UNDERSTANDING THE MILITARY INFLUENCE ON SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Research Project July 2003-June 2004
(Final report published January 2005 - downloadable as PDF)
Contact: Chris Langley

• Aim

• Introduction to the project (July 2003)

• ‘The military dimensions of science and technology’ (May 2004) - Notes
  from a lecture given at Lancaster University which includes preliminary
  results from the study

Aim

To carry out a broad assessment of how scientific research and development is influenced by military interests, and to recommend the changes needed so that this research and development better contributes to peace, social justice and environmental sustainability. The project will produce and disseminate a concise, accessible report on these issues, relevant to peace and disarmament workers, decision-makers, scientists and the public. It is expected that the report will be available in early autumn 2004.

Introduction to the Project

Support of research across the globe has undergone radical change over the past twenty years. Military funding of science and technology continues to be high, both in the UK and in many other countries. Despite a significant fall in this funding after the end of the Cold War, the recent declaration of the so called 'War on Terror' threatens to reverse this situation. Moreover, with an increasing push for science and technology to be commercially directed, this threatens to undermine government control of where arms technologies may be sold. Questions of commercial confidentiality compromise open science. Meanwhile scientific expertise is increasingly needed to help combat pressing environmental, social and medical problems.

Currently, one third of the UK's public funding for science, technology and engineering research and devlopment - approximately £2.6 billion per annum - comes from the Ministry of Defence. In addition military corporations provide a further £100 million.

Such funds support both pure and applied science and technological development. The defence industries are globally one of the largest and most powerful - BAE Systems in the UK is the second largest defence contractor in the world with annual sales in 130 countries of £12 billion. What is the effect of this military funding on the direction and openness of science and technology in the UK? There has been little research undertaken to address this question. Scientists for Global Responsibility has secured funding for one year to chart the impact of the military influence on the direction and priorities of science and technology.

Some of the questions posed include:

• what effect does military-academic collaboration have on dissemination of research findings?
• does military funding of science and technology focus on arms-related issues to the detriment of research into conflict prevention policies and strategies or areas such as the provision of clean water, sustainable energy and agriculture? Is this exacerbated by the growing presence of collaborative military science and technology ventures such as the UK Defence Technology Centres and Towers of Excellence?
• should military funded R&D which has wider ethical implications, such as neuroscience or biotechnology research, be subjected to wide public scrutiny?
• does the development of UK Defence Technology Centres and Towers of Excellence, provide value for money in fostering open and accountable science?

The project will use case studies, in-depth interviews of leading figures in the defence, research and science policy areas and other decision makers in order to provide a detailed picture of military funding and the direction of such research in the UK. Source material from the Office of Science and Technology (OST) and the Ministry of Defence as well as academic papers, university reports and statistics, websites and other sources of information will also be used to fill in what will be complex landscape of research endeavour and its support.

Notes

1. The project is funded by the Network for Social Change, a charitable trust
2. Information sources:
   http://www.ost.gov.uk/setstats - Office of Science and Technology (OST) website containing information on the support of science, engineering and technology in the UK
   http://www.ost.gov.uk/research/forwardlook03/ - the latest OST publication entitled "The Forward Look 2003: Government-funded science, engineering and technology"
   http://www.mod.uk/toe and http://www.mod.uk/dtc - these websites of the Ministry of Defence contain details of the Towers of Excellence and Defence Technology Centres programmes
   http://www.sbac.co.uk - this website, of the Society of British Aerospace Companies, gives a view of what motivates one commercial sector to seek collaboration with the universities in the UK
   

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