“There is immense scope for technology diplomacy at the domestic level in India,” said Kishan Rana, former Indian Ambassador to Germany and an expert on technology diplomacy. He was speaking at a five day Training Programme on Technology Diplomacy organised by CUTS, a Jaipur based non-governmental think tank, with the support of the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The programme endeavours to imbue government officials/scientists in various departments/organisations with necessary skills.
Ambassador Rana pointed out that Pt. Nehru had an extraordinary vision of making India a knowledge power and ever since there has been a strong science and technology dimension in Indian development. Earlier in his introductory remarks, Atul Kaushik, Adviser (Projects), CUTS International, mentioned the need to access and leverage modern science for the betterment of the poor.
Mr. Kaushik underlined the vital role played by technology in the economic development of countries, and the demand that advancement in science and technology generated for expert inputs in successful negotiation of technology agreements and, therefore, training of government officials.
The participants in this programme will be imparted skills on various aspects of technology diplomacy through lectures, simulation exercises, group discussions, etc led by a number of distinguished experts such as Deepak Bhatnagar, Head, Centre for International Trade in Technology (CITT), Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT); Vinay Kumar, Former Advisor & Head, Technology Management Division and visiting faculty at IIT Delhi; Dr. Ashok Jain, Vice President, Research & Academic Development; EMPI School; and Ms Vandana Sharma, Jaipur Finishing School.
Introductions from participants provided a window to their expectations as well as revealed their diversity ranging from electronic scientists and physicists to agriculture scientists and economists. One of the participants highlighted the need for this kind of programme to understand the use of diplomacy as a tool for generating maximum gain from agreements to transfer technology and, therefore, achieve better integration between theoretical possibilities and actual practice.
For more information, please contact:
Archana Jatkar, +91 99282 07628; aj@cuts.org