Final Report to the
IEEE-USA Government Fellowship Committee

Sajjad H. Durrani

IEEE-USA 2005 Engineering & Diplomacy Fellow

17 August 2005

This report covers the period of January to May 2005, when I served as an IEEE-USA Engineering and Diplomacy Fellow with the Office of Science and Technology Cooperation (STC) in the Department of State. (Earlier, I had worked in the Office of International Communications and Information Policy in the Bureau of Economic and Business Affairs (EB/CIP) from April to December 2004, and a report for that period has been submitted already.)

The STC Office is a part of the Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES). My assignment was to interface with other Offices in the Bureau on matters of mutual interest, and to handle the STC’s Western Hemisphere portfolio. This required working with US and foreign government agencies and research institutions, in order to develop Science and Technology Agreements (STAs) for joint research projects abroad, and to coordinate issues in existing STAs, as needed. The focus was on countries in Central and South America; no issues relating to Canada arose during this period.

Highlights of my activities are:

• Participated in meetings to review the status and funding problems of the Large Millimeter Telescope Project in Mexico;

• Assisted in resolving some issues concerning joint projects in Brazil;

• Hosted an inter-agency meeting to assess the possibility of joint projects with certain Andean countries;

• Initiated work on extending the STA with Chile, which was due to expire in June 2005; and

• Completed the groundwork for an STA with Mexico, which would enable the US Geological Survey to conduct joint projects with a research Institute in that country. (Work on the last item was finalized by Ms. Patricia Meeks, a Foreign Service Officer who joined the STC Office in May and took over the Western Hemisphere portfolio.)

The STC Office

The three principal priorities of OES/STC are: To establish broad-based collaborations with other countries involving S&T; To encourage S&T exchanges and monitor program activities; and To conduct Public Outreach related to S&T. During my tenure, the Office was headed by Director George Dragnich, a senior Foreign Service Officer; I had worked with him during 2004 when he was head of a Division within EB/CIP. His Deputy Director was Dr. Jeffery Lutz, a retired Foreign Service Officer, who had previously served in STC and thus provided corporate memory. The professional staff consisted of 13 members, of which one slot was vacant; eight were permanent members and four were Fellows. Two Fellows (Nick Zayed and I) were from the IEEE-USA and we came onboard in January 2005; the remaining two were from other AAAS organization and were serving their second year. The Office was severely under-staffed; each staff member had to handle a broad range of topics covering several countries, and most of them typically worked overtime to meet ever-present deadlines. As a part-time volunteer, I worked only three days a week, but often ended up spending more than eight hours on those days. (Time flies when you are having fun!) A brief description of my activities follows.

Routine Duties

These included attending meetings of various Bureaus and Offices on issues relating to the Western Hemisphere, or issues of broad interest that could be extended to that region. Examples include: Trade Related International Property Rights Provisions (TRIPRP); Bilateral International R&D (BIRD); and the Methane to Market Project, run by the Environmental Protections Agency (EPA) in collaboration with national or regional entities in 14 countries including Mexico.

Another routine duty was “country clearances,” i.e., approving project-related travel by personnel from US government agencies to countries in the Western Hemisphere. (Typically, there were several such requests per week. I simplified the procedure by asking the agencies to send their requests by e-mail instead of fax, and by giving the clearances by e-mail.) I also participated in a meeting with a team from the Office of the Inspector General, who were conducting a five-yearly review of the OES Bureau.

Large Millimeter Telescope (LMT)

The LMT is a joint project by the governments of Mexico and US, with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst representing the US. More than $ 110 Million has been spent already, but about $ 25 Million more is needed to complete the project, and $ 5 Million will be needed annually for operations. The basic agreement calls for nearly equal cost sharing by the two governments, and the University asked the State Department for help to get such funds. The Office of the Science Advisor to the Secretary of State set up a meeting with representatives from several agencies and the Office of the Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), where the University presented a detailed briefing. However, none of the agencies made any commitments to support the project. After the meeting, I followed up with the National Science Foundation and some other agencies, but they stated that the project was outside their scope. Our Ambassador to Mexico also asked the OSTP for help, but the problem was still unresolved when I left.

