Promotion of Technological Innovation Through Research in Developing Countries Paper Example

Problem Statement

The study proposes to explore a conceptual framework for addressing the promotion of technological innovation through research in developing countries. In the developing countries, innovation climates are inherently problematic, typified by poor governance and business conditions, mediocre infrastructures and low educational levels. Such conditions raise specific challenges for the advancement of innovation. Provision of a critical package of support, financial, technical, legal and commercial, with autonomous, flexible agencies adapting their operations and support to the relevant enterprises is the key to addressing the problem. The study explores ways of promoting innovation through research.

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Purpose Statement

The study attempt to demonstrate that there are no fixed solutions for the numerous problems experienced in the developing world, and hence the need to address them independently. It is important that focus is directed toward specific countries, not only with respect to size, developmental level, and specialization but also with regards to cultural and administrative traditions. Globally, primary concerns similarly need to be taken into account and addressed through appropriate regulations and incentives. The proposed study will be exploratory in nature and founded on a critical realist approach. It will be designed to address the challenge of promoting innovation through research in the developing world. Logistic regression will be employed to determine the important variables for addressing obstacles to promoting innovation in the developing countries through research. A survey will be designed to collect data and responses from the participants for analysis. Thematic, theoretical approach to analysis will be deployed. The variable items will be subject to a factor analysis using the principal component approach to establish clear ways of promoting innovation through research in the developing world.

Nature of Study

The proposed study will exploratory in nature and founded on a critical realist approach. It is the most appropriate approach to address the research topic and provide deeper insights about the challenge of promoting innovation through research in the developing world. Surveys have been used widely in social research and have a wide acceptance. Computation of reliability and validity measures will guarantee that only intended data is gathered. Logistic regression will be employed to determine the important variables for addressing obstacles to promoting innovation in the developing countries through research (Konte, 2012). A survey will be designed to collect data and responses from the participants for analysis. Thematic, theoretical approach to analysis will be deployed based on SPSS. The variable items will be subject to a factor analysis using the principal component approach to establish clear ways of promoting innovation through research in the developing world.

Research Method

The proposed study will be quantitative in nature and its underlying objective is to develop a framework to comprehending ways of fostering innovation in the developing world through research (Chaminade, 2008). The study will render insights on the underlying reasons, obstacles, incentives, and opinions to aid the development of hypotheses and concerns for subsequent research. Individual interviews of semi-structured design will be used in gathering responses from the sampled population. Regression of the data will be done to establish the relationship between variables.

Qualitative Research Question

In the presence of limited budgets and acute social problems, why should developing countries promote innovation through research? The objective of the question is to guide the review of the literature on the rationales for promoting innovation through research, with a focus on the particular context of the developing world. Research is considered as the primary route to innovation, comprising creative work implemented systematically to grow stock of knowledge and the application of such knowledge to address existing problems.

Hypotheses

Null Hypothesis (H0): There is a significant relationship between the level of attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and the existing body of research among developing countries.

Alternative Hypothesis (H1): There is not a significant relationship between the level of attainment of the Millennium Development Goals and the existing body of research among developing countries.

Theoretical Framework

For effectiveness, Humphrey and Schmitz (2002) believe that public programs need to invest in research, and innovation should be founded on a clear discourse underlining the exact systematic, public value and market failures. The nature of investment should be attuned to the technological capabilities and the degree of economic development of the respective countries. The study seeks to offer the rationales for the promotion of research and investment in innovative projects with a particular focus on the developing world contexts. It is postulated that more research is necessary to better comprehend the various bottlenecks and obstacles, which hamper innovation in the stated context, and the policy alternatives to overcoming them. Similarly, in building a sustained budget and political commitment to innovation policy, promotional strategies to innovation need to be accompanied by appropriate mechanisms for evaluation and monitoring results. Lack of explicit evidence on the short-term, medium and long-term returns of public innovation policies, it becomes extremely difficult to mobilize and sustain broad-based support. The concern is with the measurement of results of innovation and research investments. Apart from direct returns, there are also indirect effects and most of them are intangible. Some are measurable in the short-term but some are only visible in the long-term. Additional complexity is attributable to the changes in the innovative performance of a country to government policies because there are numerous other factors that can impact on the outcomes. a particular challenge for the developing world is the fact that a critical mass is critical prior to the capability for countries to generate significant scientific output and producing economic returns (Kaplinski, 2011). The conditions make it difficult for policymakers within the developing worlds to promote the expansion and continued investment in research and innovation. Therefore, it is paramount that a clear argument and new measures are developed to better capture and understand the intermediate returns and the absorptive capacity building process. The role assumed by foreign direct investment in the technological development, conditions of licensing and patenting of technologies, brain drain needs, and the North-South research symmetry in developing countries are the primary concerns that needs to be addressed.

