We need to add value to our commodities, transform them, and for this we need to apply science and technology. It is here that we see the urgent need for building and utilising capacities in science and technology if we want to have enough income to support our economies. How can we achieve this, follows in the issues I will now raise. First and foremost, we have common cause in opening up our societies for the free flow of information. There are many constraints to this now.
Poverty is perhaps the greatest constraint.
If it is too expensive to learn to read, to buy books, to have access to a computer, and to pay for college, then we have little hope for spreading the capacities needed for more science-based development. In the meantime, we need to start experimenting with new ways of grouping technology to make it accessible to the poor. For example, community informatics centres, such as we're now seeing in Peru and other countries, are intriguing, combining the concept of a community library with a commercial enterprise offering a public service, in this case access to computers on an hourly basis. National policies promoting open information societies are also vital. States fearful about open E-Mail and Fax facilities must get over their fears.