Response From SIG Chairman Phillip Griffiths to SciDev.Net Editorial: The World Bank Does Care About Science

A recent SciDev.Net editorial asked: Does the World Bank really care about science? My answer is yes, it does. James Wolfensohn, president of the World Bank, chairs the board of trustees of the Princeton-based Institute for Advanced Study, where I am Director. Five years ago, he asked me to help him and his colleagues in the Bank to establish a program that would infuse in Bank client countries some of the qualities and goals of the Institute, which fosters scientific excellence in conditions conducive to productivity—certainly a visionary concept for the developing world. Wolfensohn appreciates the benefits of science for sustainable development, and he was insistent that capacity building in science and technology, involving active, world-class scientific research, training and applications in client countries become part of the Bank's Comprehensive Development Framework. Article here.