Thanks for raising these important issues. I'm the executive director of Scientists Without Borders (SWB), and I hope the following response helps clarify your questions, etc.

First, the motivation — or raison d'être — for this initiative is multi-fold. No overarching organization exists to coordinate and mobilize science-based efforts aimed at capacity building in the developing world. Sure, lots of people and organizations are working there and huge amounts of money are being invested. However, the lack of communication generates a tremendous amount of waste. Our first goal is to build a database that should facilitate agencies' abilities to stem this waste; it will register needs of scientists and their activities in the developing world as well as resources available to address those needs. As a result, it will provide a tool for those who want to increase the efficiency of science-based work in the developing world.

The need for such a resource can be illustrated by expanding the ideas in the "under-addressed opportunities" listed in the top entry above.

1. Aligning Organizational Initiatives

Often, capacity-building efforts take place in close physical proximity to one another, but without meaningful contact. As a result, these endeavors attempt to address key problems in isolation when advice, essential resources, and complementary endeavors are "around the corner." Furthermore, many worthwhile enterprises are fueled by superb but narrow areas of expertise. These endeavors would amplify their power by integrating activities with those of others that have a different set of strengths.

In addition to benefiting from knowledge about current projects, capacity-building enterprises could profit from information about previous ones; no mechanism currently facilitates this process. No central digital record exists about past projects; as a result, project and thought leaders can't learn from earlier successes and disappointments.

2. Aligning Needs and Resources

To avoid redundancy, funding agencies would benefit from a centralized source of information about developing-world activities. Furthermore, African institutions and scientists would benefit from a single, user-friendly, globally accessible spot where they can register their needs. Such a tool would help build bridges among globally dispersed researchers.

3. Aligning Individuals and Organizations

Many members of the scientific community – especially young and retired investigators – would readily help fight crucial challenges through research and/or training activities. However, no easy way exists for interested individuals to offer assistance or survey the hundreds of projects or developing world institutions that might crave their expertise.

I hope those comments clarify the motivation for the project.

As to your second point, partnerships are a key component to this enterprise. NYAS is building and hosting the SWB Web portal, but it belongs to everyone in the community. As you know from the links above, we are conducting interviews with people from the developing as well as the developed world so that the database serves the needs of the organizations and individuals it is designed to help. For instance, we are in contact with an African Organization (Information Training and Outreach Centre for Africa) that teaches researchers how to use the internet. The generous and knowledgeable folks there have already answered some questions about technical requirements for the database. (Obviously, we will make a version of the site that can operate at low bandwidth; we knew that even before talking to them!) Beyond technical issues, we are pursuing ideas and advice about appropriate content for the database.

I don’t fully understand your "open" comment, but would be happy to address your concerns if you clarify them. In the meantime, I assure you that we are open in every way: We welcome input about the database, and when the time comes, we'll welcome input about future activities for SWB.

As for "synergy," I think it's a perfect single-word description of what we're trying to achieve: bringing together a multitude of activities and individuals to achieve something that is more than a sum of its parts. Perhaps I am missing some nuance of the word's meaning or use.

Scientists indeed act globally, in the sense that they hold international meetings, collaborate with investigators across the world, etc. However, no single enterprise attempts to coordinate scientific activities. In some fields, this doesn't matter much because a lot of the coordination happens organically — when researchers assemble at meetings, email one another, etc. But in trying to build sustainability in the developing world, coordination is sorely lacking — and sorely needed (see above and comments from interviews below).

Finally, we have no intention of going it alone, and "effort duplication" is exactly what we seek to minimize. Confirmed partners include the UN Millennium Project, the German National Research Funding Agency, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Japanese Science Council, the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, the Global Alliance for TB Drug Development, and a number of the world's most important drug companies. We have begun conversations with individuals at many additional organizations about partnership and participation opportunities. The SWB initiative is barely off the ground and I realize that we have much to do in terms of expanding our complement of partner organizations — but it is happening. So far, individuals and organizations have been extremely enthusiastic about joining forces to help realize the SWB vision.

Finally, I leave you with a few snippets from the many conversations I've had with people who have been working on the ground in Africa. Please let me know if you have more questions about SWB. I'm glad the project is stirring up interest at WAYS.

Evelyn

"We who live and work in the African continent are always aghast at the amount of duplication that’s going on – reinventing of the wheel and not sharing enough information so you can synergize. There’s no mechanism for [addressing] that [problem]."

"Say I want to see which organizations are on the ground in Tanzania that are looking at water, or agricultural fertilizer in Ghana, or child mortality. That would be an incredible database to look at. It doesn't exist today."

Evelyn Strauss, Ph.D.
Executive Director, Scientists Without Borders
http://www.nyas.org/borders