STA with Brazil

Two major projects, both relating to environmental issues, were being conducted in Brazil under this STA: one by NASA for remote observation of a region from satellites, and the other by the Smithsonian Institution (SI) for on-site observations and research. The Brazilians felt that since the STA was between governments, each party should be a government agency; however, the SI insisted that they were independently chartered by the Congress and were not part of any US government agency. This had become a politically sensitive issue in Brazil, and a high level Brazilian delegation came to a meeting arranged by the OES. The SI pointed out that they were conducting the research using their own funds, and did not wish to come under the authority of a government agency, because then in principle the agency could award the contract to any other entity. We also pointed out to the delegation that the STA was indeed between two governments, and this should satisfy their political agenda; they did not have to highlight the fact that work under an STA is often conducted by private research institutions, instead of exclusively by government agencies. The Brazilians appeared satisfied with the suggestion, and no further objection was received from them during my stay with the STC.

Potential Projects in Andean Countries

Director Dragnich asked me to assess the interest of US government agencies in potential joint projects with countries in the Andean Region, such as Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, Venezuela, and Colombia. I invited several agencies to a meeting chaired by Dr. Lutz, and representatives from seven agencies attended. We described the process of establishing joint projects, either under the umbrella of an STA, or as part of a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) between an agency and its foreign counterpart, and discussed the guidelines for legal, taxation, and intellectual property rights issues that must be included in the STA or MoA. Attendees from the Office of the US Trade Representative and some other agencies described their experiences of joint projects in those countries. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), US Geological Survey (USGS), and some other agencies expressed interest in initiating such projects, but no agency had proposed a specific new initiative by the time I left.

STA with Chile

We have an STA with Chile, which is due to expire in June 2005. Normally work on extending the STA should be initiated several months ahead of its expiry, and I contacted the Science Officer in our Embassy in Santiago, as well as the Desk Officer and other colleagues in the Bureau, to alert them about the approaching deadline. They found that no joint work was being conducted under the STA currently, and no agency had expressed an interest in undertaking new work there. Furthermore, the Chilean agencies involved in R&D were undergoing a comprehensive review of their roles, and it was not clear which projects will survive or will require US participation. Thus, it was decided to let the STA expire, and then extend it retroactively, if so desired. (I understand that negotiations are underway now to extend it.)

STA with Mexico

Director Dragnich asked me to explore the possibility of developing an STA with Mexico. I contacted several agencies and found that the US Geological Survey had a strong interest in conducting a joint project with the Mexican Institute of Geological and Mineral Research. They had drafted an MoA two years ago, but had put it on hold due to a pending reorganization at the Institute. In response to our enquiry, the USGS asked us for “Circular 175 Authorization,” which is a formal process authorizing an agency to conduct negotiations with their foreign counterparts. This requires the State Department to get a statement of no objection from several (in this case about 10) relevant agencies for such negotiations. I obtained all the necessary clearances, put together a package with guidelines about items to be included in the MoA, and prepared a letter to be signed by the Assistant Secretary heading the OES Bureau, giving Circular 175 Authority to USGS. My successor at STC, Ms Patricia Meeks, who joined the Office in early May, got the letter signed and sent it to the USGS, thus completing action on this issue. (She got it signed in record time, mostly because she is a quick study and understood the process after just a couple of short briefings from me, and partly because she was assigned on a part-time basis to the Office of the Deputy Assistant Secretary, which enabled her to cut through the usual red tape.

Acknowledgments and Concluding Remarks

I would like to thank George Dragnich and Jeffrey Lutz for allowing me to take several initiatives and for supporting my efforts. I am also grateful for helpful tips from several colleagues, especially from two permanent staff members (Robert Senseney and Blossom Perry) and two AAAS Fellows (Virginia Cox and Marsha Goldberg) for the Circular 175 Process. My predecessor, Mike Bradekamp, a Foreign Service Officer previously in charge of the Western Hemisphere portfolio in STC, was very helpful in going over the issues involved and explaining how to track the numerous documents archived in cabinets and in computer folders distributed over several locations.

My experience at OES/STC reinforced my view (based on prior assignment with EB/CIP) that the Fellows Program is very valuable for the State Department as well as for individual Fellows. Most Bureaus and Offices are short of staff, and the Fellows bring a lot of new energy and technical expertise to the task. At the same time, the Fellows get exposed to a large variety of issues, and this experience is unmatched by most other jobs. Opportunity for networking is another valuable asset for the Fellows, which is facilitated by frequent meetings arranged by Dr. George Atkinson, Science and Technology Advisor to the Secretary of State, and Andrew Reynolds, his Deputy. Especially helpful is their Secretary, Helen Kim, who cheerfully responds to requests from the whole class of Fellows.

In conclusion, I highly commend our Government Fellows Program, and hope that it can be expanded, so as to support a larger number of Fellows in more government agencies each year.
 

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers - United States of America