|
INTECH Innovation
project
generates spin-offs worldwide
A new training
programme developed by researchers at UNU Institute for New Technologies
is helping national policy-makers to evaluate the effectiveness of
national innovation policies thus strengthening National Systems of
Innovation.
 |
|
Sunil Mani |
The eight-day
programme is aimed at middle-level officials working in ministries of
science and technology and those employed in organisations that support
technical changes in developing countries.
The capacity
building programme is just one of the spin-offs of a recently completed
INTECH project, Market friendly innovation policies in developing countries,
coordinated by Dr. Sunil Mani, which demonstrates
the benefits of research that responds to real needs in developing
countries. The programme is creating
interest in many regions of the world:
-
South Africa's National
Research Foundation of the Republic of South Africa commissioned INTECH to
carry out two projects to evaluate the effectiveness of one of the
country’s main research
grants, the Technology and Human Resources for Industry Programme (THRIP).
-
Iran's
Ministry of Industry and Mines has asked INTECH to carry out a research
study aimed at producing policy recommendations for strengthening Iran’s
innovation system.
-
INTECH
has been working with India's Department of Science and Technology to
improve the country's Research and Development Statistics.
Other
recent spin-offs from the INTECH innovation policy project include:
 |
Enhanced collaboration with UN agencies:
In collaboration with the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, Montreal, the project has developed innovation indicators for eight
developing countries from disparate published sources. The indicators will
contribute to the evaluation of the effectiveness of innovation policies
and will be completed by the end of November. |
|
Contribution to informed debate in developing
countries:
National dissemination workshops of
the research findings in Brazil, India, the Philippines and South
Africa generated strong media interest. The Philippines study has been accepted by the Department of Science and
Technology (DOST) and formed the basis for a national conference organised
by the Advanced Science and Technology Institute (ASTI) earlier this year.
The study attracted considerable interest from key government, industry
and academic actors in the country's
innovation system and was published as a lead article in a special issue of The Philippine Journal of ICT and Microelectronics.
|
The
findings of the INTECH project have been published in the book
Government,
Innovation and Technology Policy: An International Comparative Analysis.
MORE
INFORMATION
HOME
|
