Non-EU scientists offer their opinions on the future of the European science policy, CORDIS News, August 31, 2004 (unsigned). Excerpt: "The EU must identify obstacles to global collaboration and address them, urged non-European scientists at ESOF 2004....Presenting the view of the developing world, Khotso Mokhele from South Africa explained that the reality in developing countries is political indifference or at best ambiguity towards science. 'We are counting a lot on the EU to change this state of affairs,' said Dr Mokhele....He therefore called on governments in developing countries to stop their political indifference towards science in developing countries if they really want the self-imposed marginalisation to end. The Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and future framework programmes could be a lever for endogenous investment in science and technology by developing countries, he said. Responding to Dr Mokhele's address, an EU official in the audience explained that 32 million euro in the FP6 budget had been set aside for developing countries. Only 17 million euro has so far been used, mainly because the projects presented by these countries are often not up to the required standards. 'We have recognised that infrastructure is the main issue in those countries and we will address this issue in FP7,' he promised." (Thanks to SciDev.Net.)
(PS: OA infrastructure is very inexpensive and very effective. A small part of the FP7 budget for developing countries spent on institutional repositories, if accompanied by national or institutional policies to encourage working researchers to fill them, could be a big part of the solution to this problem.)
Posted by
Peter Suber at 9/12/2004 10:37:00 AM.
The open access movement:
Putting peer-reviewed scientific and scholarly literature
on the internet. Making it available free of charge and
free of most copyright and licensing restrictions.
Removing the barriers to serious research.
I recommend the OA tracking project (OATP) as the best way to stay on top of new OA developments. You can read the OATP feed on a blog-like web page or subscribe to it by RSS, email, or Twitter. You can also help build the feed by tagging new developments you encounter.
