The global research laboratory. Global-local conflicts of interestin research and education

摘要

The world is evolving from a set of economically and culturallydistinct nations to a global human society. This evolution generatesmany new conflicts between local and global interests. Several issuesrelated to the advancement of technology are affected by such conflicts.For example, international cooperative programs in various areas ofscience and engineering are frequently being advocated. They begin withmuch hope and desire of collaboration; but many cooperative programsfail simply because there are conflicts with local interests which aregenuinely difficult to resolve and cannot simply be wished away for thesake of international harmony. Concrete solutions to local-globalconflicts of interests in technological cooperation require carefulanalysis and investigation of a combination of three factors: economic,technological and social. The article concerns the role that theUniversity of the future has to play in the resolution of suchconflicts. Specific examples and proposals will be discussed, includingan inherent conflict in the University itself. For example, there isalready a conflict between, on one hand, an increase in quality andbreadth caused by opening the admissions door further to internationalstudents; and, on the other hand, the increase in regional support byopening the door further to home grown students. Which approach willbenefit the overall competitiveness of an industry is a new problem tobe considered