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OCR for page 11
Welcome
Kenneth Shine
President, Institute of Medicine
On behalf of the National Academy of Sciences it is my pleasure to welcome
you to our two-day conference on transatlantic science and technology (S&T)
cooperation. As you know, the United States and European Union (KU) signed
the U.S.-EU Science and Technology Agreement on December 5, 1997. We
gather here to celebrate the agreement and to explore ways to build cooperation
between the United States and the European Community and its member nations.
We are very pleased that so many of you are able to join us here this morn-
ing. As we get under way I want to extend a special welcome to our European
friends, who traveled so far to be with us today. Let me recognize in particular:
.
John Cadogan, Director General of the Research Councils of the United
Kingdom, who is here as representative of the U.K. Presidency of the
European Union;
· Jorma Routti, Director General for Science, Research, and Development
in the European Commission;
· Paolo Fasella, Italy's Director General for Research; and
· Hugo Paemen, Ambassador of the European Commission here in Wash-
ington, who is well known to all as the able representative of the Euro-
pean Community.
We also have a distinguished group of participants from the U.S. government
whom I am pleased to recognize and thank for their participation today:
.
Mortimer Downey, Deputy Secretary of Transportation, whose leadership
and energy are well known to the Academy;
11
OCR for page 12
2
WELCOME
· Stuart Eizenstat, Under Secretary of State, who in his previous capacity as
ambassador to the European Commission was instrumental in initiating
this agreement;
Melinda Kimble, Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International
Environmental and Scientific Affairs;
Ray Kammer, Director of the National Institute of Standards and Tech-
nology. We owe a special debt to Ray for his early support of the confer-
ence and for his interest in transatlantic cooperation in science and tech-
nology.
And last but by no means least, Joseph Bordogna, Deputy Director of the
National Science Foundation and a leading figure in U.S. science policy.
The S&T agreement that we celebrate today is a major accomplishment and
having a conference of this scale is an extremely promising beginning. It reflects,
of course, like any good conference, the combination of interesting topics and
people with the energy and commitment to make it work. Conferences do not
just happen; they are put together with the cooperation of many people who are
actively engaged in other professional activities.
It is for this reason that, on behalf of the National Research Council, I want to
extend our sincerest thanks to those of you who have contributed intellectually
and financially to this conference. I especially want to thank the European repre-
sentatives here in Washington: Phillipa Rogers of the British Embassy and the
remarkably well-informed Patrice Laget and Pablo Amor of the European Com-
mission delegation. While there are too many U.S. government representatives
to thank personally, I would be remiss not to mention Admiral Gaffney of the
U.S. Navy, whose interest in and support of the work of the Academy are deeply
appreciated.
We are here today to bring the agreement to life to infuse it with meaning
so that the real work of S&T cooperation can get under way. First, we must
recognize that there is ample scope for cooperation between the United States and
the European Union. Indeed, given the transatlantic nature of this conference, it
is perhaps worth underscoring just how much the United States and European
Union spend on research and development (R&D). We all have our problems,
but our economies are the drivers of science and innovation in today's world. For
example:
In 1995 U.S. firms spent $132 billion on industrial R&D, with $24 billion
of that funded by the government. This was a 10 percent increase from
1994.
While the United States leads the world in spending on industrial R&D,
the gap between the United States and the European Union is declining.
OCR for page 13
KENNETH SHINE
13
In 1973 about 52 percent of the world's industrial R&D was performed by
the United States, with 28 percent performed by the European Commu-
nity.
By 1995 the U.S. share had fallen to 46 percent, while the European
Community's had risen to 30 percent.
Together the United States and the European Union account for around three-
quarters of the world's industrial R&D. This gives us a tremendous opportunity
for mutually beneficial cooperation in science and technology. But we must
choose carefully the areas in which we engage in cooperative S&T development.
It is important to find the areas that are most likely to yield productive collabora-
tion and concentrate our energies there. Then we must carefully manage the
cooperative process, settling on well-defined goals, specifying timetables, and
committing resources to create some of the world's best science and technology.
This, by the way, is one of the best features of our conference. We are here
to discuss and exchange our views regarding broader S&T policy objectives, but,
importantly, we are not limited to that dimension. The conference is also de-
signed to examine cutting-edge science and technology across a remarkably broad
range of topics. These issues are of direct concern not only to our economies but
also to the health and welfare of our citizens. Indeed, personally, I am pleased
that the conference recognizes that we have more at stake than mutual gain for
our economies. We have a responsibility to use our talents, our education, and
our public and private resources to leave the world better than we found it.
Communications technologies make the world a seemingly smaller place all
the time. We can harness communications and computing technologies to create
safe, efficient, and clean means of transportation. The continuing revolution in
health sciences and biotechnology opens up new possibilities for protecting and
maintaining human health. And as the fruits of science and technology create
greater abundance for more people on our planet, we must also use science and
technology to protect our planet from environmental degradation.
As you can see from the agenda, we have two full and fascinating days ahead
of us. We have the challenge in the near term to create a climate where transat-
lantic S&T cooperation can flourish. With hard work and dedication, I am confi-
dent we can meet the challenge.
In the long term we have the equally formidable challenges of, first, sustain-
ing cooperation and, second, harnessing science and technology for the greater
good of the economies and societies of the United States and Europe. We must
turn to each of these challenges with dedication and the optimism that our talents
are equal to the tasks ahead. I wish you the very best, not only today and tomor-
row but also for a new vista in transatlantic cooperation.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
european commission
