INCREASING READY AVAILABILITY OF US TECHNOLOGICAL PUBLICATIONS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST TO DEVELOPING COUNTRIES (TECHNICAL INFORMATION)

Government-funded scientific/technical research and development information to relevant LDC institutions. The U.S. Department of Commerce"s National Technical Information Service (NTIS) will implement the project. From its inventory of 40,000 scientific/technical research and development reports produced by firms under contract to the U.S. Government, NTIS will select for publication 1,000 which are pertinent to LDC development needs in materials, chemistry, and mechanical, industrial, civil, and marine engineering. These documents will form the basis of a quarterly journal of abstracts and bibliographies (later named "Application of Modern Technologies to International Development" -- AMTID) for distribution to industrial, technical, and standards research institutes, universities, technical libraries, productivity centers, and the technical departments of Ministries of Works, Industry, and Commerce in 15-40 LDC"s. Recipients will be able to purchase the cited publications at nominal reproduction costs. NTIS will consult the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, the Organization of American States, and UN agencies on their experiences in disseminating technical development information. PROP amendment of 7/16/73 provides additional funds to extend a revised version of the project for 3 years. The NTIS publication, AMTID, will undergo changes in both content and purpose. Abstracts will be shorter but additional subject areas such as agriculture, food technology, and educational technology will be included. NTIS will explore the use of a microfiche format for AMTID to take advantage of the lower production (90[ for fiche versus $3.00 for paper) and storage costs. Microfiche readers will be supplied as needed. AMTID"s circulation will increase from the present 750 to 1,000 copies. NTIS will directly mail 750 copies to institutions in 30 LDC"s. In addition, NTIS will establish a pilot information network linkage with 10 counterpart scientific and technical information services or national documentation centers. Each counterpart agency will receive 75 copies of AMTID. Acting as brokers, these counterparts, who will receive NTIS technical advisory services to increase their institutional capabilities, will redistribute AMTID to active users, especially in the private sector; develop country-specific marketing strategies to stimulate awareness of NTIS products and services, including data base searches; and, in general, encourage the utilization of technical information. Countries tentatively identified for inclusion in this activity are Pakistan, the Philippines, Korea, Indonesia, Thailand, India, Nigeria, Tanzania, Ecuador, and Colombia. Specific organizations will be chosen by NTIS in consultation with the responsible host government agency, USAID, and A.I.D."s Office of Science and Technology (TA/OST). To alleviate the need for recipients to obtain foreign exchange each time they purchase a publication cited in AMTID, the brokers will establish dollar deposit accounts with NTIS. Users will, through the NTIS Search Service, have comprehensive access to 300,000 technical reports on the NTIS database. The first 100 searches will be provided at no cost. To ensure that the project is oriented to user needs, a detailed questionnaire will be distributed to AMTID recipients, NTIS will conduct an evaluation 18 months hence, and the 10 target countries will carry out an evaluation of the project at the end of 30 months. By project end, if utilization of U.S. technical information is well established in the 10 target countries and A.I.D. guidance is no longer necessary, A.I.D. will consider transferring the system to other LDC"s.