Statement of Mission for Science and Technology Cooperation Between the United States of America and the Oriental Republic of UruguayBureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific AffairsWashington, DC September 30, 2008 On July 8, 2008, the Under Secretary for Democracy and Global Affairs at the U.S. Department of State, Paula Dobriansky, led a U.S. mission for science and technology cooperation to Montevideo, Uruguay. The U.S. delegates included representatives from government technical agencies, research institutions, and the non-governmental science community. Wishing to establish new links and potential partnerships, the U.S. delegates met with representatives from technical agencies, academic institutions, and ministries of the Government of the Oriental Republic of Uruguay related to science and technology. The U.S. affirms the role of bilateral cooperation with Uruguay in enhancing and complementing advancements in mutual areas of interest under the auspices of the Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation, signed by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on April 29, 2008, in Washington, D.C. The Parties explored topics of priority and mutual benefit in the fields of biomedical research; agriculture; meteorology and hydrology; fisheries science, atmospheric science; disaster experimentation, response tools and advanced technologies; biofuels and alternative energy; science policy networking; education and training exchange; and innovation through public-private partnerships. The U.S. delegates and representatives of Uruguay intend to develop the following collaborative initiatives relating to science and technology: Biofuels and Alternative Energy Biomedical and Behavioral Health Research The Office of Latin American Cancer Program Development of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) at the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) intends to strengthen their participation in cancer research with Uruguay through collaborations under the auspices of a formal arrangement they plan to negotiate and conclude before the end of 2008. Further, NCI’s extramural competitive grants program for research sponsored outside of the United States should encourage Uruguayan researchers to enhance project funding. Experimentation U.S. Southern Command (SOUTHCOM) intends to explore with Uruguayan officials opportunities for Uruguay to participate in three S&T programs: Western Hemisphere Information Exchange (WHIX), Crisis Management (CM), and the Virtual Regional Maritime Traffic Center (VRMTC). The U.S. Army’s International Technology Center for the Americas agrees to support USSOUTHCOM in both the WHIX and CM areas. The Office of Naval Research agrees to support SOUTHCOM in the endeavor to execute these programs with Uruguay, particularly the VRMTC. Agriculture The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Agricultural Research Service (ARS) plans to welcome delegates from the Uruguayan National Research Institute (INIA) to visit facilities and meet with USDA officials in October 2008 with the goal to conclude and sign an institutional memorandum of understanding for broader research and development in agriculture. In September 2008, ARS Research Leader from the Meat Safety and Quality Research Unit of the U.S. Meat Animal Research Center visited Uruguay. The visit included meetings with INIA as well as private industry aimed at building research partnerships to improve the safety of meat. Measurement Standards The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Uruguay’s National Technological Laboratory (LATU) and the National Center for Metrology (CENAM) in Mexico are the coordinators of a project supported by the Organization of American States (OAS) to strengthen the metrology and standards infrastructure in the Americas. The three coordinators manage a multi-year project involving 34 countries in the Americas. NIST intends to continue to work with LATU in the improvement of their measurement capabilities, which is particularly important for international recognition, traceability and comparable measurements for monitoring the environment, food and health care. Basic and Cross-cutting Science The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) plans to pursue collaborative projects in Uruguay associated with the mineral, energy, water and biological resources sectors. Associated within these disciplines, crosscutting issues related to the environment and human health are of particular interest. Meteorology and Hydrology The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) intends to facilitate the National Meteorological Service of Uruguay’s efforts to rescue over 100 years of hydro-meteorological data records and transfer it into a digital format for open-source sharing with the global community. Marine and Fisheries The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries International Affairs Office hopes to cooperate with La Dirección Nacional de Recursos Acuáticos (DINARA) and expressed an interest in developing a formal mechanism for cooperation on fisheries-related matters. Capacity Building Opportunities The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is interested in working with countries that are adopting the One Laptop per Child (OLPC) as an important tool for science and math education. In 2009, AAAS plans to host a delegation of 1-2 Uruguayan experts to hold meetings on ways that OLPC might be used in this context and will work to identify possible educational software that might be used in these efforts. AAAS has a program called Project 2061 to assist education policy makers develop primary and secondary science and math curricula. AAAS plans to share Project 2061 program material with Uruguay and look at the possibility of including a Project 2061 expert on a future delegation to Uruguay. AAAS also is finalizing funding with a donor to sponsor the participation of a few delegates from Latin American countries to the AAAS annual meeting, that brings together leaders from the research and science policy communities around the world. The experts chosen will come from areas related to climate and global change, including administrators and researchers. AAAS would welcome the opportunity to work with the Government of Uruguay to identify an Uruguayan specialist to participate in the February 2010 AAAS annual meeting in San Diego, California. In addition, the AAAS Chief International Officer is planning to make a follow-up visit to Uruguay in mid 2009 to identify other potential areas of collaboration.
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