The Role of the Technical Expert

Abstract

Insofar as we can realistically speak of an ex pert's "role" it is shaped by four principal elements, only one of which can be relied upon to approximate constancy. These elements are the technical co-operation agency, the expert himself, the requirements of the task to be fulfilled, and the host government. Each of these elements is subject to varia tions and contradictions that make it improbable that a gen erally satisfactory definition of the expert's role will be discovered accidentally. The great variety of technical co operation tasks and the individual differences among experts make generalizations concerning the role of experts of question able validity. Insofar as clarity of purpose regarding objec tives is shared by the technical co-operation agency, its expert, and the host government, clarification of the expert's role becomes more nearly possible. Responsibility for the clarifi cation necessarily rests primarily with the co-operation agency. It is in the planning of the project and in the selection and briefing of the expert that the shared objectives of the project are brought to focus on the particular task to which the expert is assigned and hence on the role which he is to play.