Technological advances will bring fresh challenges for democratic countries and their leaders, Governor Thorold Masefield warned guests at the annual Speaker's Dinner on Saturday night.

The almost 200 people invited to House of Assembly Speaker Ernest DeCouto's fourth dinner were told by the former Cambridge University anthropology student that they would all have a role to play in creating the framework necessary to control these developments.

Mr. Masefield said he believed Bermuda's leaders in society's different disciplines of religion, politics, media and community had a record which proved they would be able to deal with the dilemmas these developments would bring.

He said he believed the record of Bermuda's leaders in dealing with challenges caused by society's developments had earned the Island and its people the epithet Team Bermuda.

Democracies faced the challenge of enabling cooperative effort and rewards while allowing individuals to pursue their originality, he explained.

This in itself created a fundamental dilemma and the mix of the two was difficult to achieve, he noted.

And technological developments, continued Mr. Masefield, would create more work for leaders endeavouring to create wealth and prosperity for all.

For instance, technology was coming together with biology, he noted, as recent successful experiments with genes and cloning showed.

A framework would have to be created by community leaders to control this development and ensure it was used for good.

He reassured his listeners that this was a trend which had followed technology's advancement through the years. With technology came the creation of institutions by leaders to control development and ensure it helped everyone, he pointed out.

The leadership in this framework would be tested as these leaders would have to prove to their fellow man that they could control the development to everyone's benefit, he continued.

Bermuda had dealt with these matters with wisdom and vigour in the past, said Mr. Masefield. Once a decision was made, people were determined to carry it forward, he noted.

Earlier Premier Pamela Gordon, in introducing Mr. Masefield to the podium, said she was dedicating herself to leading the Country forward and called upon those gathered to rededicate themselves to this task.

This was the role of leaders and it required sweat and sacrifice. A lot had been done since 1968, she added, but there was still a lot to do in improving the Country and building a better life for everybody.

GOVERNOR GOV