SciDev.Net

Commodity price rises are no substitute for long-term investment in infrastructure and capacity as a means of securing sustained development.

African ministers have committed themselves to a set of actions to boost health research in their countries. Now they must implement them.

Successful efforts to implement effective South–South research collaboration require a better understanding of what works best and why.

Developing countries need economic stability and social inclusion to develop — both of which are in jeopardy in Kenya and Pakistan as 2008 dawns.

A commitment to biofuels should be based on a careful assessment of their prospective benefits and costs, not a blind leap of faith.

Delay in the implementation of Africa's plan of action for science and technology suggests commitment to act does not yet go deep enough.

China's efforts to build an innovation-based economy require a less hierarchical approach to organising its research system.

At its global summit next week the G8 needs to build on the work of its predecessors, putting science and technology back at the heart of the international aid agenda.

Last month's presidential elections in Nigeria have cast a shadow over the country's efforts to promote science and technology.

The interest in Brazil's ethanol programme should be used to set up fairer partnerships between developing and developed countries.

A growing consensus on the need for more science and technology in development policies must not be allowed to create excessive expectations.

If Africa is to build a sustainable science and technology infrastructure, it needs more than just enthusiastic promises from heads of state.

Developing countries must adopt effective policies on technology transfer that meet the needs of all social classes, including the poorest.

Disagreement on how to create collaborative centres of excellence in Africa could weaken the continent's efforts for scientific revival.

Defining an appropriate policy-making role for Africa's scientific community requires a careful balance between 'science push' and 'demand pull'.

Innovation is now widely acknowledged as an essential tool for development. Other nations would do well to learn from the political challenges that Brazil's new legislation has unearthed.

Next January, the heads of member states of the African Union will meet to discuss science and technology in what will be a unique opportunity to support the continent's scientific renaissance.

Increasing access to affordable drugs in developing countries requires better government intervention, not less of it.