PREFACE 



The United States, no less than the developing 

 countries, should welcome the decision of the Seventh 

 General Assembly to convene a General Conference on 

 Science and Technology for Development in Vienna, 

 Austria, in August 19 79. Almost 15 years have passed 

 since the 1963 U.N. Conference on the Application of 

 Science and Technology for the Benefit of the Less 

 Developed Areas, which generated an enormous volume of 

 material on the state of science and technology at that 

 time. Yet 15 years in science and technology 

 represents many generations of research and 

 development, and the "less developed areas" have 

 changed a great deal since then, some of their almost 

 beyond recognition. Furthermore, the world has come to 

 recognize new problems — finite energy supplies, 

 environmental degradation, runaway population growth — 

 which it was hardly conscious of then. 



In late October 1977, the National Research Council 

 agreed to conduct a study for the U.S. Department of 

 State which would assist U.S. preparations for the 1979 

 Conference by providing suggestions for specific 

 initiatives that the United States could take to 

 further the purposes of the Conference. 



This report, resulting from that study, identifies 

 ways in which U.S. scientific and technological 

 resources could better contribute to developing country 

 needs. We believe that practical proposals in areas of 

 common interest between the United States and the 

 developing countries will better serve the purpose of 

 the 1979 Conference than dwelling further on such 

 matters as the nature of development problems, the 

 allocation of responsibility for their existence and 

 cure, the general role of science and technology, or 

 ideological or policy differences among countries. 



We have recognized, as well, that the Department of 

 State is receiving inputs from many sources as it 

 prepares for the 1979 Conference. In particular, the 

 Department has received a comprehensive review of the 



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