With this edition of Capacity.org, we are celebrating the second anniversary of this web-site with an extra long issue. It looks at an area which has often been disconnected from mainstream development thinking: building capacity for dialogue in science and technology (S&T).

A technological divide increasingly separates rich and poor nations. Allotting higher priority to science and technology is essential in order to bridge this divide and narrow the income disparities that accompany it. This implies placing greater emphasis on S&T in economic development planning. But the science policies of many developing countries are only weakly linked to broader economic goals and have often been developed without any consultation with end users or with civil society. Priorities are often determined by the funding available - which frequently emanates from Northern countries. These priorities do not necessarily reflect the areas with the most potential for creating jobs or long-term economic prosperity. (More ...)

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