KNOWLEDGE, INNOVATION AND INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION: The Sisyphus Challenge Association of Universit

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KNOWLEDGE, INNOVATION AND INTERNATIONAL
COOPERATIONThe Sisyphus Challenge Association
of Universities and Colleges of Canada Ottawa,
May 22, 2003

• Francisco Sagasti

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Structure of presentation

• The Sisyphus challenge
• Knowledege, technology and production a
  conceptual framework a brief historical
  perspective
• The knowledge explosion and its manifestations
• The knowledge divide and disparities in
  developing country capacities
• Strategies and policies for building an
  endogenous science and technology base
• The special role of international cooperation
  (and of Canada)
• Concluding remarks

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The Sisyphus Challenge

• Uphill task of creating, consolidating and
  maintaining science and technology capabilities
  in developing countries
• Long-term nature of ST capacity building vs.
  short-term destruction process it takes 15
  years to build a world-class research
  institution, but just two years to destroy it
  (Jorge Sábato)
• Multiple hills to conquer never-ending quest to
  keep up with advances in science and technology

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The Sisyphus Challenge
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The Sisyphus Challenge

• Unending nature of Sisyphus task
• If it were possible to keep the rock on top of
  the hill, other hills would appear before
  Sisyphus and he would have to begin anew, again
  and again

• There is no rest in the Sisyphean task of
  building knowledge and innovation capabilities

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Knowledge, technology and production a
conceptual framework

• The diffusion of Western science
• Basallas model (incipient, colonial and
  autonomous science in non-Western regions)
• Need to take into account more than the diffusion
  of science (incorporate technology, production,
  expansion of capitalism)
• Importance of considering reactions to Western
  science (absorption, juxtaposition,
  reinterpretation)

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Knowledge, technology and production a
conceptual framework

• Elements of an integrative conceptual framework
• Evolution of speculative thought
• Transformations of the technological base
• Modification of productive and service activities
• Social, cultural an political context
  institutional arrangements
• Interactions between these elements
• Direction for the evolution of human activities

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Knowledge, technology and production a
conceptual framework

• Critical role of endogenous science and
  technology base
• Minimum level of domestic scientific research and
  technology development capacities, and of modern
  productive and service activities
• Importance of linkages with external sources of
  knowledge and technology
• Progressive and selective establishment of
  endogenous science and technology capabilities

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Conceptual model Relations between science,
technology and production
Countries with an endogenous scientific and
technological base
Countries with an exogenous scientific and
technological base
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A brief historical perspective

• The challenge of the West
• From relative independence to interdependence
  after the 16th century
• The evolution of speculative thought
• From magic, to religion and to science
• Changes in the technological base
• From techniques to technologies
• Changes in productive and service activities
• Expansion, diversification, nature of accumulation

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A brief historical perspective

• Interactions among the currents the triple
  crisis at the beginning of the 21st century
• Time frames for transformation of speculative
  thought, technological base, production
  activities
• Simultaneous changes in the three currents at the
  beginning of the 21st century
• Situation not seen for several hundred years
• Turmoil, uncertainty and anxiety in transition to
  new (and yet unknown) situation

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The knowledge explosion and its manifestations

• The emergence of the knowledge society
• Critical changes in second half of 20th century
  (post World War II)
• Growing role of knowledge in all spheres of human
  activities
• Dematerialization of production and services
• Changes in the relative importance of primary,
  secondary and tertiary economic activities
• Awareness and acceptance of variety of types of
  knowledge

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The knowledge explosion and its manifestations

• The knowledge society and the triple crisis
• The twilight of Bacons program and the
  transformation of scientific research
• Elements of Bacons program (mode of knowledge
  generation, purpose of knowledge, institutional
  arrangements, idea of progress, centrality of
  humanity)
• Success, challenges and twilight of Bacons
  program
• Transformation of research (applications,
  settings, cost, implications for developing
  countries)

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The knowledge explosion and its manifestations

• The systemic nature of technological change
• Convergence of technologies
• More actors involved
• Greater complexity and management challenges
• Emergence of national innovation systems

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A speculative technology road map for the next
two decades
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The knowledge explosion and its manifestations

• The restructuring of the world productive system
  and transition in techno-economic paradigm
• Changes in the structure of world production
  (geographical setting, content of productive
  activities)
• Transition of techno-economic paradigm (from oil
  to the microchip as key factor double window of
  opportunity)

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Phases of the dominant techno-economic paradigm
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The knowledge explosion and its manifestations

• Traditional knowledge, techniques and production
• Awareness of importance of traditional knowledge,
  technology and production (2 billion people
  without access to electricity)
• Selective recovering and upgrading of traditional
  techniques (technology blending)
• Indigenous systems of innovation (self-regulating
  markets play limited role)

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The knowledge divide and disparities in
developing country capacities

• The magnitude of the knowledge divide
• Differences in capacity to generate and utilize
  knowledge between rich and poor countries
• Relation to endogenous science and technology
  capabilities
• Disparities between developing countries a
  Science and Technology (ST) Capacity Index
• Different developing country situations (three
  categories)

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Economic disparities and the knowledge divide
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The Science and Technology Capacity Index
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Typology of countries according to the value of
the indicators comprising the ST Capacity Index
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Science and Technology Capacity Index averages
for each category of countries
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The Human Development Index and the Science and
Technology Capacity Index
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Strategies and policies for building endogenous
ST capacities

• An approach to strategy design
• The return of strategy in development thinking
  and practice
• Balanced perspective on roles of the State, the
  private sector and civil society
• Principles for strategy design (relate to
  comprehensive development strategy sustain
  efforts over long time selectivity because of
  resource scarcity integration of science,
  technology and production consider international
  dimension learning approach)

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Strategies and policies for building endogenous
ST capacities

• The repertoire of policies and policy instruments
• Multiplicity of policy instruments
• Three main categories (building science,
  technology and innovation capacities creating
  linkages between domestic science, technology and
  production and their external counterparts
  establishing a favorable environment)
• Differentiation according to types of developing
  countries

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Interventions to establish an endogenous science
and technology base
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Interventions to establish an endogenous science
and technology base (example)
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Strategies and policies for building endogenous
ST capacities

• A role for international cooperation
• Early recognition of importance of cooperation
• Inefectiveness of past and existing mechanisms to
  help building endogenous science and technology
  capabilities in developing countries (with some
  notable exceptions)
• Essential to revitalize international ST
  cooperation (awareness campaigns, coordination
  and harmonization, significant expansion of
  resources and of initiatives)
• Need for research networks for mutual benefit
  North and South academics can and should work
  together

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A role for international cooperation

• Joint effort to rethink what is development and
  how to bring it about
• Epoch change Twilight of Baconian program
  exploration of new options without Western bias
• Globalization puts all of us in contact with each
  other common problems (environment, security,
  health, trade, finance) need to improve
  understanding through knowledge generation and
  dissemination
• Key role for the academic community, especially
  in a country like Canada

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Concluding remarks

• Back to Sisyphus how to keep the rock on top of
  the hill ? and then push it up other hills!!
• Redefining development for the 21st century
  critical role of capacity to generate and utilize
  knowledge and of building an endogenous science
  and technology base
• Special role of international community research
  networks, strategic technology alliances joint
  ventures
• Special position of Canadian academic community
  roles of AUCC and of IDRC