Technology trends in selected areas

Besides the issues of international consequences of science and technology developments (including information technology, biotechnology, materials technology, nuclear technology, space technology) the following topics were touched only briefly: energy and uses of nuclear power, environmental issues, and matters such as the comprehensive test-ban treaty and the way ahead -more perhaps a phased approach than a single step. The limited time available did not allow considering the role of the United Nations and any other institutional forms in these matters. There is conviction that there was enough historical evidence to suggest that there will be a need for a plurality of institutions, with different geographical, and maybe even political, imperatives. In summary, a conference such as this one at Sendai can offer the United Nations advice on the dynamics of change in sectors of science and technology, of the impact of such changes on matters related to international security - military, economic and the environment. There is belief in the maximum diffusion of science and technology with the minimum discrimination but at the same time dissemination consistent with international security. The value of co-operative efforts in research and development, in the removal of asymmetries in the international system. The removal of such asymmetries would constitute a significant step on the way ahead, to a more just and lasting equilibrium between States