Science and Technology for the Developing World

 Earlier  published in  JFWTC Journal, Volume 5, Issue 2, 2009

With the developing countries increasingly poised to dictate the global market trends and growth potential, it is only appropriate that focus shifts to their specific needs. So what exactly are the specific needs of the developing world? Topping the list are obviously clean water, energy and healthcare at affordable costs. The qualifier “at affordable costs” has a universal appeal not just restricted to developing nations. Human mind is tuned to equate low cost with low (read less efficient) technology; a grave misconception indeed. High tech and low cost are not necessarily mutually exclusive as the cell phones technology has proved admirably. So the need of the hour is innovative ideas. Governments in the developing countries are getting sensitized on the power of science and technology as strong enablers for national progress and are open to ideas from all segments of the society.

Govt of India, for example, has floated several platforms for the collaboration of scientists and technologists with entrepreneurs to fast track “an innovative idea to market”. The Techno Entrepreneurial Promotion Program (TEPP) is one such initiative under the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. TEPP recently came forward to partner with the GE Edison Challenge, the annual technical challenge for students organized collectively by GE India Technology Centres and hosted by JFWTC, Bangalore.

This year students were challenged to come up with a technical solution, practical and sustainable for the energy needs of a small Indian rural community. TEPP volunteered to award Rs. 20,000/- as seed money for each of the 18 finalists to build models prototypes to substantiate their ideas. Subsequently each team will get to interact with a business incubator cell to prepare a strong business case. They could then approach the TEPP for the second phase of funding to translate their ideas into reality. As Dr A.S. Rao, former Director of TEPP puts it “Of course this is investing in risk. Perhaps less than 1% of the funded projects will mature into successful products / business. But it is worth the risk .”

Other devloping countries are not lagging behind either.Last year in Mexico and this year in Durban, I got the privilege (Accompanying Person, as the Academy puts it ) of seeing at close quarters the workings of the Academy of Sciences for the Developing World (TWAS). The events th th were the 10 and 11 Annual General Conferences of the Academy respectively.

TWAS is a consortium of distinguished scientists and engineers founded in 1983 with head office in Trieste,

Italy. Late Nobel Laureate Abdus Salam was instrumental in this intiative. One of the focus areas of the organization is sustainable development through science and technology, a common thread linking ~900 members across 100 countries: 85% of them from developing countries. TWAS firmly believes cultivating scientific temper is key to alleviating the miseries of the developing world and works very closely with Science and Technology Ministries to promote scientific research in key areas. Besides, the Academy has in place a host of other programs and activities too. For example (TWOWS) is a platform exclusively for women in science and engineering, while Inter Academy Panel (IAP) focuses on International Issues. The IAMP (InterAcademy Medical Panel) and the Consortium on Science, Technology and Innovation for the South (COSTIS) have broader playing fields.

More often Science and Technology per se cannot provide complete solutions. Efficient management is equally important. A case in study is eThekwini; the Water and Sanitation Services for the city of Durban. To begin with Government of South Africa treats water as a human right and provides 200 litres of water to every household every day free of charge. This is the baseline. Any requirement above this threshold is charged on a well defined slab system. EThekwini has 29 decentralized waste water treatment plants (DEWATS) in which it treats 500 million litres of waste water per day.

Tailpiece

While at Durban, I visited the Phoenix farm, the first ashram Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi founded in 1904. Most of the original buildings were destroyed in ethnic violence in the 80’s but the house and an office have now been rebuilt on the same site. The building which originally accommodated the printing press is currently a school and the house, a simple structure, a sort of museum. It was here that Gandhiji gave definite shape to building an egalitarian society based on the principles of nonviolence; it was here his ideas on satyagraha took root. It was electrifying to touch the printing press which must have churned out copies of Indian Opinion. Photographs and original letters are displayed on the walls of the house; many of them rare and precious. These bring into focus momentarily the man and the workings of his noble mind. For example the one Gandhi wrote to his elder brother regarding a family feud. 

Outside the mango trees were heavy with fruits and of course the fruits tasted divine