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

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENTEngineers work in similar fields and have similar backgrounds,and engineering faces similar issues and challenges aroundthe world, for example, in such areas as the decline of interestand enrolment of young people in engineering. However,these issues and challenges differ significantly in differentregions and countries and within countries as well as in engineeringresources and hence opportunities available to meetand address these issues and challenges. Because the situationof engineering is fairly comparable in similar countriesand regions, and in view of limited data availability in somecountries and limited space in the Report, it was decided tolimit the number and size of such contributions – to be perspectivesrather than country reports. This chapter presentsa brief review of engineering around the world, with an introductoryoverview followed by regional perspectives on Africa ,the Arab States, Asia and Pacific, Europe and the Americasand Caribbean. These are followed by country perspectivesin Africa on Côte d’Ivoire, Ghana, Nigeria and Uganda, in theArab States on Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia, in Asia and thePacific on Australia, China, India, Japan, Malaysia, and theSouth Pacific, in Europe on France, Germany, Poland, Russiaand the United Kingdom, and in the the Americas and Caribbeanon Argentina, Brazil, Canada, the USA, Venezuela, andthe Caribbean.5.1Tony MarjoramIntroductory overviewEngineering similarities and diversitiesEngineering is one of the most diverse professions in terms offields of engineering, types and levels of engineer, where andhow they are employed as well as the status of engineers andengineering, and this diversity is reflected around the world;engineering is both global and local. Most political leaders andpolicy-makers appear to agree that the development and applicationof knowledge in engineering and technology underpinsand drives sustainable social and economic development, andthat engineering and technology are vital in addressing theMillennium Development Goals (MDGs), basic human needs,poverty reduction and sustainable development, and in orderto bridge the knowledge divide. Most would also agree thatone of the major issues and challenges facing engineering is thedecline of interest and enrolment of young people, especiallywomen, in engineering in most countries around the world,which will seriously impact on capacity in engineering andthe capacity of engineering to address poverty reduction, sustainabledevelopment and other MDGs. These are major concernsand challenges for engineering and the world. Despitethe comments of world leaders on knowledge societies andeconomies, and the declarations made at international conferencesand world summits, engineering is routinely overlookedin the context of development policy and planning, and ishardly mentioned in relation to the MDGs or in many PovertyReduction Strategy Papers (PRSPs) for example.Although engineering is both global and local, most engineerswork in larger countries and economies where most engineeringactivity takes place in terms of the production of knowledge,patents and technology. Most technology is shapedin such societies, in accordance with perceived market andconsumer needs and demands, and the associated supportsystems and infrastructure in engineering. This technology isthen innovated and used around the world where such supportsystems and infrastructure may be weaker; technologytransfer is a complex process. Very few countries have the engineeringresources to design and manufacture jet engines forexample, and few have the resources to maintain them. Similarconsiderations apply to the latest automobile technology –cars require increasingly sophisticated diagnostic and maintenancetools and equipment, and the home or back-streetadjustment of carburettors, points and plugs of a generationago, as with other modern ‘non user serviceable’ technologies,is no longer possible.Whilst engineering faces similar issues and challenges aroundthe world, the scale and specificity of these issues and challengesdiffers significantly in different regions and countriesand within countries, as well as in the engineering resourcesand hence opportunities available to meet them. This raisesimportant issues regarding the need for technology and engineeringto be appropriate to local contexts and needs, aswell as important issues and questions regarding technologypolicy, choice, decision making and management. These aremajor considerations regarding effective technology transfer,although the international focus has more often been on theprotection of intellectual property as a key consideration, forexample in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of IntellectualProperty Rights (TRIPS) – the most important instrumentfor the globalization of intellectual property laws anda compulsory membership requirement of the World TradeOrganization. Almost gone are the days of Humphry Davyand his refusal to patent the miner’s safety ‘Davy lamp’ for the‘cause of humanity’.Engineering capacity, capacity-building and educationSimilar and specific issues face engineering around the worldincluding: engineering capacity and capacity-building, education,training and associated standards and accreditation;206