To compete and thrive in the 21st century, democracies, and the United States in particular, must develop new national security and economic strategies that address the geopolitics of information. In the 20th century, market capitalist democracies geared infrastructure, energy, trade, and even social policy to protect and advance that era’s key source of power—manufacturing. In this century, democracies must better account for information geopolitics across all dimensions of domestic policy and national strategy.
The presentation will address the role of diversity in the generation of knowledge needed for policy making. It uses the case of the African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS), founded by the speaker in Nairobi in 1988, to illustrate how knowledge-based institutions interact with policy makers to guide development processes. ACTS was established to undertake policy research research, promote training and disseminate information on the role of technological innovation in sustainable development, with particular emphasis on agriculture.