In this new lead article, Prof. Calestous Juma, Harvard University and Prof. Yee-Cheong Lee, UNESCO, reflect on the progress made since the UN Millennium Project's Task Force report on science, technology and innovation (ST&I) was published. In 2005, the Task Force released the report Innovation: applying knowledge in development. It outlined a number of ways in which ST&I could be used to realize the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). The authors claim that the report has played a key catalytic role in raising global awareness of the importance of ST&I in development.

"African armed forces possess extensive human resources and equipment needed to build infrastructure projects. They regularly use such facilities during emergencies and are at the forefront of developing robust systems such as smart microgrid systems that can provide decentralized power supply for rural Africa. What is needed is an explicit policy to extend their role in the construction and maintenance of infrastructure projects in cooperation with civilian agencies."

I am on my way back from the World Economic Forum (WEF) meeting in Cape Town, South Africa. This was a remarkable meeting with an overwhelming intellectual energy. The event was unique in many respects. But foremost, it was anchored by a preliminary meeting of the Grow Africa venture where private enterprises have pledged $3.5 billion in support to African agriculture. This was a serious event that involved heads of state and government from eight African countries. I had the unique opportunity to be part of a small group of people working to connect science and technology with the larger business agenda of WEF.

"Today all African presidents are supported by economic advisors. The time has come for them to complement the work of economic advisors with science, engineering, and innovation advisors. But advisors are not just people who whisper in the ears of heads of state. They are professionals whose work is guided by proper laws, procedures, and staff trained in policy analysis."

"Our goal is to bring experiences from around the world to bear on the design of farm-based centers, schools, colleges and universities. We have already drawn substantially from the lessons of EARTH University in Costa Rica which has over two decades of experience on agribusiness education in the tropics. I served on the governing board of this pioneering university whose model is most suited to African conditions."

A lecture by Calestous Juma from 3:00–5:30 PM, April 18, 2013, at the Golf Course Hotel in Kampala, Uganda. Organized by the Association for Strengthening Agricultural Research in Eastern and Central Africa (ASARECA). Africa's identity has historically been associated with its vast natural resources which have shaped not only its political culture but also defined its place in the global family of nations. In recent years, however, a new picture of Africa has started to emerge. African economies are increasingly being view as rapid adopters of emerging technologies. The aim of this lecture is to identify approaches for leveraging the world's fund of scientific, technological, and engineering knowledge for rapid economic transformation.

The rise of emerging markets is heralded as a force that will change the global balance of power. But behind the rise of the new economies lies a strong commitment to leveraging engineering as a foundation for economic transformation. Engineering provides the basic foundations for economic growth such as energy, transportation, irrigation, and telecommunications. Yet the men and women who build and maintain these systems are hardly recognized. The announcement of the inaugural Queen Elizabeth Prize for Engineering will go a long way toward helping the international community appreciate the role that engineers have played in making modern civilization possible.

"With improvements in fiber optic connectivity and open internet platforms, Africa is on the verge of becoming a major beneficiary of the massive open online courses (MOOCs). There is a real possibility for Africa to dramatically improve its teaching—especially in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM)—through the deployment of MOOCs."

In a spectacular technological failure, Kenyan officials recently abandoned the electronic transfer of election results and switched to manual tallying. This was not expected in a country that developed the now world-famous mobile money transfer system, M-Pesa. The collapse of the system delayed the announcement of the winner, causing anxiety in a country that witnessed serious post-election violence in 2007 that left more than 1,500 people dead and 250,000 displaced from their homes. Rumors swirled on social media that the system had been hacked and as result the elections had been fatally compromised.

"As developing countries continue to aspire to higher governance and development standards, they will also need to ensure that they improve their engineering capabilities and the associated management practices. Failure to do so can lead to humbling reversals to analog days for countries that are aspiring to become important players in the digital age."