Linking science and development.

• Author: Conaway, Janelle
• Position: OAS

THE COUNTRIES OF the region have agreed to work together to promote greater investment in science, technology, engineering, and innovation, recognizing that these are important factors in economic and social development.

Dining a meeting held in November in Lima, Peru, science and technology ministers and other high-level authorities also said they would strive to narrow the gap in this field among the different countries of the Americas through increased cooperation in capacity building, technology transfer, research, and education.

In opening the meeting, Acting Secretary General Luigi R. Einaudi stressed that the region needs a concerted effort that benefits its people by helping to bridge the technological divide, increase economic competitiveness, and reduce poverty.

"We need a more holistic focus that introduces science, technology, engineering, and innovation in the operations of the public sector," he said. "We also need to expand our horizons beyond governments, to universities, to the private sector, to civil society, and to the education of our youth without distinctions or discrimination."

In the Declaration of Lima, the ministers underscored the importance of linking efforts to promote science and technology with the broader goals of the...