853 



For Want of a NaiP 95 



know the stakes must try to seize a remarkable opportimitv to deal with the issues. 

 Let us look at those issues. 



Puzzles for Policy 



Policy issues at the Conference will be raised in ways that will ran^e from the trivial 

 to the sublime, from current political fluctuations to profoundly miportani choices 

 about the lon>j ran^e future of man. It is usekil to griuip issues into three categories: 

 (a) buzz unrds that symbolize, in a cliche, important but frequently misunderstood 

 topics; (b) hard realilies that too often are ignored in dipk)matic debates; and (c) 

 critical uncertainties (including gaps in knowled^^e) that will complicate policy 

 making even when it is well informed. 



Two of the most dxsru^Uvti buzz tinrds are "techntilogy transfer"" and "appropri 

 ate technology." Tecbnnlogy transfer almt^st alwavs conjures up wrong images of 

 packages of know-how being identified cleanly, transported around tidily, opened up 

 easily, and used efficiently. The phrase ought to be abolished, tor it never clarifies 

 anything, h compre.sses t(X) much into a code that scrambles many ot our me.ssages. 

 The crucial issue is to recognize how much work, over a long time, is needed to build 

 up a technical base where now no such base exists. 



How is such a base built.'' To begin with, there can be no substitute for improved 

 education at all levels, geared to local needs and traditions, w hile being continuously 

 adapted from the highest standards throughoiu the world. But there is an enormous 

 range of specific ways to build a scientific and technological base - from creating local 

 economic incentives for manufacturing to purchasing turn kev plants: from formal 

 participation in international research networks to informal encouragement of indi 

 viduals in technical exchanges; from entering into . bilateral (and multilateral) 

 financial agreements between governments to fostering pri\ ate foreign investments: 

 from international bargaining on licensing and patents to national legislation calling 

 for more local R&D by multinationals. There are many catalogues of such 

 "transfer"" mechanisms. Countries will inevitably be involved in almt)St every 

 mechanism as they develop their technical capabilities. 



]J\Vetechnnl()^^y transfer, the phrase appropriate tcchtinln^y means many different 

 things, often contradictory. It aims to be a precise way of categorizing technically 

 tailored solutions to particular ensembles of LDC goals and resources. But for many 

 LDCs. the phrase has taken on the pejorative connotation of second hand, second 

 best, or primitive technologies, h may also suggest a patronizing stance by the DCs. 



Surely appropriate technoUigies are needed- who favors /;7appropriate 

 technology? — but the recent abuse of the term rarely helps to meet specific needs, 

 many of which will involve rather advanced technology. The puzzle is to work out 

 truly feasible and imaginative solutitins, n(it to categori/e the "correct answers" 

 narrowly in advance. Such .solutions usually will call vipon modern insights to 

 produce carefully crafted technologies. 



In Schumacher's definition, ' ' intermediate" ' technology (a better term, perhaps) is 

 "vastly superior to the primitive technology of bygone ages but at the same time 

 much simpler, cheaper, and freer than the supertechnology of. . .thti.se already rich 

 and powerful."'^ He goes on to emphasize that what is difficult—and what usually 



