Workshop on Information and Communication Technologies
For Sustainable Development
Comments to Friday's Plenary Session
Peter A. Freeman
U.S. National Science Foundation
Bangalore, India
January 16, 2004
President Kalam, Governor Chaturvedi, Colleagues, Guests - Good morning!
Two days ago I extended to you the personal greetings of the Director
of NSF, Dr. Rita Colwell, and her wishes for us to have a productive
workshop. I know she would be very pleased - as am I - with the high
degree of cooperation and focus on the end result of sustainable development
that has taken place over the past two days. That is a good sign for
the future!
She has also asked me to extend her personal greetings to you, President
Kalam, and joins me in congratulating you on your strong support for
science, engineering, and technology. The world needs more leaders like
you!
In the few moments I have this morning, I want to amplify two points
I made in the opening session of this workshop: The importance of education
and the role that each of you can play as a "civic scientist."
I do not need to explain to any of you the importance of science, engineering,
and technology to the future of the world, most especially those regions
that are rapidly developing. (I will use the term "science"
to refer to all three activities). Likewise, I shouldn't need to extol
the importance of education, but I have noticed in several things about
sustainable development that I have read recently, that the importance
of education seems sometimes to be mentioned in an "off-handed"
or "added-on" manner. This is not surprising, because the
science is often so compelling that it dominates our conversation. And,
of course, as scientists, that is what we are most interested in.
My message on this point is simple: As scientists, we are all highly
educated and could not do what we do without that education. Further,
many of us - myself included - started in fairly humble circumstances
and have advanced to our positions of responsibility largely because
of our education. So, as you continue to consider the ways in which
ICT can contribute to sustainable development, make sure that you look
carefully at the role of education. Specifically, ICT is already revolutionizing
education (along with many other activities) and could well provide
new means of education whose impact on development may ultimately far
outstrip any single scientific application that we might make.
My other message is also simple: For those of you that are scientists,
what you are doing by attending this meeting may be just as important
as the work that you do as a scientist. You have been engaged here in
discussions about the use of science more than the science itself. In
doing this, you are acting as "civic scientists," as Neal
Lane, the former director of NSF has called them.
The science community and the policy community, while often sharing
the same objectives, such as sustainable development, are often different
in the ways they work. It is important that we continue to talk with
each other as we have the past two days.
The dialogue is essential and must be continued, because few people
are both great scientists and great leaders in society. On Wednesday,
I mentioned Rita Colwell, Raj Reddy and V.S. Arunachalam as models.
All are fine "civic scientists" who have done great science
and helped insure the application of their scientific results. President
Kalam has transcended this "civic scientist" model, however,
and become a "scientific leader of society." Having recently
read his inspiring book, India 2020, I know that we will all learn from
him today.
While it may be that none of the rest of us will ever become president
of our country, there is much that we can do as civic scientists and
scientifically enlightened policy makers, so I encourage you in your
continued efforts to use ICT in sustainable development.
Thank you.
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