EDITORIAL - Morrison good man for the job

An unintentioned consequence, but something of significant national value may yet come from the union agitation that forced Errol Morrison out of the presidency of the University of Technology, Jamaica. It lies in his appointment, as was formally announced last week, as national director general of science and technology.

That title, chokingly pompous, as yet means little. But that is precisely the point. It gives Professor Morrison a largely blank canvas with which to work, which precisely suits his personality.

We do not suggest that the Government has absolutely nothing in mind regarding what it wants Professor Morrison to accomplish. For, as Phillip Paulwell, the minister with responsibility for science and technology, noted in the House last Tuesday, the forecast is that seven of 10 new jobs globally will be in science, technology and mathematics.

But Jamaica is not in a position, or is not yet sufficiently positioning itself, to take advantage of these shifts, although we have been talking long and loudly about these issues.

For instance, it is two decades since the then prime minister, P.J. Patterson, established a National Commission on Science and Technology (NCST) to help drive government policy in the area and to popularise S&T initiatives. Moreover, the highly respected Jamaican virologist, Arnaldo Ventura, served as science and technology adviser to successive Jamaican prime ministers.

But 20 years on, roughly a third of Jamaica's grade-four students are not numerate, only a little more than 40 per cent receiving passing grades in the Caribbean Examinations Council's secondary-school exams; and only a handful of students enter for science subjects. This follows through at university where more than 70 cent of our undergraduates are enrolled in the arts and humanities.

LITTLE INVESTED IN RESEARCH

Additionally, Jamaican firms invest little in research and development, a critical route to innovation and significant economic return and national advancement. The Government's spending in this area, too, is negligible.

Maybe we ought not to be surprised at these outcomes, given the seeming comatose state of the NCST. The last time the commission's website was updated, Bruce Golding was still Jamaica's prime minister; Karl Samuda was the minister responsible for science; Carlton Davis was the Cabinet secretary; and the commission's five-year strategic vision, up to 2010, still had time to run. That plan projected an annual 10 per cent growth in the number of companies employing new technologies; that 50 new products would reach the market each year; Jamaica would earn US$4 per 1,000 in royalties and licence fees from the technologies developed by our firms; and the Government's R&D expenditure would reach 0.5 cent of gross domestic product. It is unlikely that we are remotely close to any of these targets.

We do not know that Professor Morrison can cause these to be achieved. But he will bring to the job not only his strong background in medical research, but a deep appreciation of the entrepreneurial possibilities that lie in science and technology. Indeed, he has lived it.

But more important, he has a capacity to get things done. His impatience in this respect may have helped to get him in trouble at UTech where he played a large role in transforming that formerly sleepy school into a significant institution. We would rather he shake things up in science and technology than continue the plodding Jamaica has been on.

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