Date of Award

1981

Degree Type

Major Paper

Degree Name

Master of Arts in Marine Affairs

Abstract

The Science and Technology Policies Information Exchange System (SPINES) was developed by UNESCO during the last decade. Intended to be a global system, its basic value to marine policy planners lay in its potential to align ocean policy information in context with other science policies and to align the ocean policies of one nation with those of the rest of the world. SPINES progressed from a feasibility study, to a five-year pilot project, 1977-1982. Important investigations were made of science policy research in 19 countries and 4 continents. A unique thesaurus was published in 1976 collecting, for the first time, an interdisciplinary vocabulary for policy-making, management and development in science/technology. The pilot project established working prototypes of the operational system, scheduled for full implementation in the late 1980's. Though its potential as a source for vital marine policy information was good, several factors contributed to a lack of interest in SPINES on the part of ocean scientists.

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