Another proposal that has considerable potential to expand ITT to poor countries is to
negotiate a WTO Agreement on Access to Basic Science and Technology (ABST)
(Barton and Maskus 2004). This would place into the public domain the results of
publicly funded research. The idea is to preserve and enhance the global commons in
science and technology without unduly restricting private rights in commercial
technologies. The agreement could cover either input liberalization—under which
researchers from other countries could participate in, or compete with, local research
teams for grants and subsidies, possibly combined with increased opportunities for
temporary migration of scientific personnel and additional student visas; output
liberalization—under which researchers in other countries would have access to
nationally generated science and data, including scientific databases, thus ensuring that
IPRs not limit access to basic scientific knowledge; or, full liberalization. The latter
would combine the first two, both expanding international flows of research contracts and
personnel and increasing global access to outcomes. In practice, it may be necessary to
adopt something like a GATS approach to the ABST, permitting governments to reserve
sensitive areas of technology and to designate different levels of commitment to open
access. Safeguards for security-related regulation would be required as well.