SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT THROUGH
Russel
C. Jones, Ph.D., P.E.
President,
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology
ABSTRACT
In
the pursuit of a more secure, stable and sustainable world, developing
countries seek to enhance their human, institutional and infrastructure
capacity. To do so they need a
solid base of technologically prepared people to effectively improve their
economies and quality of life. Such a base will facilitate the infusion of
foreign capital through attraction of multinational companies to invest in the
developing country, assist in making the most of foreign aid funds, and
provide a basis for business development by local entrepreneurs. In a
coordinated approach, UNESCO and WFEO are mounting major efforts at technical
capacity building in developing countries.
KEYWORDS
Capacity
building; sustainable economic development; engineering education
INTRODUCTION
An old Chinese proverb says:
“Give
a person a fish: you have fed the person for today.
Teach a person to fish: you have fed the person for a lifetime.”
In
today’s global economy, one more level needs to be added for developing
countries:
And:
teach the person how to process and package fish for export and market it, and
you have stimulated economic development.
Economic
development for developing countries can be effectively stimulated by building
the technical capacity of their workforce, through quality engineering education
programs. A competent technical workforce base can then provide several paths to
economic development: attraction of technically oriented multi-national
companies, who can invest effectively in the developing country once there is a
cadre of qualified local employees available; effective utilization of foreign
aid funds, and providing a legacy of appropriate infrastructure projects and
technically competent people to operate and maintain them; and small business
startups by technically competent entrepreneurs.
Capacity
building can be defined as follows:
Capacity
building is a dedication to the strengthening of economies, governments,
institutions and individuals through education, training, mentoring, and the
infusion of resources. Capacity
building aims at developing secure, stable, and sustainable structures, systems
and organizations, with a particular emphasis on using motivation and
inspiration for people to improve their lives.
In
the global economy of the 21st Century, engineers play a key role in
overall economic development for countries and regions. In the well developed
countries, the role of the engineer is well understood and utilized. In much of
the developing world, however, the available pool of engineering talent is
typically below critical mass – and economic development and even important
basic societal needs that rely on engineering – such as clean water supply and
sanitation – lack the technical talent to address them.
Technical
capacity building efforts aim at developing a sufficient pool of well educated
and certified engineering graduates in developing countries to effect three
desirable outcomes:
•
Technical capability is needed for
developing countries to engage effectively in the global economy; direct foreign
investment, international trade, mobility of engineers, and the flow of work to
countries with cost-effective talent will result.
•
Indigenous science and technology
capacity is needed to insure that international aid funds are utilized
effectively and efficiently – for initial project implementation, for
long-term operation and maintenance, and for the development of capacity to do
future projects. And a sufficient pool of engineers can enable a developing
country to address the UN’s Millennium Development Goals effectively,
including poverty reduction, safe water and sanitation, etc.
•
In order to stimulate job
formation in developing countries, a technical workforce pool is needed, made up
of people who are specifically educated and prepared to engage in
entrepreneurial startup efforts that meet local needs
The World Federation of Engineering Organizations,
through its Committee on
RESULTS OF PREVIOUS
EFFORTS
In
a detailed study of the results of foreign aid to developing countries over the
past several decades, William Easterly concludes, in his book “The Elusive
Quest for Growth” (MIT Press, 2002):
–
Previous efforts have tried to
use foreign aid, investment in machines, fostering education at the primary and
secondary levels, controlling population growth, and giving loans and debt
relief conditional on reforms to stimulate the economic growth that would allow
these countries to move toward self sufficiency
–
all of these efforts over the
past few decades have failed to lead to the desired economic growth
–
these massive and expensive
efforts have failed because they did not hit the fundamental human behavioral
chord that “people respond to incentives”
Having
concluded that past efforts at stimulating economic growth in developing
countries have failed, Easterly outlines what he thinks would work. He argues
that there are two areas that can likely lead to the desired economic growth in
developing countries, and can lead them toward economic self sufficiency:
–
utilization
of advanced technologies, and
–
education
that leads to high skills in technological areas
While
emphasis on health and basic relief needs must continue, there is also a
critical need to break the cycles of poverty through development of strong and
competitive economies that can relate to world markets. The building of
indigenous pools of people with quality educations in science, technology, and
engineering can help lead to economic growth and healthy economies.
