Ethics in Science and Technology

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• Ethics in Science and Technology

A response to Professor Prapon Wilairat with an
emphasis on The Importance of Sharing Information
Professor S. Ravi P. Silva Nano-Electronics
Centre, Advanced Technology Institute,
University of Surrey, Guildford, GU2 7XH,
United Kingdom.
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Professor Wilairat very eloquently covered

• Science being pure, with ideal technologies used
  to serve the enrichment of mankind.
• Atomic physics, chemistry, biology,
  nanotechnology
• But, there are no ethical codes in basic science.
• Transgressions can occur with publication of
  results in journals, without suitable standards.
• In biology, better codification of methodology.
• Stem cells, animal experimentation, DNA profiling
  
• Each scientific breakthrough can enrich mans
  existence as easily as it can damage the fabric
  of life.

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Overview

• Introduction
• Journal publication
• The Information Technology Revolution
• The World Wide Web
• The Future?
• Open Access Journals?
• Concluding Remarks

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The single most evolutionary advantage humans
posses is ability to communicate
If I have seen further it is by standing on the
shoulders of giants Sir Issac Newton in a
letter to Robert Hooke, February 5th 1675
Sharing of ideas and concepts, without boundaries
has enabled scientists to make significant
progress in all areas of Science and Technology.
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Pauli
Heisenberg
Einstein
Dirac
Quantum Theory
Bose
Fermi
Bohr
De Broglie
Schrodinger
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• But, now we live in commercial world where
  industry and commerce dictate much.
• The measures used by industry to control
  information, such as patents in the form of
  Intellectual Property is being forced upon
  universities.
• The pureness of doing Science for the good of the
  world is challenged with survival, where funding
  dictates research themes.

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Libraries
Traditional Methods of disseminating information
Journals
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Average Journal Price 1990-2000
COST 10 year change 178.3 !!
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• Dissemination of scholarly research ensures
• State of the art in current fields as starting
  point
• Less duplication and known problems
• Awareness of new techniques
• This in turn
• Reduces moneys spent on doing similar work
• Increases efficiency
• Provides more focus to tackle the grand challenges

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The Information Technology Revolution
Tim Berners-Lee
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Sir Arthur C. Clarke
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The Future?
Quantum Computing
Nanotechnology
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The Future?
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The current position with journals
COST 10 year change 178.3 !!
Source Economic analysis of scientific research
publishing- A report commissioned by the Wellcome
Trust
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Market failure in scientific Publishing
Free
Subscriptions
Free
Funding
Funding
Source Scientific Publishing Inquiry, by the
Wellcome trust, February 2004
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Open Access
Public Library of Science
Human Genome Project
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Ethics in Science and Technology
Concluding Remarks

• Science is having a profound influence on our
  lives and the time it takes for scientific
  discoveries to affect everyday activities is
  getting ever smaller.
• The amount of information being created is also
  increasing exponentially and so there could be a
  large amount of duplication if information is not
  shared.
• A global policy that ensures scientific
  information that can benefit humanity as a whole
  must be made more easily accessible by all.
• No easy solutions out there .