968 



S-14 



VI . 3 . 1 . 4 Acquisition and Adaptation of Technologies 



$80,150 2 - b 



Pilot experiments on applications of microinformatics, linked 

 to IV. 1. 



VI. 3.1. 5 Development of Informatics 



$274,150 2 - b/c 



Statutes for intergovernmental program on informatics; 

 regional cooperation in developing countries; cooperation 

 with Intergovernmental Bureau for Informatics (IBI) linked to 

 International Federation of Automatic Control (IFAC) and Data 

 for Development (DFD) ; preparation of 2nd Conference on Stra- 

 tegies and Policies for Informatics (SPIN II) in cooperation 

 with IBI. 



Comment on VI. 3.1 ; Some of the activities, particularly pertaining to 

 training in applied informatics, are of value. Fruitful interactions 

 with the U.S. informatics community are anticipated because of the U.S. 

 position in this field. Future support of these activities should be 

 limited to training (VI. 3. 1.2), strategies (VI. 3. 1.1), acquisition 

 (VI. 3. 4) and that part of VI. 3. 5 pertaining to regional training 

 activities. Program costs (projects, staff but not overhead) for 

 recommended items total about $1.7 million/year, of which the U.S. 

 contribution would be $425,000/year. 



Alternative Option 1 ; The U.S. share of program costs plus overhead 

 ($500,000), as limited above under Comment, could be provided through 

 nationally mananged activities with possible use of other UN agencies 

 such as UNIDO, UNDP and the UN Financing System in cooperation with the 

 International Federation of Information Processing (IFIP) . An important 

 complementary support mechanism to these multilateral agencies would be 

 the involvement and oversight by U.S. professional organizations to 

 guide international projects, particularly the U.S. Association for 

 Computing Machinery (ACM) . 



Alternative Option 2 ; Provide U.S. contribution in support of program 

 costs to UNESCO (Funds-in-Trust, donations, etc.) limited to items noted 

 above. Taking into account provision of overhead on Funds-in-Trust, 

 this would total approximately $500,000. There would be minimal over- 

 sight of the use of these funds. 



VI. 3. 2 Applied Microbiology and Biotechnology 



VI. 3.2.1 Microbiological Resources Centers (MIRCENs) 



$60,900 2 - a 



Research grants to developing country centers on nitrogen- 

 fixation, fermentation technology, biomethanogenesis; news- 

 letter documentation, MIRCEN journal, regional projects in 

 Africa and Arab states; cooperation with UNEP on microbial 

 strains. 

 UNEP: ($75,000) 



