September Research Highlights

INTECH Study adopted for NEPAD-led Innovation Surveys in Africa

The New Partnership for Africa 's Development (NEPAD) has completed work on a conceptual framework and guidelines for developing indicators of science, technology and innovation activities in African countries. At its second meeting held on 18-19 August 2005 in South Africa, NEPAD's Expert Working Group on African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators elaborated the steps needed to develop an “African Innovation Outlook” (AIO). The outcome of the meeting will be presented to the NEPAD Ministerial Conference in Senegal this September.

The conceptual framework, and a companion document that addresses the technical and institutional arrangements needed to undertake the surveys, drew on a background methodological study, Designing a Policy-Relevant Innovation Survey for NEPAD, carried out by a UNU-INTECH research team in 2004. [Read more on the research project; Download full INTECH report (PDF 1.3 MB)].

This process was kickstarted by the NEPAD Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology in November 2003, which urged African countries to develop comprehensive national science, technology and innovation policies as a matter of priority. They endorsed the development of the AIO as a tool for reporting on the status of national science, technology and innovation systems in Africa. The AIO process will also help policymakers to discuss how they can advance their position collaboratively.

MERIT/UNU-INTECH PhD Programme - Class of 2005 arrives in Maastricht

After a tour of the city, it's time for lunch and a chat with director Luc Soete.

The new students (above picture, from left) are: Alexis Habiyaremwe, Donatus Kosi Ayitei, Asel Doranova, Zakaria Babutsidze, Radhika Bhuyan (partly hidden behind tour guide), Anni Tuppura, Ezequiel Tacsir, Lina Sonne, Tina Saebi, Sergey Filippov, and Philipp Schmidt. At the far right is Semih Akcomak, from the 2003 group.

New research projects

Micro-based Evidence Research on Innovation in Developing Countries (Coordinated by Dr. Micheline Goedhuys)

Host Governments and Multinational Corporations: Coordinating Innovation Policy and Strategy on Foreign Direct Investment Promotion in Advanced Developing Countries (Coordinated by Dr. Ionara Costa)

Comparative Study of Biotechnology Systems of Innovation in Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Malaysia and Vietnam (Coordinated by Professor Banji Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Dr. Padmashree Gehl Sampath).

Recent Publications

Rasiah, R. and Geoffrey Gachino. 2005. "Are Foreign Firms More Productive and Export and Technology Intensive than Local Firms in Kenyan Manufacturing? Oxford Development Studies 33:2, pp. 211-228.

Lal, Kaushalesh. 2005. "Determinants of the Adoption of E-business Technologies," Telematics and Informatics, 22:3, pp.181-199.

UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper 2005-4. Firms' Creative Capabilities, the Supporting Innovation System and Globalization in Southern Latin America: A Bleak Technological Outlook or a Myopic Standpoint? Evidence from a Developing Region in Brazil (PDF 312 Kb) by Paulo N. Figueiredo and Conceição Vedovello.

UNU-INTECH Discussion Paper 2005-3 Science and Technology Development Indicators in the Arab Region: A Comparative Study of Gulf and Mediterranean Arab Countries (PDF 256 Kb) by Samia Satti O. M. Nour.

Participation in Academic Meetings and Networking

9-11 June, Barcelona, Spain. “R&D and Innovation in the Development Process” meeting, in Barcelona, Spain ( Luc Soete)

16-17 June, Sevilla, Spain. International Conference on “IST at the Service of a Changing Europe by 2020: Learning from World Views,” (Luc Soete, Keynote speaker)

20-21 June, Geneva, Switzerland. UNCTAD ad hoc expert meeting on “Mobilizing and Developing Productive Capacity for Poverty Reduction in the Least Developed Countries” ( Banji Oyeyinka and Luc Soete)

27 June – 1 July, Beijing, China. Fifteenth International Input-Output Conference ( Ngoc Pham Quang and Pierre Mohnen )

5 July, Lodz, Poland. 8 th International Conference on Technology Policy and Innovation “Value added partnering in a changing World,” (Luc Soete, Keynote speaker)

18-19 August, Cape Town, South Africa. 2 nd meeting of the ASTII Expert Group, Cape Town , South Africa ( Banji Oyeyinka)

4 – 6 August, Singapore. Singapore Economic Review Conference ( Ngoc Pham Quang )

Last Month's Highlights