Office of Science & Technology - Reestablish the Committee on International Science, Engineering and Technology (CISET) and Get Funding for its Programs
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Reestablish the Committee on International Science, Engineering and Technology (CISET) and Get Funding for its Programs Print E-mail
bridges Vol. 21, April 2009 / Norm Neureiter on S&T in Foreign Policy

By Norman P. Neureiter


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Norm Neureiter
About two weeks ago, I was invited to give testimony before the Committee on Science and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education of the US House of Representatives. The topic of the hearing was the coordination of International Science Partnerships, with draft legislation on reestablishing the Committee on International Science, Engineering and Technology, or CISET, to be considered by the committee.

In 45 years of working in international science and business, I have seen how international S&T cooperation can be a very effective instrument of nonpolitical, soft-power engagement and a key element of a constructive foreign policy. However, I've also seen how crucial it is to establish the right machinery and mechanisms in order to successfully implement such international cooperation.  

CISET already existed during the 1990s until 2001, within the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC), which is managed by the Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP). It used to be the main interagency coordinating body for federal R&D activities, with three main goals:

  1. It was assigned the task of identifying and coordinating international cooperation that could strengthen the domestic S&T enterprise and promote US economic competitiveness and national security.

  2. CISET also helped utilize American leadership in S&T to address global issues and to support the post-Cold War tenets of US foreign policy - promoting democracy, maintaining peace, and fostering economic growth and sustainable development.

  3. Finally, CISET helped coordinate the international aspects of Federal R&D funding across federal agencies.

I think that creating such a focal point for international S&T cooperation again, at the level of the Executive Office of the President, is very desirable. Reestablishing CISET under the National Science and Technology Council would provide an appropriate body for that purpose.  

However, this new CISET must effectively interact in its foreign policy dimensions with the National Security Council (NSC) and the State Department, and in its technical substance with all the S&T agencies of the federal government.  Its effectiveness will depend in large part on an Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) that is well integrated into the NSC process and has a high level of staff competence in the international arena.  

Last, but not least, is the need for dedicated funding appropriated for international S&T cooperation in order to give CISET some real substance on which to focus, and the potential for tangible consequences from its decisions.     

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