México City 1993 Greg Heileman, Howard Pollard, Chaouki Abdallah

Mission Statement: ISTEC is a non-profit organization comprised of educational, research, industrial, and multilateral organizations throughout the Americas and the Iberian Peninsula. The Consortium has been established to foster scientific, engineering, and technology education, joint international research and development efforts among its members, and to provide a cost-effective vehicle for the application and transfer of technology.

Background: In an effort to improve international collaborations in Science and Technology, in mid 1990 personnel from the University of New Mexico visited countries in Latin America to identify and evaluate opportunities for successful collaboration in science, technology and education. Meetings were held with officials from various governments, educational institutions, research facilities, and industrial firms to gage interest in establishing efforts for international cooperation in technical fields. The meetings resulted in the identification of areas of common interest for employing hands-on education, research, and technology transfer in state-of-the-art technology and science. As a result of these visits, an organizational meeting was held in December of 1990, at the University of New Mexico, involving personnel from universities, industries, governments, and foundations throughout Ibero-America. These discussions, which resulted in the creation of the Ibero-American Science and Technology Education Consortium (ISTEC), identified a number of obstacles that need to be addressed:

• Lack of current information for planning and developing technology
• Lack of expertise in the use of information
• Lack of international cooperation in developing the critical mass needed for projects and joint efforts
• Lack of interaction (lack of confidence) among universities, industries, governments, and international agencies.
• Lack of availability of technology.

The above difficulties are aggravated by another problem, which is the lack of awareness of the simultaneous existence and interaction of the above obstacles. It is imperative that efforts be made to address these issues concurrently in order to further the scientific and technological development of Ibero-America. It was a consensus among the participants in the meeting that traditional mechanisms for cooperation are not sufficient, and new, more effective mechanisms are needed. As a result of the meeting, ISTEC was created, and universities, industries, and other organizations become members by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). In 1999, the Consortium officially became a U.S. 501 (c) (3) non-profit institution, comprised of a General Assembly to which all members belong that sets policy and direction, a Board of Directors, which is made up of fifteen academic and industrial members of the General Assembly that carries out the policies and promotes the Consortium, and an Executive Office that handles the day-to-day operations.

Mode of Operation: The objectives of the Consortium are to conceive, plan, and carry out activities of higher education, research and development, and technology transfer, for the purpose of facilitating scientific and technical progress of the Ibero-American countries. ISTEC participants encourage the free flow and access of information in the pursuit of technical excellence. By coordinating eminent personnel and resources from diverse geographical locations, ISTEC has developed a mechanism called the Initiative, which is an organized effort to create activities to address a specific area of concern. The Initiatives are member-driven, flexible, and run concurrently. Within initiatives, projects are identified, planned, and implemented. The distributed structure from which the projects stem avoids duplication of efforts and inherently responds to the needs of the ISTEC membership. Projects are designed with both short- and long-term goals, with consideration of social impact. They are dynamic and expandable, and coordination is encouraged in order to maximize the utilization of available resources. Currently, there are four Initiatives underway: Digital Libraries, Advanced Continuing Education, Research and Development Laboratories, and Los Libertadores.

Digital Libraries Initiative: One of the basic tenets of science and technology is access to up-to-date information. The Initiative aims to modernize document delivery as a complement to education, research, manufacturing and policy design, to broaden electronic availability of research materials, to upgrade the information skills of library staff, and to sharpen the savvy and independence of the electronic user.

Advanced Continuing Education Initiative: The key to the development of any nation is the availability of highly qualified human resources. This initiative seeks to upgrade the available skills and increase the number of qualified individuals in applicable areas. Projects conducted within this initiative involve curriculum adaptation, design and enhancement, professional development, accreditation, on-site training, web based distance learning, as well as non-traditional faculty, staff, and student exchanges, including “sandwich” graduate programs. Of particular interest is the development of materials that incorporate the latest technology in the education process, both in the way of state-of –the-art textbooks and laboratory materials, and also in the way of development systems.

Research and Development Laboratories: The costs of introducing state-of-the-art infrastructure in education are difficult to accomplish for most countries in Latin America. This initiative has been created to provide a vehicle for performing research and development in a variety of disciplines. The laboratory facilities not only are utilized in teaching situations, but are used to enhance interaction between industries and universities to foster innovation and creativity. Thus, this initiative improves the ability of technology to be applied to the resolution of problems in a variety of areas.

Los Libertadores: This initiative is a “common thread” effort that links together all of ISTEC’s goals and objectives. It seeks to create a flexible network of electronic services (a hemispheric backbone for education, R&D, and business development purposes), computing facilities, and teaching stations, known as “Centers of Excellence”. It pretends to share worldwide expertise and distributed problem solving as well as creating the critical mass needed for regional projects.