The InterAcademy Council (IAC), an Amsterdam-based organisation created by the world's national science academies to provide expert knowledge and advice to international bodies, has issued its first report: Inventing a Better Future: A Strategy for Building Worldwide Capacities in Science and Technology. Jacob Palis, chairperson of the ICTP Scientific Council and co-chair of the report's study panel, presented the report's findings to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan at UN headquarters in New York City. At the ceremony, Palis spoke about ICTP's and the Third World Academy of Sciences' (TWAS) long-standing contributions to the advancement of science in the South and urged others to draw on the work of these two Trieste-based institutions in future efforts to promote science in the developing world. The full text of the report can be found at www.interacademycouncil.net.