We're All in This Thing Together

Editor's Note

December 2008 / January 2009 By: Bob Cochnar Volume 6 Number 6

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In this issue, Sam Palmisano, IBM's chairman and CEO, writes about globalization. "In the past few years, our eyes have been opened to global climate change," he says, "and to the environmental and geopolitical issues surrounding energy. We have been made aware of global supply chains of food and medicine. These collective realizations have reminded us that we are all now connecte—economically, technically and socially."

And if we needed even further proof of interconnectedness, there's that global financial meltdown and subsequent recession that has inundated the planet. We'll get beyond our economic malaise in due course, although the journey is likely to be painful—but our interconnectedness isn't going to go away.

And the United States's position as king of the hill is in jeopardy, as Palmisano notes in his article [Page 8]. The recession isn't going to help us to stay competitive, but since most of the world's industrialized and developing nations are experiencing similar difficulty, we aren't likely to slip significantly relative to our international competitors.

President Obama's first job will be to fix the economy, but that's not the only ball he'll be juggling. Of particular interest to us is his administration's take on science and technology. His web site offers a glimpse:
"In the past, government funding for scientific research has yielded innovations that have improved the landscape of American life—technologies like the internet, digital photography, bar codes, Global Positioning System technology, laser surgery and chemotherapy. At one time, educational competition with the Soviets fostered the creativity that put a man on the moon.

"Today, we face a new set of challenges, including energy security, HIV/AIDS and climate change. Yet, the United States is losing its scientific dominance. Among industrialized nations, our country's scores on international science and math tests rank in the bottom third and bottom fifth, respectively.

"Over the last three decades, federal funding for the physical, mathematical and engineering sciences has declined at a time when other countries are substantially increasing their own research budgets.

"Barack Obama and Joe Biden believe federally funded scientific research should play an important role in advancing science and technology in the classroom and in the lab."

So the new administration talks the talk. Despite economic problems, will it walk the walk? One indicator might be the president's reaction to the proposal made by the American Association for the Advancement of Science [Page 11]:
"We hope the president-elect will act quickly to nominate a cabinet-rank Assistant to the President for Science and Technology. We further propose that the president-elect broaden science advice to the White House by reinvigorating the Office of Science and Technology Policy."

The AAAS also recognizes our interconnectedness by noting that international research cooperation is "an important tool for initiating dialogue, building trust and expanding understanding between countries and societies. The practice of science diplomacy can play an important role in promoting the civil exchange of ideas and information to improve human welfare everywhere."

Well, our new president is receiving more than enough advice to sift through in the months ahead. We hope he'll be separating the wheat from the chaff and avoid tossing away the wheat, whatever that might be.