"At the Horizon" Policy Initiatives

Global Dialogue on Emerging Science and Technology (GDEST)
Recognizing the importance of fast-moving developments in science and security, and capitalizing on the National Academies' preeminent convening capacity in all areas of science and technology, at the request of the Science and Technology Adviser to the Secretary of the Department of State, the Division on Policy and Global Affairs' Program on Development, Security, and Cooperation has established the Global Dialogues on Emerging Science and Technology (GDEST). This program will comprise a series of science and engineering conferences on fundamental research. These bilateral dialogues are intended to help contribute to global security, to the meeting of human needs and to advancing knowledge. They will facilitate interactions between leading U.S. scientists and engineers and their foreign peers and especially young investigators.

All of these meetings will be held in foreign venues in recognition of other countries' rapidly advancing capabilities in science and engineering and to provide all participants with an opportunity to become more familiar with the research priorities, potential colleagues, and facilities in the counterpart country. Relatively few U.S. scientists or engineers have worked abroad, whereas many of their foreign counterparts have research experience in the U.S. through their graduate studies or as postdoctoral fellows. These meetings will help members of the U.S. and host country participants to develop a common understanding of each other's capabilities and resources.

The National Academies will conduct the first meeting in Japan in early 2005. The focus of this meeting will be on sensors and sensor systems. Over the following twelve months, dialogues will be held in three additional venues: Europe (possibly Germany), China and India. Each meeting will address a single topic, focusing on new or emerging research directions, prospective challenges, and promising approaches rather than completed work. The dialogues will provide opportunities for junior investigators to present their work through poster sessions ancillary to the main sessions and for all researchers to develop collaborations with their foreign counterparts. Unedited transcripts of each meeting will be published on the National Academies' website.

GDEST has the following objectives:

• To provide leading U.S. and foreign science and engineering researchers in cutting edge fields an opportunity to explore research directions and challenges with their counterparts having outstanding capacity in those disciplines;
• To provide U.S. researchers with exposure to a broad cross-cutting sample including the most promising junior investigators in the country or region in order to facilitate future international collaborations; and
• To identify common interests between current and future U.S. and foreign research leaders in selected emerging fields.

Perspectives on the Future of Science and Technology (PFST)
Transatlantic conference series convening senior level policymakers with distinguished scientists to discuss the societal impact of S&T advances at a 10-year horizon.