Enhancing Science Technology and Innovation for Development Opportunities in South Eastern Europe Sara E. Farley Science and Technology Strategist World Bank Ljubljana, Slovenia September 28-29, 2006
Dec 29, 2015
Enhancing Science Technology and Innovation for Development
Opportunities in South Eastern EuropeSara E. FarleyScience and Technology StrategistWorld Bank
Ljubljana, SloveniaSeptember 28-29, 2006
To be Discussed…
1. A framework for support to Science, Technology, & Innovation (STI) for development
2. Directions for support to STI in South Eastern Europe (SEE)
3. Challenges and next steps
Creating a Strategic Vision
Four policy pillars essential for NIS strengthening: Human resources development Stimulation of demand for
knowledge in the private sector Public support for STI-led growth Strengthening of ICT and
infrastructure
Policy Work: Knowledge for Development (K4D) Initiatives
The web-based tool provides an assessment of a country’s knowledge economy:
Uses a set of 80 structural and qualitative variables to benchmark an economy’s knowledge performance
Includes 128 countries (90 developing economies)
Used to conduct analytic work and policy dialogue (e.g. China, Vietnam, Korea, Russia, Mexico, India, etc.)
Knowledge Assessment Methodologies for ECA
Knowledge Assessment Methodologies in ECA Cont’d
Key STI Challenges Facing SEE Countries
Little private sector participation in innovation (competing on natural resources and low wages)
Weak innovation/technology absorption in firms
Low political priority to STI, limited funding Neglect of STI systems and extensive brain
drain Marginal position of the region vis-à-vis EU
Lessons Learned from Donor Support to STI
Difficulties due to prevailing structure and incentives
Most donors have no single home for STI, rather many actors working across networks and regions with very little coordination
Segmentation and duplication of efforts Previous lack of holistic framework for STI
capacity building (i.e., NIS framework) Complexity of administration and knowledge
bottlenecks
Directions for Support to STI in South Eastern
Europe
Modes of STI Support to SEE
1. Support for research infrastructure2. Capacity building for FP participation 3. STI policy articulation and priority setting4. Establishing quality indicators and
benchmarking STI capacity 5. Improving quality and relevance of tertiary
education (UG and research degrees)6. Fostering good governance and institution
building in STI 7. Partnering with regional networks
More Avenues for Support…
8. Scoping exercises to determine availability and improve likelihood of eliciting donor support for STI
9. Restructuring universities to meet Bologna requirements and improve S&T education
10. Fostering academia-industry linkages
World Bank S&T Lending Between 1980 and 2004, $8.6 billion to S&T
activities; $343 million average annual lending for S&T
9% of projects over the past 25 years provided some support for S&T Annual average = 26 S&T projects:
5 major, 21 minor The Agriculture-Rural Development Sector
provided more support for S&T than all other sectors combined
42 of 75 major non-agr S&T loans went to only 7 countries (Korea, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Chile, Mexico)
World Bank STI Support: Case Study Brazil MSI and PADCT
The Brazil PADCT (Plano de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) Projects, 1985-2005
Background: 1982: Low level of foreign reserves Exporting raw materials and importing
manufactured products made from those materials at substantial value added
Brazilian Ministry of Planning wanted program to increase value added of mineral and biomass resources
Brazil’s MSI and Lessons Learned
MSI => PADCT III in 2001 Shared aims: both PADCT and MSI concentrated
resources on country’s best researchers 17 MSI Institutes established in research areas
relevant to social and economic development Extensive involvement of S&T community in
MSI/PADCT planning and implementation = broad acceptance and trust in fairness of resource allocation for research
Successful institutionalization of peer review process with effective mechanisms for avoidance of conflicts of interest
STI Capacity Building: Turkey Technology Development Project
Challenges: low industrial quality, highly labor-intensive products, limited growth, low competitiveness
US$ 155 million, 1999-2004 TDP Objectives:
Improve Turkish technology infrastructure and services (e.g., MSTQ, IPR harmonization)
Restructure public R&D Institutions (Marmara) Stimulation of private sector participation in research Formation of venture capital and technology parks
(Technology Development Foundation of Turkey)
Focus on Quality and Linkages: Croatia S&T Project
Challenges: Weak linkages between research and industry and between Croatian scientists abroad and at home; Unfulfilled ambitions of competitive NIS
US$ 40 million, 2006-2010 Project Objectives:
Strengthen and restructure R&D institutions (more applied research at Brodarski Institute and others)
Increase firms’ ability to use, adapt, and commercialize technology
Joint projects with Croatians abroad (Unity Through Knowledge Fund)
Advantages of a Regional Approach in SEE
“Cohesion” as an EU imperative Shared history and history of Yugoslav-EC
cooperation Limitations due to small size of countries’
innovation systems International nature of increasing proportion of
scientific and research endeavors Access to expertise, funding, institutions abroad
=> science beyond the nation-state 1 + 1 = 3
Challenges and Opportunities for the
Bank and its Partners
To the Future: Working Better, Working Together
The World Bank and its partners must respond to three STI challenges: Working cross-sectorally to build
synergies Working at the regional level Leveraging our global partnershipx
for enhanced provision of global public goods
Getting Started on Reform and Engaging with Donors
Engaging the business community, to understand the demand for innovation and sources of your country’s competitiveness
Putting STI into IPA and Development Strategy, and Poverty Reduction Strategy documents
Fostering national and regional STI champions Increasing multi-sectoral STI interventions in
health, agriculture, education, environment, etc. Utilizing “knowledge diffusion agents” in national
level projects Generating “STI for economic change and
competitiveness” analyses for Ministries of Finance and Economy
“The emergence of global science changes the scale, scope and processes of the governance of science.”
“We need a new framework for the governance of 21st century science. The new approach uncouples science from national prestige and ties it more firmly to collaboration, merit and openness. It scales research to the needs of science rather than the interests of the funder.”Caroline Wagner, “Science Policy Beyond the Nation State, Nations, Knowledge and Networks in the 21st Century.” Forthcoming . Brookings. 2007.