Ensuring that U.S. Engineers Remain Globally Competitive

The goal of this project was to analyze engineering education in America from the perspectives of education, jobs, technology, and politics compared to other nations. Universities in Japan, India, UK, Germany, and the US were analyzed to determine student demographics and engineering curricula. The nations representing the universities were selected for comparison against the US. The impact of jobs and technology on society were considered. The project concludes that universities should endeavor to increase diversity in their student bodies and explore partnerships with businesses and the government. Nationally, the project recommends that more projects like Project Lead the Way, aimed at K-12 students, are developed

Complexities in Inter-firm R&D Collaborative Partnerships in High-Tech Industries: Innovation and Financial Performances

Governments in both advanced and emerging markets invest heavily into joint R&D projects to facilitate inter-firm collaboration and scientific productivity. As a science-based cluster, nanotechnology is a highly R&D-intensive field with very complex interdisciplinary features that enables multiple interactions between scientists from diverse cultural backgrounds working for multi-faceted organizations across public and private sectors and through internationally regulated borders. In this thesis, I examine the main determinants of the dimensions of inter-firm collaboration in high-tech industries particularly among nanotechnology R&D organisations across Europe. Also, I investigate the key factors that influence the innovation, financial and exit performance of nanotech companies during the commercialisation period and across 15 developed and developing countries, taking into consideration the involvement of venture capital (VC) firms. In order to methodically integrate the qualitative and quantitative features of my research study, I employed mixed method to analyse primary and secondary data collected via survey instruments and comprehensive databases; to gain valuable insights into the complexities around nanotech R&D organisations. The regression results show that a predictable legal system; a high level of tolerance for uncertainty; the proximity to key partners; a high level of export demand for high-tech products; and expansionary economic policies, leads to highly valuable and long-term relationships which produces optimal partnership size with an effective organizational structure. I find that a high financial status of nanotech firms equips R&D project managers with sufficient tangible and intangible resources to engage into complex collaborative partnerships which yield innovative performing outcomes. Also, I find that nanotech R&D firms that exit venture capital investments via IPO are more likely to have their head offices in a big city; and access foreign capital to expand manufacturing operations. I conclude that the successful commercialisation of nanotechnology industries across the globe has been due to the substantial R&D public expenditures and private investments into the application and proliferation of nanotechnologies in key converging scientific fields which require robust inter-firm collaborative partnerships to rapidly develop and promote several portfolios of high-tech products that continually satisfy consumer needs in disruptive ways and secure long-term profitability for nanotech R&D organisations

Towards a Global Ethics: The Debate on Nanotechnology in the European Union and China

The primary aim of the thesis is to assess whether ethical governance of Science and Technology is feasible as a global approach, using the example of nanotechnology. The thesis firstly compares ethical issues identified by stakeholders in China and the EU relating to the rapid introduction of a potentially transformative technology, namely nanotechnology. Part One of this thesis explores how the ‘narratives’ of nanotechnology differ in each region, particularly given their different bioethics contexts, and examines how specific concerns translate into policymaking. In questioning whether Eastern and Western approaches to nanotechnology governance can be aligned, one can observe that Europe is increasingly cooperating and competing with China. Such new interdependences between global actors require new global approaches to S&T policy, including ethical governance. Part Two of this thesis explores the concept of ‘global ethics’ and discusses the feasibility of a global approach. Given criticism of both universalism and relativism, it is often argued that a universal approach that takes sufficient account of local context cannot be developed. On the assumption that global ethics are achieved by global actors, this thesis looks at global agency. The thesis connects discourse ethics and participatory Technology Assessment (pTA), arguing that a version of Habermasian discourse ethics can provide a theoretical framework for dialogue between West and East. Discourse ethics has developed around Habermas’s argument that social order depends on our capacity to recognize, through rational discourse, the intersubjective validity of different views. Habermas asks the basic question of global ethics, of how different views (particularly of social order) can be universally recognized and agreed, perhaps within an 'ideal community' of communication, one that may be global. The thesis adds to Habermas’s discourse model, utilising virtue ethics as well as the work of, for example, Taylor, Beck, Korsgaard and others on identity formation. It is argued that the significant factor in global ethics is the formation of the agent’s moral identity, the formation of which requires one to go beyond one’s context, to achieve an intercultural personhood. Habermas (as do Taylor, Beck and others) suggests identity as a dual concept, reflecting an interdependence of society and one’s inner self. This would mean that one can understand the cultural biases inherent in any act of communication, while acting autonomously of such bias. If such a model of dual identity/agency can be applied to the intercultural dialogue on the governance of nanotechnology between East and West, it could potentially provide a new tool or model within pTA

How Can the Use of Human Enhancement (HE) Technologies in the Military Be Ethically Assessed?

