INFORMRTION MAPPING FOR DEVELOPMENT * Introduction The purpose of this document is to report briefly on a preliminary investigation into the problems of mapping satisfactorily for policy purposes the domains of science and technology as applied to develop- ment (1 ). The matter in question is clearly of ever increasing concern within the in- ternational community as a whole, as in- dicated by a number of initiatives, many of them now being timed to focus discus- sion in anticipation of the United Nations Conference on the Application of Science and Technology to Development in 1979. Part 1 : Mapping Nature of the problem The problem of information in the field of science and technology as applied to de- velopment processes is reviewed in Part 2 under the following headings : A. Quantitative aspects B. Logical aspects; classication - Multiplicity of classification schemes - Failure to indicate functional rele- vance - Unspecified omissions and partial inclusions - Macro-level definition - Interdisciplinarity C. Operational aspects; organizations and information systems - Multiplicity of organizations - Unrelated information systems D. Comprehensibility - Comprehension overload - Issue reductionism - Communication mode preferences E. Behavioural aspects - Interorganizational antipathy - Interorganizational territorially - Interorganizational rivalry - Pre-logical biases F. » Mythical » aspects G. Ignorance and lack of systematically ordered information on : - Scientific disciplines - Development processes - Technologies - Applications processes. The first three of the above points are those most frequently discussed when examining the question, since they also tend to be those most susceptible to so- lution by modifying institutions or their policies and through appropriate use of information science and technology. The last four are those which are much less frequently discussed, partly because they include factors which undermine or oppose conventional solutions to the in- formation problem. This review shows that there are many severe obstacles, themselves intimately interrelated, which prevent a significant improvement in the accessibility of such information for policy-related purposes. It is not the purpose of this report to com- ment on conventional efforts to improve the situation or their relationships to the UNESCO/ICSU World Science Informa- tion System (UNISIST), SPINES, or the various development information sys- tems. Whilst these may or may not achieve their respective objectives, in the light of the points in Part 2, it would ap- pear to be useful to investigate com- pletely new approaches which may re- sult in information tools which respond to the problem at a more fundamental level. Information selection and presentation The heart of the problem seems to lie in the general attitude to information selec- tion and presentation. This is reviewed in Part 3 where it is argued that much of the problem results from the reliance on word-oriented information systems. How- ever in reviewing the alternatives, includ- ing computer manipulation of diagrams, it is shown that existing approaches fail to respond to the basic difficulty of how to improve the relevance of the questions asked to the problem complex faced by the policy-making process. How is the policy-maker, and those with whom he must communicate, to acquire a better « grasp » of the problem complex and the opportunities for improved application of science and technology to develop- ment ? Some criteria for a desirable solution The kind of information assistance re- quired could usefully have the following characteristics (2) : - contain a large number of elements relevant to science, technology and development - elements well-packed for comprehen- sibility - presentable in different (but integrat- ed) forms corresponding to the toler- ance of complexity of the expert, the non-expert and the general public - disposition and presentation of ele- ments should have a mnemonic value such that familiarity with the whole pattern may be gradually acquired and not immediately forgotten - disposition of elements should reflect the knowledge of experts and not a su- perficial, « glossy », media-oriented im- pression of aspects of it - disposition of elements should reflect in a dynamic manner the processes in which they are involved and any evolu- tion in those processes over time • Report prepared for the Science Adviser to the Com- monwealth Secretary-General in partial fulfilment of a consultancy assignment under Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC/APL/13.3, CFTC/CSC/8, 19 May 1978). Presented to the 6th Conference of the World Future Studies Federation (Cairo, 1978) with the kind permission of Christian de Laet. Secretary, Commonwealth Science Council. TRANSNATIONAL ASSOCIATIONS, 5-1979 185 by A. J. N. Judge