incentive for economic performance and technical 

 advancement. We do not anticipate any basic change in 

 U.S. laws relating to this protection. 



A small fraction of U.S. industrial and commercial 

 technology will continue to be withheld for reasons of 

 national security or commercial secrecy. However, most 

 proprietary technology can be purchased, and developing 

 countries are increasingly adept at negotiating better 

 terms for it. In any case, it seems clear that the 

 extent of private technology flows to developing 

 countries will depend on whether conditions in each 

 country (markets, regulations, institutional and 

 business capabilities, and so forth) attract such 

 flows. At the same time, the United states should be 

 alert to opportunities for encouraging U.S. private 

 enterprise to negotiate such exchanges on terms that 

 would facilitate broader participation by developing 

 countries. 



One important point is that much U.S. technology is 

 nonproprietary in the sense that fees need not be paid 

 for its use — a fact that the United States may have 

 done too little to make clear- Much technology is 

 published. Other freely available technology includes 

 that embodied in expired patents that have never been 

 brought to large-scale commercialization but that may, 

 because of changing circumstances (e.g., increased 

 energy costs or decreased supplies of raw materials) be 

 newly attractive. The substantial amount of technology 

 developed with U.S. government support is normally in 

 the public domain. Nonproprietary technologies 

 include, for example, a large segment of industrial and 

 communications technology, and most of those used in 

 public services, construction, transportation, health, 

 and agriculture. The latter areas may be the sectors 

 in which actual yield on investment, in terms of 

 improved living standards, will be greatest. 



Universities, government laboratories, and 

 industries generally are prepared to cooperate in 

 adapting or transferring this technology, and the 

 United States, by way of the Agency for International 

 Development (AID) , has actively supported its 

 transplantation, with particular concern for adaptation 

 to conditions in developing countries. 



Of paramount concern, however, are the developing 

 countries 1 own capabilities to assess, select, develop, 

 adapt, and apply technology and the underlying 

 scientific knowledge. Thus throughout this report, we 

 stress measures that would help build these 

 capabilities. 



