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SUSTAINABILITY SCIENCE

2009

May 10, 2009

Geospatial Science & Technology for Sustainable Development in Africa: Partnerships and Applications

Announcement

By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa

The conference brings together members of public and private donor organizations with those from institutions and industry engaged in the application of geospatial science and technology to assess development needs, formulate responses to those needs, and successfully implement sustainable development programs in Africa.

Co-sponsored by the Association of American Geographers and the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project, Harvard Kennedy School

2008

January 25, 2008

"Science and Technology for Sustainable Well-Being"

Journal Article, Science, issue 5862, volume 319

By John P. Holdren, Former Director and Faculty Chair, Science, Technology and Public Policy Program

"I would urge every scientist and engineer with an interest in the intersection of S&T with sustainable well-being...to 'tithe' 10% of your professional time and effort to working in these and other ways to increase the benefits of S&T for the human condition and to decrease the liabilities. If so much as a substantial fraction of the world's scientists and engineers resolved to do this much, the acceleration of progress toward sustainable well-being for all of Earth's inhabitants would surprise us all."

2007

Winter 2007-2008

"Energy Innovation Group Engages Washington on Transport Policy"

Newsletter Article, Belfer Center Newsletter

By Sam Milton, Former Project Coordinator, Energy Technology Innovation Policy, 2006-2009

The Energy Technology Innovation Policy (ETIP) research group is intensely involved in the current debate in Washington, D.C. on future directions for U.S. transportation policy. Led by ETIP Director Kelly Sims Gallagher with contributions by Gustavo Collantes, John P. Holdren, Henry Lee, and Robert Frosch, ETIP's primary goal in this project is to contribute to the current policy debate about how to effectively limit or reduce oil consumption and greenhouse-gas emissions from the U.S. transportation sector.

November 29, 2007

"Improving China's Image in Africa"

Op-Ed, Business Daily, (Nairobi)

By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa

"China’s ability to respond rapidly to requests for investment in new areas such as infrastructure has emboldened many African leaders who are under pressure to meet their electoral promises....Many of the transactions between China and Africa are kept confidential and little is known about their terms. Promoting greater transparency and mutual learning from those arrangements will help to improve the image of Chinese businesses in Africa."

AP Photo

October 4, 2007

"Reaping Benefits of Technology Revolution"

Op-Ed, Business Daily, (Nairobi)

By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa

"The market release of the iconic $100 laptop (XO) later this year promises to do for education what the cell phone did for telecommunications....Like the cellphone, new educational technologies such as the XO will demand greater flexibility in educational systems....Existing curricula are like landlines; fixed in place and dependent for their functioning on centralized bureaucracies."

August 2007

Freedom to Innovate: Biotechnology in Africa's Development

Report

By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa and Ismail Serageldin

"This report is about biotechnology and the role it can play for development in Africa. The report suggests specific and practical measures to advance development, quality of life and environmental sustainability using biotechnology."

July 18, 2007

"Food Security, Agriculture, and Economic Growth: Opportunities for Cooperation between the United States and Sub-Saharan Africa"

Testimony

By Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development; Director, Science, Technology, and Globalization Project; Principal Investigator, Agricultural Innovation in Africa

Testimony of Calestous Juma before the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health, Hearing on Food Security in Africa: The Impact of Agricultural Development

Summer 2007

Harvard Launches Major Initiative to Help Design an International Climate Agreement

Press Release

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.— Harvard University announced a two-year project to help identify key design elements of a future international agreement on climate change, drawing upon the ideas of leading thinkers from academia, private industry, government, and advocacy organizations, both in the industrialized world and in developing countries.

May 8, 2007

2007 Roy Family Award - Joined by the United Nation's Achim Steiner, Harvard to Honor African-German Project Making Renewable Electricity from Jatropha Nut

Press Release

February 28, 2007

Belfer Center's John Holdren Co-authors UN/Sigma Xi Climate Change Roadmap Report

Press Release

Belfer Center's John Holdren Co-authors UN/Sigma Xi Climate Change Roadmap Report

International Security

The Summer 2009 issue of the quarterly journal International Security is now available. It includes articles by Matthew Fuhrmann, Elizabeth Stanley, Daniel Lake, Christopher Layne, and more.

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Starved for Science

Starved for Science: How Biotechnology is Being Kept Out of Africa

Heading upcountry in Africa to visit small farms is absolutely exhilarating given the dramatic beauty of big skies, red soil, and arid vistas, but eventually the two-lane tarmac narrows to rutted dirt, and the journey must continue on foot. The farmers you eventually meet are mostly women, hardworking but visibly poor. They have no improved seeds, no chemical fertilizers, no irrigation, and with their meager crops they earn less than a dollar a day. Many are malnourished.

Nearly two-thirds of Africans are employed in agriculture, yet on a per-capita basis they produce roughly 20 percent less than they did in 1970. Although modern agricultural science was the key to reducing rural poverty in Asia, modern farm science—including biotechnology—has recently been kept out of Africa.

Science and Technology Experts

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Governance and Information Technology

Governance and Information Technology: From Electronic Government to Information Government

Developments in information and communication technology and networked computing over the past two decades have given rise to the notion of electronic government, most commonly used to refer to the delivery of public services over the Internet. This volume argues for a shift from the narrow focus of "electronic government" on technology and transactions to the broader perspective of information government—the information flows within the public sector, between the public sector and citizens, and among citizens....

Governance and Information Technology: From Electronic Government to Information Government is the result of a collaboration between the authors, the Dubai Initiative, and the Dubai School of Government (DSG). The original papers were presented at a DSG conference held in Dubai in May 2005.

Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program

The Science, Technology, and Public Policy Program (STPP) applies methods drawn from technology assessment, political science, economics, management, and law to study problems where science, technology, and policy intersect.

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Science, Technology, & Globalization

The aim of the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project (STG) is to undertake research, conduct training, provide policy advice, and disseminate information on interactions between technological innovation and globalization.

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