intro = For the Common Good: CSIRO and Public Sector Research and Development
Edited by Peter Ewer
Pluto Press, 1996. 102 pp., $19.95 (pb)
Reviewed by Dot Tumney
The CSIRO division of the Community and Public Sector Union sponsored this monograph on the ongoing changes to science policy and the appropriateness of CSIRO functions and structures. It was produced while the ALP was still in government, which might muddle references to specific programs, but not the overall direction of the recommendations it contains.
The monograph's contributors discuss the complexities and contradictions of public sector research on a national scale in the context of a globalised "free" market. They discuss how attempts to apply current industrial "best practice" and "human resource management" result in "customer driven" research and a "culturally homogenised" organisation.
A brief history of the CSIRO, relating it to science policy development, gives context to the present debates about how much of the current demand for "targeted" and "rapid application" projects is likely to be achieved, and the balance between immediately marketable projects and activities for the public good, or for curiosity. One section discusses how economists deal with knowledge as a commodity, and whether scientific and technical advances drive industry.
Having sketched out the historical, philosophical and economic contexts, the monograph examines the "public good" functions of CSIRO and the role of the union in implementing them and maximising productivity. Cultural diversity is seen as essential and the managerial approach criticised as being too narrow. Participative management and structures which maximise democratic input and information flow are suggested with the CPSU's role, they argue, being to facilitate that participatory process and empower individuals.
This monograph discusses the administrative technicalities involved in carving out a niche in the market for scientific research — research that really needs to be done for other, non-market based, reasons. It might be useful for participants in the process, but it will be of only passing interest to regular readers of New Scientist editorials and the like.