Panel: Global Science Policy

Abstract

In the last chapter, Harvey Brooks laid out the rationale—indeed, the necessity—for cooperative efforts on a world scale in the application of science and technology to human needs. We have a joint problem to solve: survival. The members of this panel were therefore posed with the following questions. What issues should be part of the global science policy agenda? Is the notion of “national capability” in R&D outdated, to be replaced by the idea of sectoral capability on a global scale? What sorts of institutions would we need in order to formulate such an agenda and exercise such capabilities? The panelists were not optimistic.