Multilateral Collaboration Research Articles

Food and Agricultural Biotechnology Policy: How Much Autonomy Can Developing Countries Exercise?

Some commentators assumed the rules of the World Trade Organization and provisions of the Cartagena Biosafety Protocol could facilitate the establishment of uniform global regulatory procedures and standards covering food and agricultural biotechnology, which could be based on scientific risk assessments. However, the science is often uncertain and equivocal, and assessments of the environmental impact of GM crops should be local rather than global. Consequently the tendency towards convergence is severely attenuated. Analysis of judgements of WTO's Dispute Panel and Appellate Body indicates that developing countries might lawfully be able to exercise considerable autonomy when setting regulatory standards if several conditions are met but, given their limited financial and human resources, they may require multilateral collaboration.

Materials Science Research and Development in India: A Scientometric Analysis of International Collaborative Output

Materials science research in India is analysed for a period of five years (1995-1999), based on a study of papers published by Indian scientists in collaboration with foreign researchers, as covered in Material Science Citation Index (MSCI). The results indicate that materials science in India is broad based and covers most of the important sub-areas, and is based on inherent strength. Most of the work involved bilateral rather than multilateral collaboration. The top collaborating countries were the US, Germany, France, UK and Japan. Collaborative linkages with developing countries accounted for only about 10% of the total papers. Ten top Indian institutions contributed nearly 50% of the collaborated papers. The major areas of collaboration were theoretical studies, metals & alloys, electronic materials and super conducting materials. http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dbit.23.2.3594

The challenge of intra-Union and in-migration to 'social Europe'

This paper examines with particular reference to international migrants the contradictions between rhetoric and reality in eligibility to and the availability of health and welfare entitlements across the European Union. On the one hand, the Brussels Commissions laud the existence of a 'social Europe', which should exist as a logical extension of the promotion of the free movement of labour - a policy goal that is agreed by all member states. 'European citizenship' is a small step towards the derivative social policy goal. On the other hand, the member states will not cede control of social spending and specifically social security administration. Since the Maastricht summit, where the contradictions were made manifest, proposals to develop the social dimensions of European harmonisation have fissioned, with ever clearer divergence of the 'civic rights' and 'social rights' agenda, and the Commissions exploring new ways of promoting multilateral collaboration. Meanwhile, migrants within and into the EU continue to face 'structured disadvantage' in income protection and accessibility to health and social care, especially when retired or if sick, frail or disabled. The paper concludes with recommendations for the advocacy organisations that seek to end this structured disadvantage about the most likely ways in which policies can be changed.

A distributional approach to multinationality measures of international scientific collaboration

In a recent study, de Lange and Glanzel introduced a model for the bibliometric analysis of the extent of multinational co-authorship links. They showed that this model can be considered a generalisation of the "fractionation approach" by Nederhof and Moed. The authors analysed international collaboration links (the Multilateral Collaboration Index) as a function of the share of internationally co-authored papers. The measurement of the deviation of individual countries from (sub-)field peculiarities proved, however, complicated. The intensifying international collaboration and, in several fields, the substantial growth of number of multinational papers (involving three or more countries) in the 90s necessitates a detailed analysis of co-publication distributions, that is, of the distributions of partner countries in a given country"s publication output. The main objective of the study is to elaborate such a measure to be used in addition to the share of international publications and the Multilateral Collaboration Index. In addition, a detailed analysis of national citation impact of domestic, bilateral and multilateral papers in the major science fields is conducted. The model, we develop and the statistical analysis that it allows, support the practical conclusion that the ratio of the number of international links and international papers turns out to be roughly proportional to the ratio of full and fractional publication counts.

Integrated management to address the incidental mortality of seabirds in longline fisheries

