Engineering: issues, challenges and opportunities for development ...

INTRODUCTIONtives rather than full country reports. The diverse availabilityof comparable statistics and indicators also occasioned thisapproach. It is to be hoped that these issues – especially theneed for better statistics and indicators on engineering – willbe addressed in forthcoming editions of the Report. However,this first Report would not have been possible without suchan approach, and the contributors are to be warmly thankedfor their commitment and contributions, with apologies forthe limited time available for feedback and discussion in theediting process.Objectives of the ReportThe overall objectives of the Report are to identify and explorethe main issues and challenges facing engineering around theworld, with particular reference to issues and challenges fordevelopment, and the opportunities for engineering to faceand address them. External issues and challenges facing engineeringinclude: the need for better public and policy-levelunderstanding of what engineering is and what engineers do;how engineering and technology drive development; howmany engineers a country or industry needs and in what areasand levels; why young people are turning away from engineering;what the consequences are of not having enough engineers;and why it is that engineering is so often overlooked. Theseexternal factors link to internal issues and challenges withinengineering, including such questions as how can engineerspromote public awareness and understanding of engineering,how does this reflect the changing needs for engineering andneed for engineering and engineering education to change,regenerate and transform, and what can we do. These externaland internal factors are further linked – the poor public perceptionof engineering reflects the urgent need to understandand address these issues and challenges as well as the need forengineering to face the challenge of change. Failure to do sowill have obvious impacts on capacity and the application ofengineering and technology for development.The main target audience for the Report includes policymakersand decision takers, the engineering community, thewider public and young people. The Report is intended toshare information, experience, practical ideas and exampleswith policy-makers, planners and governments, and promotethe engagement and application of engineering to importantglobal challenges of poverty reduction, sustainable developmentand climate change. These are connected, and providean opportunity for change and the engagement of young people,who are concerned about such issues and are attracted tothe engineering challenge to address them.Layout of the ReportIn addition to this introduction on the background, main focus,objectives and target audience of the Report, the first chapterincludes discussion of what engineering is and what engineersdo, and the differences between engineers, technologists andtechnicians. The second chapter focuses on engineering andhuman development and includes sections on the history ofengineering and engineering at UNESCO: engineering, innovation,social and economic development; engineering, technologyand society; engineers and social responsibility, andincludes a review of the big issues and pieces on engineeringand social responsibility and corporate social responsibility.The third chapter examines engineering and emerging issuesand challenges and includes sections on foresight and forecastsof the future, emerging and future areas of engineering andengineers of the future, getting the engineering message acrossand engineering and technology in the third millennium.The fourth chapter is one of the main chapters and attempts togive an overview of engineering. It begins with a review of statisticsand indicators on engineering followed by field reviewscovering civil, chemical, environmental, agricultural and medicalengineering. The engineering profession and its organizationis then discussed, with reference to the organization of theprofession, international cooperation and reference to leadingorganizations including the World Federation of EngineeringOrganizations ( WFEO), the International Council of Academiesof Engineering and Technological Sciences ( CAETS), theInternational Federation of Consulting Engineers ( FIDIC), theEuropean Federation of National Engineering Associations(FEANI), the Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia andthe Pacific (FEIAP), the Association for Engineering Educationin Southeast and East Asia and the Pacific (AEESEAP), the Asianand Pacific Centre for Transfer of Technology (APCTT) and theAfrican Network of Scientific and Technological Institutions(ANSTI). International development and engineering organizationsare discussed in sections on Practical Action, EngineersWithout Borders, Engineers Against Poverty and Engineers fora Sustainable World. The following section introduces engineeringstudies and gives an overview of engineering, scienceand technology policy and the transformation of national scienceand engineering systems, with reference to New Zealandand South Africa. Key issues of engineering ethics and anticorruptionefforts are described, with the concluding sectionfocusing on women and gender issues in engineering.The fifth chapter presents perspectives of engineering aroundthe world. It begins with an introductory overview andregional perspectives on Africa, the Arab States, Asia andthe Pacific, Europe, the Americas and the Caribbean. Severalcountry perspectives are offered from Africa in Côte d’Ivoire,Uganda, Ghana and Nigeria; from the Arab States in Tunisia,Lebanon and Jordan; from Asia and the Pacific in China, India,Malaysia, Japan, Australia and the South Pacific; from Europein Germany, France, the United Kingdom, Russia and Poland,and from the Americas and the Caribbean in the USA, Canada,Brazil, Venezuela, Argentina and the Caribbean.19