光明網訊工程技術的進步對經濟社會發展起著不可或缺的作用。如今，一系列新的全球挑戰已然出現，必須通過教育、研究和工程解決方案來應對這些挑戰。

為應對挑戰，中國、英國和美國的國家工程院自2013年以來聯合舉辦了四次全球重大挑戰論壇。舉辦論壇的目的是為了促進全球共同應對重大工程挑戰（促進人類發展的14個目標），并鼓勵國際合作以實現這些目標。

秉承全球重大挑戰論壇的精神，中國工程院、英國皇家工程院和美國工程院在此共同承諾，將努力促進通過工程方法應對全球新冠肺炎疫情的國際行動。

在14項全球重大工程挑戰中，以下3項挑戰與通過工程方法應對疫情密切相關。

?發展衛生信息學

隨著計算機在人類活動各個領域的普及，當今的共識是，衛生信息學的系統方法（衛生信息的獲取、管理和使用）可以極大地提升醫療的質量、效率以及對突發公共衛生事件的響應速度。衛生和生物醫學信息學涵蓋了從個人到全球的不同層面的問題，從個體患者的醫療記錄到各國政府和國際衛生組織之間有關疾病流行的數據共享。

強健的衛生信息學系統使衛生專業人員能夠檢測、跟蹤和減緩公共衛生突發事件。本次疫情突出表明，開發和實施此類系統以及公開分享其數據的重要性。

中、英、美三國工程院認為，開展公共衛生信息共享方面的國際合作，對應對疫情非常重要。

?開發更好的藥物，以及

?開發科學發現的工具

在開發新系統和技術來利用遺傳信息、感知人體的微小變化、評估新藥以及制造和提供疫苗上，工程師始終處于最前沿。面對全球疫情，這些工作都十分重要。科學家和臨床醫生需要依賴工程師為他們提供執行尖端任務所需的儀器以及分析和定量方法。

體現這種重要依賴性的最新案例，是科學家和工程師之間攜手合作，快速確定新冠病毒（SARS-CoV-2）的全基因組序列并使其可在2020年初免費在線獲取。這需要大量的工程投入與協調工作：生物工程師設計了用于表征病毒的生化測序步驟，機械工程師開發了流體系統以使材料在儀器間精確地移動，光學和電氣工程師提供了檢測測序反應所需的傳感器，材料工程師創建了在液體環境中工作的電路，以及計算機工程師開發了從所產生的萬億字節數據中提取必要信息所需的硬件和軟件。

為戰勝本次疫情并預防未來的疫情，需要讓診斷、疫苗開發和生產、設備研發以及數據分析取得進一步發展。三國工程院聯合倡議，國際合作，而非競爭，應成為上述領域取得進展的驅動力。

著眼未來

世界正在面臨著新冠肺炎疫情的挑戰，這進一步驗證了中、英、美三國工程院繼續合作應對全球重大挑戰的必要性。應對疫情的國際合作是我們共同努力應對重大挑戰的一個典型案例。中、英、美三國工程院時刻準備與全球工程、科學和技術界一道，加強創新合作，促進更加開放、包容、互惠共享的國際交流，為推動全球經濟復蘇和建設更加強健的公共衛生體系做出貢獻。

值此艱難時刻，只要全球工程科技界同舟共濟，守望相助，就一定能夠戰勝疫情，迎來人類發展更加美好的共同未來。為此，中國工程院、英國皇家工程院和美國工程院將在2021年組織三期線上系列研討會（由每個工程院分別組織一期），討論各國在疫情方面的工程技術進步，以及開發、生產和推廣工程技術應對疫情措施的最佳實踐。

這一在線活動將提供一個全球論壇，著重展示開展聯合行動的機會，并將為2022年在中國舉行的全球重大挑戰論壇的進一步行動奠定基礎。

Joint Statement on COVID-19

Xiaohong Li, Jim McDonald, John L. Anderson

Advances in engineering and technology have played an indispensable role in shaping social and economic development. A host of new global challenges have appeared, though, that must be addressed through engineering education, research, and solutions.

