The New World Science and Engineering Commission

The Commission’s current executive director and senior research lead, Paul Silvine, is among the New World’s power brokers.

Health Sciences and health Care are regulated independently by the cities, although most major city-states try to adhere to the standards laid out by the New World Science and Engineering Commission (3.8.1).

In 2136, numerous corporate and academic leaders came together for a conference in the Lavana Trade and Education Commune, which would later become Lavana Free City, to discuss the prospects of forming a global body to regulate and enforce intellectual property rights and standardisation. The discussions were unsuccessful; a consensus could not be reached. However, several of the conference’s participants recognised the need to re-establish global standards for science and engineering, even if they were only to ensure compatibility and consistency of seemingly mundane things like measurement standards. Numerous corporations, eager to improve their image as cooperative forward-thinkers, offered support. Several universities follow suit, and in 2137, numerous corporations and universities returned to Lavana and founded the New World Science and Engineering Commission (NWSEC). Their first order of business: to publish a standardised system of measurements for use in science and engineering. Very shortly thereafter, the Commission offered its resources to revive the old Request for Comments system of research and innovation, providing an open forum for the discussion of ideas. Given the protective nature of most corporate researchers, use of the forum was light initially, but momentum built and the New World Science and Engineering Commission quickly began arranging and hosting an annual symposium on science and engineering, attracting many of the world’s brightest minds. It quickly became a bi-annual event, which led to a flurry of publications in support of common standards and research principles. The Commission was gaining clout and buy-in, and was becoming a friendly face in corporate circles and in the media.

The last five years have seen the NWSEC become a media mainstay and hub for the meeting of great thinkers. The NWSEC has also won over the confidence of consumers as a respectful, honest, and objective body of experts. An endorsement from the NWSEC can make or break a product or a professional’s career and almost every major corporation and institute of higher learning has membership and voting rights on the Commission (3.8.2).