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UNU Update | |
The newsletter of United Nations
University and its network of research and training centres and programmes |
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Issue 28: November-December 2003 |
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INTECH investigating
Research and capacity building in science and technology play an important role in North-South development cooperation. Now UNU Institute for New Technologies (UNU-INTECH) has begun investigating North-South partnerships in agricultural biotechnology. The study is an effort to understand the scope and limitations of these partnership and to find out how they strengthen local innovation capacities and contribute to sustainable development. "This requires a comprehensive understanding of the actors involved, of their motivations and roles as well as the different contextual and institutional conditions affecting the establishment and outcomes of such partnerships," said project director Dr. Lea Vehlo. "The innovative contribution of this project is that it analyses North-South partnerships in research and technological development (RTD) in an 'innovation systems' (IS) context, an approach that places both collaboration and policy institutions at the centre of the analysis. The application of the IS framework in the analysis of partnerships requires the mapping and evaluation of the channels for knowledge flows, identifying bottlenecks and suggesting appropriate remedial action." Two pilot case studies, one in bioprospecting in Costa Rica and the other in agricultural biotechnology in Kenya, have been carried out to refine the methodology for application of the system of innovation framework in the analysis of North-South partnerships. The in-depth case studies address the following issues:
While no firm conclusions have been drawn at this stage, many examples have been found that point to the crucial role that North-South partnerships play in providing the infrastructure for building biotechnology innovation systems. Most local researchers obtained their training – both locally and abroad – through such programmes and substantial financial resources have been invested by donors to upgrade laboratories and to fund research programmes.
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