War is a terrible price to pay for the prospect of peace. Yet every nation has a moral obligation to protect its citizenry from unjust aggression and threats to security. To be sure, war is always a failure. It is a failure of mankind to come together in mutual respect for the inherent dignity of the human person. The issue of the use of HE in the military is relevant today because the Global War on Terror (GWOT) and the rapid rise of emerging technologies have led to a never-before-seen type of asymmetrical warfare. The rise of these technologies can threaten the inherent dignity of the human person. In turn, the value that a nation places on human dignity in many ways is a gauge of what sorts of rights it will guarantee to its citizens, which impacts their ability to pursue basic human goods and contribute to the common good. Military culture seeks to instill virtues, such as courage and justice, in soldiers and also uphold particular military values, such as honor and selfless service. These virtues and values can be threatened if the use of HE in the military are used for immoral purposes. Paternalism, coercion, undue influence, and limited autonomy are all factors that can undermine the dignity of soldiers. Yet these threats can be overcome through a moral framework for how to ethically assess the use of HE in the military. The moral criteria of reversibility, upholding moral agency and military values, voluntary informed consent, and the use of non-HE technologies first (last resort) presented in this dissertation allows one to approach different HE technologies for use in the military and determine if they are compatible with human flourishing. It will be imperative that HE technologies in the military, if morally permissible, are used on a small-scale and only for necessity, not convenience. This approach is valuable because it can overcome demands put forth from the civilian realm that these HE technologies should be available to them as well; based upon philosophical claims of autonomy and individual rights. This dissertation is distinct insofar that it provides a comprehensive approach to current and future ethical issues related to HE in the military. To strengthen and compliment this moral framework, some recommendations are put forth in this dissertation. These include greater transparency in HE research and use, the designation of soldiers as a vulnerable population, greater ethics education for military health care professionals, the codification of international principles and guidelines for the use of HE technologies in the military, and finally a recommendation to balance the overarching principles of autonomy and individualism with a communitarian ethic and common good approach as a beneficial way to assess the use of HE in the military

Future Ideological Challenges: Fault Lines, Movements, and Competing Models (Annotated Bibliography Based on Survey of the Literature)

“The Strategic Assessments Group tasked CISSM to survey the literature for information dealing with nascent or future idea-based themes, fault lines, and challenges as part of the Future Ideological Challenges research effort.”—Executive Summary from Future Ideological Challenges: Fault Lines, Movements, and Competing Models (Report on Survey of the Literature)

The Chinese Knowledge Diaspora and Diaspora Knowledge Network: Australia and Canada compared

In the context of globalization and the knowledge economy, brains, increasingly mobile, have assumed unprecedented importance, and even more so in the coming decades when the academic profession is ageing. Developed nations like Australia and Canada compete to attract and retain the best and brightest. A related development, advancement in information and communications technology, enables the establishment of powerful cross-boundary research networks. The study builds on previous research in order to understand the Chinese knowledge diaspora in Australian and Canadian universities, and trace their transnational intellectual networks to colleagues in mainland, and other parts of the Chinese intellectual diaspora. A qualitative, grounded theory approach was used for the study. Semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted for data collection. The data gathering techniques yielded a rich volume of detailed descriptions that were categorized and thematically analyzed. The study investigates the role of the Chinese knowledge diaspora, and the dynamics of the diaspora network with special reference to the factors that both sustain and limit such transnational knowledge networks. The strong sense of cultural/ethnic identity and motivation for closer academic ties were reiterated, as were commonly-expressed sentiments that doing science in the West was a primary source of satisfaction. Substantial accounts of scientific communication and transnational collaboration were highly illustrative. While some had one or two kinds of interaction, most had multiple types of collaboration with China. The influencing factors at personal, institutional, and system level were well documented and categorized. Among the most prominent were the differences of research culture across the two systems. Limitations of this study include small sample size and distribution. Recommendations for future study include increasing the sample size, recruiting indigenous scholars and administrative staff, examining the Chinese knowledge diaspora from both research-intensive and less research-intensive universities in the United States, and investigating further how gender affects both academic being and knowledge networks with the mainland academia of China

China's Integration into Global Trading System and its Implications for India

This record was migrated from the OpenDepot repository service in June, 2017 before shutting down

Congress UPV Proceedings of the 21ST International Conference on Science and Technology Indicators

This is the book of proceedings of the 21st Science and Technology Indicators Conference that took place in València (Spain) from 14th to 16th of September 2016. The conference theme for this year, ‘Peripheries, frontiers and beyond’ aimed to study the development and use of Science, Technology and Innovation indicators in spaces that have not been the focus of current indicator development, for example, in the Global South, or the Social Sciences and Humanities. The exploration to the margins and beyond proposed by the theme has brought to the STI Conference an interesting array of new contributors from a variety of fields and geographies. This year’s conference had a record 382 registered participants from 40 different countries, including 23 European, 9 American, 4 Asia-Pacific, 4 Africa and Near East. About 26% of participants came from outside of Europe. There were also many participants (17%) from organisations outside academia including governments (8%), businesses (5%), foundations (2%) and international organisations (2%). This is particularly important in a field that is practice-oriented. The chapters of the proceedings attest to the breadth of issues discussed. Infrastructure, benchmarking and use of innovation indicators, societal impact and mission oriented-research, mobility and careers, social sciences and the humanities, participation and culture, gender, and altmetrics, among others. We hope that the diversity of this Conference has fostered productive dialogues and synergistic ideas and made a contribution, small as it may be, to the development and use of indicators that, being more inclusive, will foster a more inclusive and fair world

Future Ideological Challenges: Fault Lines, Movements, and Competing Models

Annotated Bibliography from Survey of the Literature for the CIA Strategic Assessments Group Research Effor