ACS, SCI To Address Global Issues

Global Innovation Imperatives' Water (Gii—Water), a cooperative international program that aims to address, through chemistry, the world's water concerns, made its public debut at the recent ACS national meeting in New Orleans with a well-attended town hall-style meeting. ACS, through its Committee on Corporation Associates (CCA), and the London-based Society of Chemical Industry (SCI) are the founders of the program, which had its genesis in conversations between ACS Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer Madeleine Jacobs and her SCI counterpart, Andrew Ladds.

The Gii mission is to create community and knowledge transfer to stimulate global scientific innovation that meets global needs. In particular, both organizations are interested in collaborating in areas where they can stimulate industrial innovation to tackle societal imperatives.

“In discussions with SCI, we agreed that although there are numerous global challenges that we in the chemistry enterprise can address, one of the most pressing issues facing humanity is the global water issue,” said CCA Chair Roslyn L. White. “Our aim is to develop communities to transfer knowledge around the issues surrounding the global water crisis.”

Over the coming months, partners expect to develop activities to support the program, including conferences, Web-based communities, action-oriented meetings, and awards programs on a global scale. "We are very excited about the prospect of creating opportunities to make a real difference. We hope you will want to contribute to these challenges by bringing your expertise and influence," White told town hall attendees. The session was recorded and video will soon be available on the program's website, www.thegii.org. At the site, visitors can sign up for alerts and take part in the dialogue.

The town hall session was followed by technical programming on water sponsored by the ACS Division of Environmental Chemistry. For more information on those symposia, visit the division's website at www.envirofacs.org.