International development institute : a report of an ad hoc committee of the Board on Science and Technology for International Development

The Report endorses the concept of such an Institute, and expresses the hope that it will be established as a landmark institution through which the people of the United States will be able to cooperate with the peoples of the developing countries in devising solutions to world-wide critical human problems. It envisions, as a primary role of the Institute, extension of the knowledge and competence necessary for solving, in time, some of the most serious of these problems. This task would require an institution with the capacity to mobilize the resources of the United States" universities, research institutions, industrial and service organizations, and the nation"s managerial and technical skills to work with and help improve the institutions and human resources of developing countries. The Committee believes that what we do not know about development is far greater than what we know, and that, without great increases in knowledge, and in the ability to apply it wisely and effectively, the problems of poverty, illiteracy, disease, malnutrition, and the pressures of rapid population growth may have ever more tragic consequences for most of mankind.