On the link between STI

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On the link between STI Development What
matters for African nations?

• EGBETOKUN, Abiodun A.
• SIYANBOLA, Willie O.
• National Centre for Technology Management
  (NACETEM)
• Federal Ministry of Science and Technology,
  Nigeria
• www.nacetem.org

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CONTENTS

• Introduction
• STI Development the Link
• Making STI more development relevant
• Directions for Action
• Conclusion

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INTRODUCTION

• Transition into modern economies will involve
  considerable investment and use of new knowledge
  prosecuted mainly through science, technology and
  innovation (STI).
• Most problems in the developing world do not
  require esoteric advances in knowledge but the
  effective assimilation, adaptation, use and
  improvement of existing knowledge
• It is the synergy of Science, Technology and
  Innovation (STI) that leads to economic progress

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STI AND DEVELOPMENT THE LINK (1)

• The key cause of the competitive gap between
  nations and organisations today is knowledge
  nations can no longer compete based purely on
  natural resource and locational advantages.
• The economic progress recorded in the 50 leading
  ST countries is much higher than in the rest of
  the world.
• While the average wealth per capita in these 50
  countries grew by 1.1 between 1986 and 1994, the
  per capita income of the other 130 countries of
  the world fell by 1.5 over the same period

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STI AND DEVELOPMENT THE LINK (2)

• Most of the developing economies in Asia, Africa,
  and Latin America have failed to make the needed
  investments
• The measures of national social well-being are
  generally low for Africa despite the abundant
  human and natural resources that the continent is
  endowed with

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GDI HDI FOR SELECTED REGIONS (UNDP, 2005)
Not too far for us to go!
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STI 2 DEV WHICH WAY FOR AFRICA? (1)

• OLD PARADIGM
• As a result of the forward backward linkage,
  Science and Technology (ST) is now a hybrid
  concept.
• Innovation is left out

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STI 2 DEV WHICH WAY FOR AFRICA? (2)

• NEW PARADIGM
• a Science and Technology
• b Technology and Innovation
• c Science and Innovation
• d Science, Technology and Innovation,
• e the National Innovation System (NIS), the
  domain in which all activities take place

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STI 2 DEV THE NEW PARADIGM EXPLAINED (1)

• Domain a typically results in the generation of
  new/improved/cutting-edge knowledge methods
  without regard to economic benefits.
• This has the potential to bestow leadership upon
  any nation but it will not, by any means,
  translate automatically into observable economic
  benefits.

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STI 2 DEV THE NEW PARADIGM EXPLAINED (2)

• In domain b, the kind of activities that would
  typically take place would relate to the
  acquisition of embodied technology and an
  aggressive pursuit of foreign direct investment
  (FDI) as a way to drive growth.
• The advantages in this domain for African
  countries are limited by two main factors
• Speed
• Institutional deficiencies

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STI 2 DEV THE NEW PARADIGM EXPLAINED (3)

• The Science-Innovation link of domain c suggests
  the creation of new economically useful knowledge
  in a country.
• With the absence of technology, it becomes a
  particularly difficult and nearly impracticable
  link, for science will seldom yield any economic
  benefits in the absence of technology, whether
  near or remote.

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STI 2 DEV THE NEW PARADIGM EXPLAINED (4)

• In d, the triad of science, technology and
  innovation co-exist.
• Every African nation SHOULD aim at this domain
• The joining together of science (increasing what
  we know), technology (applying what we know) and
  innovation (turning our applied knowledge into
  economic benefits and promoting the acquisition
  of new knowledge through learning-by-doing) is
  more useful than the singular contributions of
  any of science or technology.

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STI 2 DEV THE NEW PARADIGM EXPLAINED (4_1)

• For a nation to withstand competition in this era
  of globalisation there is need for such to
  identify its niche areas and build on it by the
  application of scientific methods.
• New technologies and industries may then be built
  around these areas of core competences.
• BRAZIL Sugar-cane
• MALAYSIA Oil Palm
• CHILE Salmon Fishery etc

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CREATE A STRONG REACTOR THE NIS

• The NIS is the domain within which all STI
  activities take place.
• It is the network of institutions/actors that
  interact to bring about changes
• Its strength and tightness determines success
• All stakeholders must be active and connected
• Education Research
• Funding
• Production/Private Sector
• Policy Environment

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STI 2 DEV WHAT SHOULD WE DO?
ST in areas of local needs
INNOVATION
MONEY
MONEY
IDEAS
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MAKING STI MORE DEV RELEVANT

• Improved Funding INCREASE AND ENLARGE
• A new approach to University-Industry Linkage
  Network partnerships ACADEMIA INDUSTRY GOVT
  
• Promotion of Interdisciplinary Research CREATE
  ICoEs
• Understanding the link between Science, Politics
  and Policy

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DIRECTIONS FOR IMMEDIATE ACTION

• Assess the environment within which African
  researchers work (organisational climate, work
  load, experience attitude towards research) and
  how this affects their productivity
• Development of STI indicators for the continent
  is long overdue.
• An assessment of innovation capability in
  industry would be very useful.

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CONCLUSION

• For Africa to effectively position herself in
  domain d of the model proposed herein, careful
  attention must be paid to all of these issues.
• In all of these areas, the National Centre for
  Technology Management (NACETEM), Nigerias major
  STI policy research agency is well-posited to
  lead action and to collaborate.
• We train, we research, we collaborate

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THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION

• CONTACT
• EGBETOKUN, Abiodun A
• abiodun.egbetokun_at_nacetem.org
• aaegbetokun_at_gmail.com
• SIYANBOLA, Willie O.
• dg.ceo_at_nacetem.org
• wsybola_at_yahoo.com
• WEBSITE www.nacetem.org