916 



31 



Preliminary Findings 



1. There has been only limited interaction with U.S. engineering 

 societies and universities in this area of UNESCO interests. UNESCO 

 has broadened its engineering interests to intersect with responsi- 

 bilities of other UN organizations such as UNIDO. UNESCO should con- 

 centrate its efforts on engineering education. 



2. As an alternative interim arrangement, U.S. engineering 

 societies and universities could provide significant contributions to 

 UNESCO-related educational activities through regional and international 

 professional organizations such as the World Federation of Engineering 

 Organizations (WFEO) . A second alternative for supporting these activ- 

 ities would involve other UN organizations such as UNDP, UNIDO, and the 

 UN Financing System. 



3. It is important to establish an oversight capability within a 

 body sensitive to U.S. interests, such as NSF and/or NRC, working with 

 U.S. professional societies and engineering institutions. 



Research, Training, and International Cooperation 

 in Key Areas in Science and Technology (VI. 3) 



Assessment/Potential Impacts 



This program area is directed toward the dissemination of techno- 

 logies in informatics (information processing, systems development), 

 applied microbiology (including biotechnology) , and use of renewable 

 energy sources. The current annual UNESCO budget for program costs 

 (projects and staff) plus overhead is approximately $6 million — the 

 U.S. share is $1.5 million. Restricting attention to program costs 

 ($3.6 million), the U.S. share is about $900,000 per year. Other 

 "outside" sources of program support provide a total $1.25 million 

 per year. 



Special attention has been devoted to these three rapidly devel- 

 oping fields because of their significance to the economic and social 

 development of all countries and particularly because of the need to 

 help developing countries master and effectively exploit such technolo- 

 gies for their national and regional benefit. UNESCO sponsors and 

 supports important training activities, provides advisory services to 

 assist the development of research policies and their infrastructures, 

 and promotes the establishment of regional and global networks of 

 research training and exchange of science and technology (S&T) data and 

 information. Since there are other UN organizations charged with pro- 

 moting applications and industrial development in some of these areas, 

 one might question the wisdom of UNESCO's assuming responsibilities in 

 many aspects of informatics and the renewable energy resource sector. 

 International collaboration in all of these sectors merits strong 

 encouragement; UNESCO may not be the most suitable or effective 

 instrument. 