Abstract1. Of the myriad of anthropogenic and natural threats to seabirds, one of the most critical global problems is incidental mortality in longline fisheries. Hesitance or failure by fishery managers and longline industries to adequately address this acute problem could result in the extinction of several albatross and petrel species within our lifetimes.2. An integrated management approach is needed to comprehensively manage longline fisheries to address seabird bycatch. A review of relevant multilateral accords, declarations and actions by regional and international organizations reveals the need to augment international collaboration, especially to address pirate longline fishing. Management authorities and stakeholders need to collaborate to: promote adoption and compliance with effective legally binding accords that cover the ranges of all affected seabirds; ensure that all Range States and relevant distant water fishing nations become contracting parties to these accords; coordinate national implementation of the Food and Agriculture Organization's International Plan of Action on seabirds; set management goals; establish and implement policies to employ seabird deterrent measures; disseminate information on new deterrent measures; locally tailor seabird deterrent measures; standardize data reporting and establish a centralized data repository; coordinate research and monitoring; develop regional surveillance and enforcement systems; and augment less developed countries' capacity and resources to mitigate seabird and longline fishery interactions.3. Establishing protected areas containing seabird colonies and adjacent waters within a nation's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) is potentially an expedient method to reduce interactions between seabirds and longline fisheries. However, establishing high seas marine protected areas to restrict longline fishing in seabird foraging areas, which would require extensive and dynamic boundaries and large buffer zones, may not be a viable short‐term solution due to the long time it is anticipated it could take to resolve legal complications with international treaties, to achieve international consensus and political will, and to acquire requisite extensive resources for surveillance and enforcement. High seas marine protected areas may eventually become a feasible mechanism to address seabird bycatch if nations develop the will to close ocean areas to commercial fisheries to attempt to rehabilitate depleted pelagic fish stocks.4. Direct involvement of longline industries, through partnerships with national governments and regional organizations, to develop seabird mitigation measures and policies prescribing the use of these measures, is critical. Direct involvement of stakeholders to find solutions to resource management problems leads to stakeholder groups taking ownership of and supporting rules. Bottom‐up approaches are successful in changing interest groups' attitudes and behaviour, to maximize voluntary compliance and minimize conflict and resources required for enforcement.5. Data gaps must be filled and scientific uncertainty addressed through multilateral collaboration. Research to develop and improve practicable mitigation measures is most urgently needed. Information on the status and trends of albatross populations, where albatrosses forage, the causes of population declines, seabird mortality rates and levels in each longline fishery, and the type of impacts from longlining on seabird populations is also needed. It is well documented that several seabird species are at risk of extinction, incidental bycatch in longline fisheries significantly contributes to many species' decline, and proven mitigation measures are available. Thus, while additional research is critically needed, we should not delay taking precautionary action to wait for additional information, but should immediately act to protect seabirds from the known acute threat of mortality in longline fisheries. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Bibliometric Indicators Reflect Publication and Management Strategies

In a bibliometric study of nine research departments in the field of biotechnology and molecular biology, indicators of research capacity, output and productivity were calculated, taking into account the researchers' participation in scientific collaboration as expressed in co-publications. In a quantitative approach, rankings of departments based on a number of different research performance indicators were compared with one another. The results were discussed with members from all nine departments involved. Two publication strategies were identified, denoted as a quantity of publication and a quality of publication strategy, and two strategies with respect to scientific collaboration were outlined, one focusing on multi-lateral and a second on bi-lateral collaborations. Our findings suggest that rankings of departments may be influenced by specific publication and management strategies, which in turn may depend upon the phase of development of the departments or their personnel structure. As a consequence, differences in rankings cannot be interpreted merely in terms of quality or significance of research. It is suggested that the problem of assigning papers resulting from multi-lateral collaboration to the contributing research groups has not yet been solved properly, and that more research is needed into the influence of a department's state of development and personnel structure upon the values of bibliometric indicators. A possible implication at the science policy level is that different requirements should hold for departments of different age or personnel structure.

The World Energy Outlook and the Role of International Energy Technology Cooperation

The IEA was established after the 1973 oil shock as an independent international organization to safeguard energy supplies through collective actions between countries. One of the most important tools for doing this is the IEA technology program, which currently includes some 40 multilateral collaboration projects, called Implementing Agreements, covering most relevant technology aspects of energy supply and end use. The present IEA World Energy Outlook forecasts a continued growth in world energy demand and a continued dependence on fossil fuels as the primary fuels. Projected greenhouse gas emissions in 2010 are thus 35–50% above the 1990 level. Increased use of renewables will be necessary to change this negative trend and to reach the long-term goal of a sustainable energy system. The development of many renewables is promising but R&D efforts and market experiments must continue in order to increase their shares of total energy supply. Geothermal energy1 plays an increasingly significant role in many countries. However, there is still huge untapped potential in both developed and developing countries. The new IEA Implementing Agreement on Geothermal Energy Research will be a vital new tool strengthening international cooperation in geothermal energy research and thus in the development of geothermal energy as a commercial environmentally sound energy source.

The Evolving Role of Semiconductor Consortia in the United States and Japan

This article examines the interactions between public and private actors as cooperation in the semiconductor industry becomes increasingly international. The latest manifestations of multilateral collaboration are two consortia: I300I based in the United States and Selete based in Japan. Through an analysis of their structures and their origins, this article provides a deeper understanding of the complexities facing industry-wide consortia, the role of the government in promoting or inhibiting cooperation, and the lingering rivalries that impede truly global cooperation in a dynamic, high-technology industry.

