R&D funds levied on business must build organisations that offer short-term benefits through a clear strategy, says Athar Osama.

Improving access to information technology can help communities assess their own vulnerability and boost local planning, says John Waugh.

The revised malaria death toll suggests a need for research into uncertainties in controlling neglected tropical diseases, says Mark Booth.

Africa lags behind other developing regions in local collaboration — and in building its own scientific capacity, says Linda Nordling.

South Sudan's prosperity depends on more public universities serving more students — and focussing on S&T, not humanities, says John A. Akec.

India's carefully targeted strategy against polio holds lessons for other countries, and for other diseases, argues Priya Shetty.

Deep-rooted philosophies discourage data sharing and specialised research services, hampering research quality, says Peng Gong.

South-East Asia has suffered from neglecting planning for disasters. Governments must heed the warnings and act now, argues Crispin Maslog.

Open innovation is key to the success of iHub and can change the working culture of any community of innovators, says Linda Kamau.

English may be the language of science, but students learn better and contribute more when taught in their local tongue, says Giovanni Tapang.

Encouraging demand for new and increasingly cheap interventions available now can boost health in developing countries, says Charles Kenny.

Some Muslim countries' powerful financial incentives to make quick progress in research could backfire, cautions Athar Osama.

Rio+20 should set up a scientific cooperation mechanism drawing on capabilities in both North and South, say Gisbert Glaser and Alice Abreu.

Business models that pair up cheap solar technologies with cell-phone services can provide the poor with renewable energy, says Carl Pope.

Africa must make sure its grassroots innovations can benefit from a new global green technology support mechanism, argues Linda Nordling.

The proposed UN World Environment Organisation is badly needed to give poor countries a strong voice in green policy, says Zakri Abdul Hamid.

New clinical trial designs can work for testing both Western and traditional medicines, argue Liang Liu and colleagues.

The online encyclopaedia can fill a resource gap for students, policymakers and the public, say Samuel A. Assefa and Alex Bateman.

New funding and concrete results are paving the way for scaling up mhealth technologies — but carefully, writes Priya Shetty.

Agro-ecology offers simple solutions and can align climate change with food security agendas, says UN adviser Olivier De Schutter.