Science policies in a new setting

The crises and the relentless escalation of the arms race during the Cold War are still alive today in the economic field in the form of industrial competitiveness and globalisation. The scientific and technological revolution we are now witnessing (information, biotechnologies, new materials) is part of the same process of dematerialisation typical of post-industrial societies, but the hasty promise of the 'global village' still remains under threat from the tyranny of market forces and the bursting of the speculative bubble. On the one side there is an unprecedented accumulation of discoveries, applications and new know-how; on the other, the inequalities between nations and within some nations are still present, sometimes on the increase. and scientific development is bringing new threats in its wake (from nuclear weapons to genetically modified organisms or the possibility of human cloning). The new contract between science and society presupposes a greater awareness of social responsibility on the part of scientists - a recognition that science is no granter of divine power. The precautionary principle, which is reflected in national and international legislation, far from discrediting intelligence or inhibiting innovation, simply means getting back to basic human wisdom, i.e., knowing how far one can go.