation
Partnership with:
U.S. Scientific Society Publishers
Leading International Academic Publishers
Professional Societies, US Agencies
The Iraqi Virtual Science Library
IVSL: Public-Private Partnership
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
Partners Include:
American Chemical Society
American Physical Society
American Institute of Physics
American Mathematical Society
Association for Computing Machinery
American Society of Civil Engineering
American Society of Mechanical Engineers
Annual Reviews
Elsevier Publishing
EBSCO Publishing
Institute of Electronic/Electrical Engineers
ISI Web of Knowledge/Thomson Scientific
JESTOR
MIT OpenCourseWare
SpringerLink
Science.gov Consortium
Sun Microsystems
Useful Systems
US Army Corps of Engineers
US Dept of Agriculture
US Dept of Energy
US NOAA
Viatech
ANGORA
HINARI
The Iraqi Virtual Science Library
IVSL Implementation – Phase I
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
U.S. National Academies of Science •
Negotiations for journal licenses, oversight &
implementation of training programs based on
precedent program with Pakistan
•
Contact point for cooperation with science and
engineering communities within Iraq
•
Iraqi Collaborators:
- Ministry of Higher Education, Scientific Research,
- Ministry of Science and Technology
- Seven Universities (fostering geographic diversity)
- National Academy of Science
- International Center for Science and Industry
The Iraqi Virtual Science Library
IVSL Implementation Phase I for
Trial Institutions
University Partners:
• Baghdad
• Basrah
• University of
Technology
• Mosul
• Al-Mustansyriah
• Al-Nahrain
• Sulaimaniyah
Science
and
Technology
Adviser to
the
Secretary
IVSL Implementation Phase II:
University Responsibilities
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
In coordination with the NAS:
identify appropriate persons for IVSL training who
can train other users
ensure that adequate infrastructure and promotional
activities placed to optimize user access to the IVSL
coordinate technical and content issue
promote coordination between universities and other
parts of the Iraqi S&T community using the IVSL
IVSL Implementation Phase II:
University Responsibilities
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
Good level of ICT literacy, ideally within an information rich
environment e.g., a library or research department
Good communication skills with a user-focused approach
Ability to adapt the workshop materials to make them
appropriate to local conditions
Experience in running training, interactive teaching
Ability to communicate technical issues to non-technical
people
Good knowledge of the Internet as a research tool and
understanding of the resources available on the Internet
Understanding of ICT end user training issues
IVSL Implementation Phase II:
Initial Training Programs
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
Managed by CRDF, to provide participants with:
an understanding of the IVSL and what resources
are available through the IVSL
detailed training on the usage of the electronic
information resources available through the IVSL
training and information on the training of other end
users of the IVSL within their home institution
installation and use of Sun Microsystems servers
IVSL Inauguration, Usage
Statistics, Transition Plan
for Total Iraqi Control
Official Launch Date: May 3, 2006 at www.ivsl.org
Scientific Articles, Research Papers Downloaded:
2006: 124,954
2007: 135,223 (through 9/07)
Most Frequent Sites Visited:
IEEE; JSTOR; Elesvier; SpringerLink
Iraqi Government Will Assume Control by CY 2009
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
A Registrar at Each Iraqi Institutions Validates Users in the
Science and Engineering Community
Users Receive Unique ID and Password from
Appointed CIO or Librarian
A quick tour
of the IVSL
site:
Journals &
Databases:
Types of publishers:
• Commercial
• Professional
Societies
• Free
Journal access is
expensive!
Access to a single
publisher can cost
a university
>$100,000
ICTs Empowering S&T for Development:
A Sampling of Other Examples
US Federal Geographic Data Committee
“Down to Earth” – GIS for Development in Africa
SERVIR – City of Knowledge, Panama – weather, land cover
Famine Early Warning System (FEWSNET)
GOES10 Repositioning over South America – natural hazards
Global and Regional Vegetation Health Products
National Integrated Drought Information System
Mesoamerican and Caribbean Geospatial Alliance
Tree Crops Africa Projects
Environmental Monitoring and Information System
Geospatial Technologies for Sustainable Development of Cities
One Planet, Many People: Atlas of Our Changing Environment
RANET – weather, climate and other environmental information
CSTD – Looking Ahead
Science and
Technology
Adviser to the
Secretary
Develop a global inventory and taxonomy of existing ICT
activities directed at empowering science and engineering
for development, education, research and innovation
Publicize CSTD multi-year agenda to enlist new members
Support UNCTAD/UNESCO collaboration on STIP reviews
Partner with UNESCO, AU, OAS, WFEO, other IOs to:
- foster more public/private partnerships for ICT-based
science and engineering capacity-building, innovation
with open source course-ware, digital libraries (e.g.,
Bibliotheca Alexandrina); distance-learning
technologies (e.g., CISCO Networking Academy)
- develop national policies, indicators for sustainability,
innovation (e.g., African S&T and Innovation Policy
Initiative), R&D benchmarks, best practices for K-12
science/math, university science, engineering curricula
- promote S&T for Development as a future UNGA theme