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

ENGINEERING: ISSUES CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR DEVELOPMENTFuture challenges: climate changeJapan has realized one of the most energy efficient advancedeconomies in the world. Surviving the oil shocks twice, Japanhas also reduced greenhouse gas emissions. The per capitaemissions of Japan are the lowest of advanced countries andJapan consumes the smallest energy per unit GDP in the worldas well. This is a new area where Japan could show leadership.It is estimated that civil engineering and construction activitiesaccount for over 40 per cent of Japan’s greenhouse gasemissions. Measures such as rationalization of material (steel,cement) production, a reduction in construction processesand traffic as well as a transportation modal shift should bedeployed. In adaptation work, engineers will play key roles inthe implementation of both infrastructural and non-infrastructuralmeasures.Future challenges: demographic and generationalchangeIn 1945, at the end of the war, Japan had a population of seventy-twomillion and the proportion of the population agedsixty-five and older was only 5 per cent. In 2004, the populationpeaked at 128 million with an aged population rate of20 per cent. In 2050, population will decrease to 101 millionwith an aged rate of 36 per cent. How can Japan’s economysupport such change? History has shown that increasingwomen’s participation in the workforce has at least thesame effect as an increase in population; improvements tothe transportation infrastructure to increase the commutingpopulation (including visitors from overseas) also hasthe same effect as an increase in population; and innovativeinfrastructure will increase Japan’s productivity and allowfor increased trade in growing foreign markets, even with asmaller population.Indifference to science by the younger generationHowever, the indifference to science and technology amongyoung people presents Japan’s economy with serious problems.The roots of this problem include: the spread of a mindsetwhere money is supreme – perhaps encouraged by marketfundamentalism – leading to the decline of their interest inscience and technology careers; the low social and economicstatus of scientists and engineers, exacerbated by a cost-drivenmentality (however, the 2005 Promotion of Quality of PublicWorks Act provides, for the first time, that public procurementis to be evaluated on quality as well as on cost); the anonymityof people in science and technology fields, which particularlyapplies in civil engineering because in Japanese cultureit was considered refined and polite for experts to maintainanonymity.Promoting engineering, science and technology in JapanPromoting the development of science and technology, particularlyengineering, is crucial for Japan as a country withno abundant natural resources. Like many other developedcountries, Japan is facing issues such as an ageing populationwith fewer children, a decline in interest in engineering amongyoung people, the intensification of technology competitiondue to globalization, and growing negative perceptions regardingthe ethical dimensions of science and engineering. Japan isworking to tackle some of these issues, as highlighted below.Basic Law and Basic Plans on Science and TechnologyIn 1995, Japan published the Basic Law on Science and Technologyto emphasize and promote these areas with more effectiveplanning, and to clarify the roles of the state and local publicorganizations. Based on this law, the Basic Plans on Scienceand Technology for five-year periods were created and implemented.The Third Basic Plan (2006–2010) primarily focuseson ‘science and technology being supported by the public andto benefit society’ and ‘emphasis on fostering human resourcesand a competitive research environment.’ This plan succeedsthe three concepts in the Second Basic Plan, which were: ‘anation contributing to the world by creation and utilization ofscientific knowledge’; ‘a nation with international competitivenessand ability for sustainable development’; and ‘a nationsecuring safety and quality of life.’ The Ministry of Education,Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) is promotingbasic research and putting high priority on the fields of life sciences,information and communications, environment, nanotechnologyand materials, energy, manufacturing technology,infrastructure and frontier science.Enhancing the ethics of scientists and engineersIn 1999, the Institution of Professional Engineers, Japan (IPEJ)revised its Ethics Outline of 1911. In the same year, the JapanSociety of Civil Engineers (JSCE) also renewed its Principles andPractical Guide to the Code of Ethics, and in 2007 it establisheda Committee on the Code of Ethics and Social Responsibility– in charge of materials used for training engineers in industryand universities and so on. In 2006, the Science Council ofJapan (SCJ) issued a statement consisting of ‘Code of Conductfor Scientists’ and ‘Toward Autonomous Implementation ofthe Code of Conduct for Scientists’ and requested that all scientificorganizations draw up their own related ethical codesof conduct. It also requested that they design and implementan ethics programme for research. The definition of ‘scientists’in the statement includes engineers.Strengthening communication and dialogue betweenscientists/engineers and the publicMEXT and the engineering societies have fostered andincreased people’s opportunities to touch, experience andlearn about science and technology through exhibitions inscience and technology museums, free seminars, science andtechnology café sessions, among others. From 1999, WhiteBooks for Children on science and technology have been publishedeach year on selected themes (for example The World ofParticle Beams, 2006).226