International S&T Partnerships Crucial, NSB Asserts

Several warnings have been issued in recent years about U.S. dominance in the world's scientific and technological communities slipping: the number of science and engineering (S&E) doctorates awarded per capita; the dearth of women and minorities entering technical fields; the facility in which knowledge, companies and people can be transferred globally; scores on standardized math and science tests; and indicators for global entrepreneurship, to name a few.

The latest alert, a draft report released in December by the National Science Board (NSB), urges the National Science Foundation (NSF) to take a more active, even strategic, role in fostering and participating in international S&E partnerships and collaborations.

Entitled Toward a More Effective NSF Role in International Science and Engineering, the brief report acknowledges the increasing payoff of recent international investments in S&E.

"Our participation in international S&E collaborations and partnerships is increasingly important as a means of keeping abreast of important new insights and discoveries in science and engineering," the report says.

The draft draws upon its origins when, in February 1999, NSB created a Task Force on International Issues in Science and Engineering — a group meant to offer recommendations for "strengthening the Federal institutional framework of policies and agency relations that support S&E in an international setting and with defining an effective leadership role for NSF in international science and engineering in

the 21st century."

Nine actions for NSF are recommended in the NSB draft, including the following:

• "...identify and deploy mechanisms to foster more effective communication and coordination of its international S&E research and higher education activities with those of other Federal technical agencies and non-governmental scientific organizations.
• "...expand its effort in disseminating information about U.S. international S&E research and higher education activities, taking advantage of the opportunities associated with the growth of the Internet.
• "...identify strategies to expand international collaborative activities and partnerships in S&E research and education in both core disciplines and in NSF wide initiatives.
• "...identify and build on opportunities within its current programs to encourage science and engineering students and researchers...to participate in an international research or education experience.
• "...take a more active role in facilitating cooperation in international S&E research and higher education with developing countries.
• "...take the lead in enabling the development of new international networks and virtual organizations that take advantage of information technology, high-speed research and education networks, and other tools to facilitate fuller participation of researchers in developing countries in the global research enterprise.
• "...identify and build on opportunities within its research and education programs in the social, behavioral, and economic sciences to expand international collaborative activities and partnerships.
• "...strengthen its efforts to work closely with the (Office of Science and Technology Policy), the Department of State (DOS), other Federal agencies, and international organizations to generate increased support for bilateral, multilateral, and regional scientific and engineering research and education cooperative activities that will expand the knowledge base and contribute to the solution of global problems. And,
• "...continue its interactions with the Department of State, further encourage the Department to integrate science and engineering considerations into its conduct of foreign policy, and explore mechanisms for facilitating increased knowledge flow and interchange between NSF and DOS personnel."

Toward a More Effective NSF Role in International Science and Engineering is available in its entirety at: http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?nsb00217