Calestous Juma

Global governance of technology: meeting the needs of developing countries

In 2000, world leaders adopted the United Nations Millennium Declaration in which they pledged to halve, by 2015, the proportion of the worlds people earning less than a dollar a day, suffering from hunger and unable to obtain safe drinking water. This paper argues that meeting these targets will entail concerted efforts to raise economic productivity in the developing world and to redirect research and development (RD emerging trends in innovation systems; incentive measures for technological innovation; and how to make technology work for developing countries. The paper examines two categories of measures needed to promote the application of science and technology to development. The first includes measures adopted by developing countries themselves to promote scientific research and technological innovation as a key element in economic development policy. The second includes measures that can be adopted in the industrialised countries to contribute to solving problems in developing countries.

Infrastructure, innovation and development

The absence of adequate infrastructure services is one of the main problems that hinder efforts to develop Africa. Technology and innovation are the engines of economic growth. With the globalisation of trade and investment, technological capabilities are a source of competitive advantage. While infrastructure development and technological development are two of the most important areas of development policy, practitioners and academics alike tend to consider them as separate issues. The focus of infrastructure development in recent years has shifted from merely construction of physical facilities to appropriate provision of services. Environmental and social factors have become part of infrastructure development and planning. Yet most infrastructure projects are not explicitly linked to technological development efforts.

Reinventing global health : the role of science, technology, and innovation

1105 The Millennium Development Goals have become an international standard against which to assess trends in development and human well being. Their adoption in 2000 coincided with two important factors: the growing recognition of the role of science and technology in solving human problems, and the emergence of new infectious diseases. These developments have helped to define biomedical research as one of the most critical public policy issues facing the global community. The state of human health in much of the developing world continues to decline at a time when the world’s fund of biomedical knowledge continues to expand. This challenge offers new opportunities for promoting international cooperation in biomedical research of relevance to developing countries as outlined in the report of the Millennium Project Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation. 1 Addressing health challenges of the developing world will require new forms of international partnerships that take into account emerging opportunities in the globalisation of scientific knowledge.

Higher education in economic transformation

Africas educational policies over the last two decades have stressed the role of primary education in social development. This paper argues that there is a need to balance this bias with new policies and practices that support the evolution of universities that contribute directly to community development. The paper uses examples from Costa Rica, Ghana, Zambia and South Korea to illustrate possible roles that universities can play in Africas economic development. It outlines specific policy measures needed to strengthen the role of higher education in development in general and in community improvement in particular. It particularly identifies measures related to curriculum reform, changes in pedagogy and management of universities as key areas requiring policy attention.

Biotechnology in a Globalizing World: The Coevolution of Technology and Social Institutions

Major debates about the safety of biotechnology for human health, the environment, and socioeconomic systems have marked the introduction of genetically modified foods into the global economy. Since their advent in the early 1970s, techniques for gene splicing and recombination have provided the basis for biotechnology’s revolutionary promise to transform economic systems in unprecedented ways. The fact that this transformation is done by modifying living organisms has inspired awe as well as fear. Biotechnology is closely linked with globalization, and advances have influenced its diffusion and the corresponding social responses in mobility (of people, goods, and ideas), connectivity (through communications technologies), and economic interdependence (through global value chains and trading networks) (Narula 2003). Much of the material on this debate has appeared mostly in the popular literature available on the Internet. The picture that emerges from a review of recent books on the subject is one of complex interactions between technological innovation and institutional change, interactions that defy deterministic interpretations. Advances in biotechnology continuously lead to adjustments in social institutions (defined here as the perceptions, practices, and rules that govern the relations and interactions between individuals and groups). In turn, social institutions influence the pace and direction of technological innovation. This article explores these interactions in fields such as environmental and safety regulation, ethics, socioeconomic considerations, intellectual property rights, international trade, and agriculture in developing countries.

Science meets farming in Africa.

The role of science, technology, and engineering in solving Africas most challenging economic problems—from telecommunications to agriculture to infectious diseases—is no longer in question. However, some leading international organizations undermine the role of innovation in development. The time has come for the scientific community to advance a new generation of international organizations that expressly promote scientific cooperation—agencies that can help foster technological cooperation for Africas economic transformation.

Reinventing growth: science, technology and innovation in Africa

The report of the Commission for Africa chaired by Prime Minister Tony Blair, Our Common Interest, has helped to redirect international attention to how it addresses Africas economic challenges. One of the most important outcomes of the report is the growing focus on the need for Africa and its development partners to make the transition from short-term relief activities to long-term growth-oriented strategies. This transition involves charting a new path for development cooperation that stresses the importance of technological and institutional innovation. Correspondingly, development cooperation strategies will need to be aligned with this emerging vision.

Africa in the Global Knowledge Economy: Strategic Options

The future of Africa now depends largely on the nature and outlook of its economic vision and the realignment of national institutions to reflect major trends in global and regional economic affairs. Ongoing political reforms in Africa have coincided with the growing realisation that economic growth is mainly a result of the transformation of knowledge (expressed in the form of education, science and technology and the associated institutions) into goods and services. This paper provides elements of a strategic policy outlook for Africa’s economic renewal and growth, emphasising the role of science, technology and innovation.

The global sustainability challenge: from agreement to action

The United Nations General Assembly will hold the World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD) in Johannesburg in 2002. The aim of the summit is to review progress in the implementation of sustainable development goals adopted in 1992 at the historic United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in Rio de Janeiro and map out a strategy for renewed commitment to sustainable development. While there is general agreement that progress towards sustainability has been slow, there is no agreement on why so little has been achieved. The most common explanation is that the political will needed to translate the commitments into action has been lacking. Developing countries, on the other hand, assert that their ability to implement the goals of sustainability has been hampered by the low level of international assistance in general and by the failure of the industrialised countries to honour their promises at the UNCED. This argues that the sustainability transition is a knowledge-intensive process involving considerable investment in science and technology. In addition, it entails significant adjustments in global, regional and national institutions to reflect the imperatives of sustainability. The paper outlines the kinds of institutional adjustments that are needed to promote the transition towards sustainability.

Biotechnology in the global economy

Agricultural biotechnology is the subject of extensive public debates in many countries. This article summarises the results of the International Conference on Biotechnology in the Global Economy held in September 1999 at Harvard University. The article shows that many of the debates are a result of a governance challenge involving the need to bring social institutions in line with advances in biotechnology. It proposes a set of measures for doing so. These include promoting consultative processes; undertaking scientific and technical assessments; conducting research and training; reforming national and regional policies and institutions; harmonising standards and sharing experiences; and facilitating technological cooperation with developing countries.