Current Trends in European Astronomy Education

Astronomy knows no geographical borders - the sky is the same over all countries. However, while professional astronomers have long established bi- and multilateral collaborations, many of which take place under the auspices of the IAU, few similar schemes exist within astronomy education.Now, following the establishment in 1995 of the European Association for Astronomy Education (EAAE), this situation is about to change on that continent. This new association offers an efficient platform for astronomy educators at various levels - in particular at the approx. 7000 secondary schools in this geographical area - to interact in all related matters, e.g. curricula, all kinds of teaching materials, student exchanges and other events. Together with the European Commission and some of the professional institutes, EAAE is now planning a major, international event in November 1996.

Modelling and measuring multilateral co-authorship in international scientific collaboration. Part I. Development of a new model using a series expansion approach

International co-operation has strongly intensified during the last decades owing to rapid developments in scientific communication. Economic, political, and intra-scientific factors also strongly influence international collaboration links among individual countries. Obviously research results of international scientific co-operation are reflected in the documented scientific communication as international co-authorship links in scientific publications. Most bibliometric studies on this issue pertain to the share of international co-authored papers in national publication output and their impact on national and international research, or to the analysis and mapping of the structure of collaboration links. The present study attempts to develop a model to measure and analyse the extent of multilateral international co-authorship links. A new indicator, the Multilateral Collaboration Index (ρ) is introduced and analysed as a function of the share of internationally co-authored papers (f). Based onf a series expansion approach is applied that can be considered an extension of a fractionation model byNederhof andMoed and allows classifying the extent of multilateral links both among science fields and among individual countries. The paper is concluded by a first attempt to estimate the errors involved in our approach.

Modelling and measuring multilateral co-authorship in international scientific collaboration. Part II. A comparative study on the extent and change of international scientific collaboration links

The present study is focused on international collaboration in science, involving more than two countries. The authors developed a promising model to measure and analyse the extent of multilateral co-authorship links in a previous study. The model is based on a series expansion approach which relates a new indicator, the Multilateral Collaboration Index (ρ), to the share of internationally co-authored papers (f). The model was found suitable to classify both the share of international papers, as well as the extent of multilateral links through the deviations from their expectations. A comparative analysis is made of changing collaboration patterns between 1983 and 1993 for 8 selected subfields, as well as all fields combined of the most active 38 countries. As expected an intensification of international scientific collaboration was observed, especially for a number of former COMECON countries. Different types of behaviour for different countries and science subfields emerged.

Materials science in the information age

The explosive growth of the Internet and the World Wide Web is revolutionizing society by making information accessible in new ways to people in all corners of the world. In scientific research, these advances in information technology have led to new methods of collaboration that overcome geographic limitations and allow researchers to exchange information in ways that were not previously possible. Materials researchers in particular now easily work with each other in remote collaborations, sharing videos, sound, graphics, and text with colleagues on the World Wide Web. Moreover, recent gains in computing power and corresponding reductions in cost have led to the widespread use of computational techniques to solve materials research problems, allowing researchers to predict materials properties and behavior over the entire range of length scales of interest, from atomic interactions to bulk materials properties. New “virtual” organizations have been created in the US to provide an infrastructure and support to researchers who are using new communication and computational tools in a variety of disciplines. We will describe the recent advances in information technology that are driving the revolution in materials research in particular, and discuss how virtual, electronically-connected organizations that bring together materials researchers with diverse talents in international, multilateral collaborations will change the paradigm of science research beyond the year 2000.

The WHO programme on health of the elderly

The aging of population is a world-wide phenomenon bearing important policy implications for both developing and developed nations. The health programme for the elderly in the years 1990 to 1995 will focus on approaches leading to the well-being of aged persons. This might be achieved by reducing their functional dependency due to the deterioration of their health, social and economic status. This objective will be realized through the following approaches: --support to Member States in the formulation and implementation of policies promoting the well-being of the elderly; --data collection and information dissemination important to decision making, service planning and policy formulation; --cooperation with national programmes in organising comprehensive care systems for the elderly including training components; --promotion of research directed towards the well-being of the elderly; --development or adaptation, when applicable, of technologies appropriate for the elderly in developing countries; --encouragement of multilateral international collaboration for the well-being of the elderly.

