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updated: 09 March 2006 |
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SciDev.net
 :
Free-access website to provide news,
views and information on science, technology and developmentThe first global website dedicated to
both reporting on and discussing the role of science and technology in
meeting the needs of developing countries was launched in London on Monday
3 December 2001 The website, known as SciDev.Net, has
been created on the premise that those who stand to benefit most from
modern science and technology tend to be those who have least access to
information about either, leaving them ill-equipped to take part in
discussions about issues that profoundly affect their lives "The Internet provides an
unprecedented opportunity to address this dilemma, and thus help to bridge
the divide that separates the 'knowledge-rich' from 'knowledge-poor'
nations of the world," says David Dickson, formerly news editor of
Nature and the founding director of SciDev.Net "We hope that this website will
therefore make a fundamental contribution both to the creation of
knowledge-based development strategies, and to informed debate about the
directions in which these strategies should lead" In order to achieve this goal,
SciDev.Net, which can be accessed at http://www.scidev.net aims to provide
a focal point for both authoritative information and informed debate about
issues such as climate change, human cloning and intellectual property Its broad objective is to help empower
individuals, communities and decision-makers in developing countries, in
particular by increasing their ability to ensure the effective
contribution of science and technology to public health and economic
well-being in an environmentally sustainable way The website is backed by the world's two
leading scientific journals, Nature and Science. Each has agreed to
provide free access to a selected number of items from each week's issue
(full access to items in these publications is usually restricted to
paying subscribers) In addition to these journals - from
which SciDev.Net will be both financially and editorially independent -
the project is also supported by the Third World Academy of Sciences,
which brings together more than 80 scientific academies from across the
developing world "Publishers and journals have
tended to be unimaginative in their thinking about the developing
world," says Philip Campbell, the editor of Nature. "In
SciDev.Net, we have an original and well funded initiative to help
scientists and others in the developing world get hold of information and opinion about things that really matter
to them. I'm very pleased that Nature has been able to help this get off
the ground, and will look forward to contributing to SciDev.Net alongside
Science and other publications" "We at Science are pleased to join
forces with our colleagues at Nature in sponsoring SciDev.Net," says
Donald Kennedy, the editor of Science and formerly president of Stanford
University in California "Information about new findings is
even more important to scientists in the developing world than to most of
our subscribers, and we think this effort will help meet a real need" The intended audience for SciDev.Net includes anyone with a professional or personal interest in the contribution of science and technology to development. These range from laboratory researchers to science journalists, students, teachers, librarians, aid agency officials, and government decision-makers Financial support has been provided by
the UK Department for International Development (which also funded the
planning phase of the website), the Swedish International Development
Cooperation Agency, and the International Development Research Centre in
Canada An integral part of the website will be
a series of 'dossiers'. These will bring together various types of
material - ranging from short news items and opinion articles to
authoritative 'policy briefs' - on key topics at the interface between
science, technology and society, with a particular focus on the relevance of these topics to
developing countries Presenting a diverse range of
information and substantial opportunities for feedback will, it is hoped,
encourage web-based discussion on some of the contentious science and
technology and society issues of the day. In addition, a network of
correspondents in developing countries will bring news about scientific
and technological developments in the South to a global audience "We hope that SciDev.Net will serve
as a broker between those that have knowledge about science, technology
and development, and those who can benefit from this knowledge," says
Geoff Oldham, formerly director of the Science Policy Research Unit at the
University of Sussex, and chairman of the website's board of trustees "We also hope that, through its
network of southern based correspondents, its policy briefing service, and
its web-based debates, SciDev.Net will become a voice for the South. Such
a voice is urgently needed in the international debates on a wide range of
science, technology and development issues cutting across health,
agriculture, environment and industry" The official launch of the website took
place immediately following the first meeting of its board of trustees on
Monday 3 December. In line with a commitment to represent a developing
world perspective, the majority of trustees come from Southern countries
(three from Sub-Saharan Africa, two from India, two from Latin America and
one from China) In addition to operating the website,
SciDev.Net hopes eventually to become engaged in a range of activities
aimed at integrating ideas about science and technology into the cultural
fabric of developing societies. The trustees meeting, for example, was
followed by a half-day workshop on 'Science, Communication and Development'
in which several of Britain's leading experts on the communication of
science discussed the relevance of UK experience to the challenges facing science communicators in the developing
world. "Through its website and other related activities, SciDev.Net
hopes to place itself in the vanguard of new web-based approaches to
promoting the application of science and technology to human well-being
and sustainable development," says Oldham To find out more about SciDev.Net, or to
register to receive regular email alerts that will inform you of new
material added to the site each week, please visit: http://www.scidev.net
Further Information SciDev.Net is an independent not-for
profit company, registered under UK law as a 'company limited by
guarantee', and has applied for registration as a charity If you would like more information about the company or its website, which has been designed by the London-based company Synergy New Media, please send an email to <info@scidev.net> Main contacts: David Dickson Professor Geoff Oldham Danny Schaffer (Third World Academy of
Sciences) |
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