A Companion to the Philosophy of Technology

Ways Forward

As described above, there are good examples of success in connecting the MDGs with S&T innovation. However, there is a long way to go. The UN’s Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation recommends a focus on platform technologies (ones that have broad impacts on economies); infrastructure development through indigenous engineering and construction firms; improvements in universities with a focus on development research; higher education for more young people, especially women; and government incentives and procurement for new technologies.³⁵ Currently, there is a significant drain of talent from developing countries to the developed world, given better economic opportunities and political stability abroad.³⁶ Developing countries, in partnership with developed ones, need to create climates to retain their scientists and engineers. The global S&T community needs to provide incentives for work on local issues, as researchers who work on important regional problems often cannot publish their findings in mainstream international journals.³⁷ One way to address this problem is for governments to fund competitions to address national challenges. The Venezuelan National Science and Technology Council has done this to focus research on challenges with the oil industry, urban violence and the cacao crop virus.³⁸

Global public–private partnerships (PPPs) are on the rise for combating disease. Big pharmaceutical and smaller biotechnology companies are partnering with government ...