第11回東南アジア医療情報センター (SEAMIC) ワークショップ

The South East Asian Medical Information Center (SEAMIC), one of the major projects of the International Medical Foundation of Japan (IMFJ), was created for the purpose of contributing to better health planning in South East Asian countries through the exchange, generation, and utilization of health and medical related information on a multilateral basis. The 11th SEAMIC Workshop on “Multilateral Collaboration on SEAMIC Health Information Activities with Special Reference to Inter-Country Lending System” was held at Bangkok, Thailand from February 6th to 10th, 1984. There were 18 participants from Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, Japan and W. H. O. Two technical papers were presented and each participating country presented its respective country report. Six panelists discussed about training programmes for medical and health related information personnel. There were 4 sessions to discuss about the development of inter-country lending system. The main agreements and recommendations are as follows: 1) Compilation and publication of the SEAMIC Union List is March 1987. 2) The provision of one additional photocopy machine to each country; Malaysia, Philippines and Thailand, and two more additional machines to Indonesia was recommended. 3) The guideline and procedure of coupon system was admitted by all participating countries. 4) All six SEAMIC countries including Japan submit a listing of doctoral dissertations and conference proceedings published since 1983. 5) All SEAMIC countries agreed to participate in preparation fo the SEAMIC Index Medicus. This work should be completed by 1986. 6) Collection and compilation of library statistics should be done by SEAMIC annually. 7) “User Study” should be set up to know medical librarians' view concerning SEAMIC services.

第９回ＳＥＡＭＩＣセミナー

The 9th SEAMIC Seminar held at Surabaya, Indonesia on 26-31 of August, 1981 is reported. The SEAMIC (Southeast Asian Medical Information Center) is one of the main projects which the International Medical Foundation of Japan is executing under the subsidy of the Japanese Government. SEAMIC's purpose is to contribute to the promotion of health planning in the region of the Southeast Asia by providing, exchanging and generating information on a multilateral basis. 16 persons from Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore, Japan and WHO discussed the theme of the Seminar, “Multilateral Collaboration on SEAMIC Health Sciences Documentation and Library Services Activities” through technical papers and country reports. The technical papers, country reports of the state of the arts and recommendations for the SEAMIC are summarized. The main recommendations are: 1) Book Donation Program is satisfactory, however, the list can be further improved to make it more balanced in subjects and publication countries as well. 2) Interlibrary lending service is recommended to be carried out more between SEAMIC member countries rather than relying solely on SEAMIC Tokyo. 3) It is recommended that PHLOSEA (Periodical Holdings in the Libraries of Southeast Asia) be expanded into a Union List of Serials in Medical and Health-related Subjects to facilitate interlibrary loans. 4) Each country is urged to prepare a bibliography of national bibliographies on medical and health-related topics for possible collation and publication by SEAMIC. 5) Active collaboration is expected of Advisory Committee on Publication in each country. 6) A joint training program by SEAMIC and other agencies, hosted by SEAMIC member countries on a rotational basis is proposed. 7) SEAMIC is requested to explore the possibility of collaboration with other agencies working in this region in all activities possible.

Why Collaborate? Issue-Linkage and International Regimes

Why do nations create institutionalized modes of multilateral collaboration? How can common interests develop in the face of inequalities in power and asymmetries in interdependence? The author explores the role of knowledge in the definition of political objectives and interests. The systematic interplay of changing knowledge and changing objectives results in the redefinition of “issues” and the practice of “issue linkage.” The dynamics of issue-linkage, in turn, tell us something about international regimes for the management of progressively more complex issue areas. An ideal-typical “regime” is described, theoretically applicable to all types of issues. Since the cognitive attributes of the actors who set up such a regime cannot be expected to remain stable, this concept of a “regime” can illuminate cliscussion and analysis, but cannot be expected to provide a clear model for desirable policy. However, it can illustrate the options open to policy makers wishing to choose a mode of collaboration. Regimes dealing with money, the oceans, and technology transfer are used for illustrative purposes.

Multilateral international collaboration among member countries of cmea in the field of the glass and ceramics industry

Multilateral international collaboration among member countries of cmea in the field of the glass and ceramics industry

Collaboration of Comecon Countries in the Protection of the Environment and the Utilization of Natural Resources

In the course of development and intensification of socialist economic integration, the collaboration of COMECON member nations is encompassing more and more new, important spheres. In keeping with the decisions of the Twenty-Seventh Session of COMECON (1973), considerable expansion is envisaged in their multilateral collaboration in environmental protection and the directly associated rational utilization of natural resources and energy resources, and in the investigation and development of outer space and the oceans of the world.