Director's Welcome

When I arrived in Macao in the summer of 2010, I was almost immediately taken with the sprit and ambience of this small but vital resort community at the mouth of the China’s Pearl River. Its flavor is unique in Asia: decidedly Chinese, but profoundly influenced by centuries of European settlement, and colored in by a wealth of glamorous new development. It is a truly cosmopolitan place, and one  whose economic clout is out of all proportion to its size.

 

This unique combination makes Macao a fitting locale for UNU-IIST, an institute with a broad, embracing international view and a mission far more ambitious than its modest resources might suggest.
 

The United Nations University International Institute for Software Technology (UNU-IIST) is one of the sixteen Research and Training Centers of the United Nations University. As a citizen of United Nations and a computer scientist, I have long admired the principles of United Nations University and its achievements since its founding in 1973. The University is neither large nor rich, but, like UNU-IIST in Macao, it boasts a vision and mission far bigger than itself.

 

As an institute within United Nations University, UNU-IIST is committed to both higher education and the ideals and aims of the UN Charter. Since 1992, it has been dedicated  to providing vital research on critical software systems while mentoring exceptional academics from around the developing world.

 

In 2010, recognizing that the world of information and communication technology had changed immensely over the decades, we created a new mission and laid out a four-year strategic plan. The plan calls for UNU-IIST to embark on a more dramatic and focused response to the new computing environment and its potential to serve the cause of sustainable development. Meanwhile, our connection to United Nations, Macao and the surrounding countries and regions remains just as strong as it was at the time of inception. The Institute will now build on this invaluable heritage for the complex challenges ahead.

 

As the director, I am determined to keep the Institute on course with its new vision and mission. We are computer scientists, and we will work in highly interdisciplinary teams on research responding to the pressing social and policy issues.

 

I hope you will find this website a useful source of information about UNU-IIST and our work and activities.