One
need only look at examples from
In
the case of
In
China, already a major economic power, the proportion of first science and
engineering degrees to all bachelors-equivalent degrees was 59%, as compared to
about 33% in the US in 2001 (Source: Science
and Engineering Indicators 2004, National Science Foundation, National
Science Board). The report opens with the statement:
“Excellence
in (science and engineering) higher education helps a country to be
technologically innovative and economically competitive.”
WHAT IS NEEDED
First
and foremost, a large enough pool of high quality, accredited engineering
graduates is needed in developing countries so that the good results listed
above can be realized. It must be recognized that there will be some leakage of
these graduates to jobs in developed countries, but many will choose to stay
where family ties and native country culture provide a comfortable environment.
But
the basic need is the creation of good jobs in the home country. This is a
chicken-and-egg issue. Increased demand for engineers will result only when
there is a sufficient pool of well qualified graduates to attract direct foreign
investment, multinational corporation operations, offshore outsourcing from
developed countries, and entrepreneurial startups. Developing country planners
and government officials must pursue effective economic development and job
generation strategies in parallel with making the needed investments to enhance
the quality and quantity of engineering graduates.
Engineering
education in developing countries should include significant coverage of
entrepreneurship – how to start, operate, and grow a small business. Note that
US companies such as Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, and Yahoo all were started in
garages by enterprising young people with a technical bent. Engineering
graduates should be equipped to take a path of creating jobs rather than seeking
one if they wish to do so.
As
technology based economies grow in developing countries, one important source of
top talent – in addition to new engineering graduates – is the return of
previous emigrants from the diaspora. Several countries that are developing well
have benefited from the return of former citizens who see new opportunities in
their home countries, and bring back foreign experience and network contacts to
the benefit of their home countries.
In
addition to increasing the number and quality of engineering graduates, and
pursuing strategies to have good local jobs available, developing countries need
mechanisms to apply research and development results from local universities and
companies for economic gain. Such mechanisms as incubators and small business
development financing are needed in the mix.
A SPECIAL CASE – OIL
RICH COUNTRIES
Developing
countries that currently are very rich due to significant oil production present
a special case in building capacity for long term economic development. Many
such countries have focused their engineering education resources primarily on
current needs for petroleum engineers and related fields.
In
the judgment of this author, such countries need to develop strategic plans for
the eventuality that their oil reserves will be depleted, when they will have to
rely on other technical products and services to continue to flourish in the
global competitive economy. Some of the current largess of funds should be
invested in developing technical expertise in areas of long term potential, such
as biotechnology, cybertechnology, nanotechnology, etc. Strategic investments
should be made in the education of engineers and other technical graduates to
develop such areas, and stake out future economic strength areas.
Such
strategic planning will require the collaboration of governments, universities,
and commercial interests in the oil rich countries.
The
leadership of
UNESCO AND THE WORLD
FEDERATION OF ENGINEERING ORGANIZATIONS
Given
the strong relation between creation of a critical mass of educated and skilled
engineering and science graduates, efforts should be made to build these
capacities in developing countries. This is one of the conclusions reached by
both UNESCO and the World Federation of Engineers (WFEO). The World Federation
of Engineering Organizations was founded in 1968 under the auspices of the
UNESCO in
In
keeping with its mission, WFEO created its Standing Committee on
Engineering
for the
African
Initiatives: Many of the societal, human and economic needs identified in the
Millennium Development Goals and other similar descriptions of the situation in
developing countries are present in sub-Saharan
Electronic
Initiatives: The Committee on
Other
Activities: the Committee on
•
Gender issues
•
South-south interactions
•
Engineers without borders
CONCLUSION
Technical
capacity building in developing countries as a lever for economic and social
development is currently recognized as an important priority in the global
engineering community. The WFEO Committee on
Russel
C. Jones is founding President of the
Masdar Institute of Science and Technology, a graduate education and research
institution focused on alternative energy and sustainability, in Abu Dhabi UAE.
Prior to that, he had a long career in education in the