To address such challenges, the national academies of engineering of China, the United Kingdom, and the United States have jointly sponsored four Global Grand Challenges Summits (GGCS) since 2013. The GGCS were launched to accelerate global engagement on the Grand Challenges for Engineering—14 goals for improving life on the planet—and encourage international collaborations to achieve them.

Coming together in the spirit of the Grand Challenges initiative, the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng), and US National Academy of Engineering (NAE) jointly affirm our commitment to foster and facilitate international action to respond to the global COVID-19 pandemic through engineering approaches.

Three Grand Challenges are specifically relevant to the engineering response to the pandemic.

· Advance Health Informatics

As computers have become available for all aspects of human endeavors, there is now a consensus that a systematic approach to health informatics—the acquisition, management, and use of information in health—can greatly enhance the quality and efficiency of medical care and the response to widespread public health emergencies. Health and biomedical informatics encompass issues from the personal to global, ranging from thorough medical records for individual patients to the sharing of data about disease outbreaks among governments and international health organizations.

Robust health informatics systems enable health professionals to detect, track, and mitigate public health emergencies. Recent events underline the importance of developing and implementing such systems and of openly disseminating their data.

The three academies affirm the importance of international cooperation in sharing public health information in response to the pandemic.

· Engineer Better Medicines and

· Engineer the Tools of Scientific Discovery

Engineers are at the forefront of developing new systems and technologies to use genetic information, sense small changes in the body, assess new drugs, and manufacture and deliver vaccines. All of these are important in the face of a global pandemic. Scientists and clinicians depend on engineers to provide them with the instruments and analytical and quantitative methods they need to perform cutting-edge work.

One recent example of this vital dependence was the collaboration between research scientists and engineers to quickly determine the viral sequence of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and make it freely available online in early 2020. This required a very broad array of engineering input and coordination: Bioengineers designed the biochemical sequencing steps used to characterize the virus, mechanical engineers developed the fluidic system to move material accurately through instrumentation, optical and electrical engineers provided the sensors needed to detect the sequencing reactions, material engineers created circuitry that worked in aqueous environments, and computer engineers developed the hardware and software needed to extract necessary information from the resulting terabytes of data.

Conquering the pandemic—and preventing future ones—will require advances in devices, diagnostics, vaccine development and production, and data analytics. The three academies jointly recommend that international collaboration, rather than competition, be a driving force in developing them.

Committing to the Future

The fact that the world is facing the challenge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) further validates the need for the three academies’ continued collaboration to address global grand challenges. International cooperation in response to the pandemic is one of the obvious examples of our efforts to address the Grand Challenges for Engineering. The three academies stand ready to work with the global engineering, science, and technology communities to strengthen innovation and cooperation, promote more open, inclusive, and mutually beneficial international exchanges, and contribute to global economic recovery and a more robust public health system.

As long as the global engineering community stands together and helps each other in this difficult time, we will be able to overcome the pandemic and usher in a better shared future. To that end, the CAE, RAEng, and NAE will organize and webcast a three-seminar series in 2021—one organized by each academy—on the pandemic-related engineering advances each country has achieved and on best practices for the development, production, and dissemination of interventions.

This online effort will provide a global forum highlighting opportunities for joint initiatives and will lay the groundwork for further action at the 2022 Global Grand Challenges Summit in China.

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關于14項全球重大工程技術挑戰項目

2008年2月16日，美國國家工程院宣布了14項21世紀的全球重大工程技術挑戰項目。

14項全球重大工程技術挑戰項目是由來自世界各地專家組成的一個多學科委員會，經數次召開會議討論后提出的。這一委員會指出，并沒有試圖涵蓋每一個重大挑戰，也不為克服所選擇挑戰的特殊方法背書。沒把目標重點放在預測或是小機械裝置上，而是盡力找出有益于人類與地球興旺繁榮所需要完成的事項，這些技術挑戰中任何一項的成功都將大幅改善每個人的生活。

14項全球重大挑戰項目包括：

生產可負擔得起的太陽能

以核聚變提供能源、開發碳隔離技術

管理氮循環、全球都可用到潔凈水

恢復和改善城市基礎設施

發展衛生信息學

研制更好的藥物

人腦逆向工程

防止核恐怖行動

確保網絡空間安全

增強虛擬現實

推進個性化學習

發展科學發現工具