The advancement of research in developing countries is gradually turning into an important research area. The increasing interest in the research area emanates from the acknowledgment that it is critical to revert to basics after confronting the limits of conventional economic policies captured within the 'Washington Consensus' approach (Bozeman, 2011). The set of liberalization, privatization, and deregulation policies have revealed their limits in the advancement of sustainable growth in developing countries. At the same time, policies focused on modernization, in the context infrastructural and institutional development under the intervention of the government, are yet to yield expected fruits (Juma & Yee-Cheong, 2005). Despite the practice of governments to foster innovation through a number of approaches, explicit creation of innovation policies only began a few decades ago. Such policies have been improved and expanded, whereas analytical concepts have been elaborated. There is the need to clarify that the concept of innovation encapsulates not only technological innovation but also non-technological types of innovation, including organizational innovations (Chaminade, Lundvall, Vang & Joseph 2010). Although the proposed study argues for the embedment of technological advancement within the wider actions aimed at improving industries, regions and enterprises, the focus will be on technological innovation (Eyring, Johnson & Nair, 2011).

The context to which promotion of innovation in developing countries occur is dominated by two key drivers. The intensification of the process of globalization is the first driver. Spurred through the revolution of telecommunications, globalization is manifested by the importance of commerce in the global economy (Kaplinski, 2011). Additionally, it has reduced the distance and time across the world by connecting the most vibrant and remote areas. Another driver is the intensive continuous technological change spurred by the significant scientific advances in energy, time matter and foundation of life (Jensen, Johnson, Lorenz & Lundvall, 2007). As a result, of these change, a novel development era is gradually taking shape to replace the industrial era. These concerns reinforced by the reality that the development process calls for more entrepreneurial spirit and knowledge to operate in a globally intensified competition. These opportunities emanate from the possibilities for enhancement of traditional practices presented by new technologies through research.

The Significance of the Study

The study will contribute toward the following:

• The study will foster the development of a viable conceptual framework to guide the promotion of innovation through research
• The study is a scholarly contribution to the R&D domain with respect to capacity building
• The study leads to a better understanding of the role of research in promoting successful innovation and addressing social problems.

References

Bozeman B, Sarewitz D (2011). Public value mapping and science policy evaluation, Minerva 49(1):1-23.

Chaminade C, Edquist C (2008). Rationales for public policy intervention in the innovation process: systems of innovation approach, In: Smits R, Kulhman S, Shapira P (Eds.), The theory and practice of innovation policy, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham.

Chaminade C, Lundvall BA, Vang J, Joseph KJ (2010). Designing innovation policies for development: towards a systemic experimentation based approach, In: Lundvall BA,

Joseph KJ, Chaminade C, Vang J (Eds.), Handbook of Innovation Systems and Developing Countries, Edward Elgar, Cheltenham pp.360-379.

Eyring M, Johnson MW, Nair H (2011). New business models in emerging markets, Harvard Business Review, 2011, pp.1-21.

Humphrey J, Schmitz H (2002). How does insertion in global value chains affect upgrading in industrial clusters? Regional Studies 36(9):1017-1027.

Jensen MB, Johnson B, Lorenz E, Lundvall BA (2007). Forms of knowledge and modes of innovation, Research Policy 36:680-693.

Juma C, Yee-Cheong L (2005). Innovation: applying knowledge in development, United Nations Millennium Project, Task Force on Science, Technology and Innovation.

Kaplinski R (2011). Bottom of the pyramid innovation and pro-poor growth, Background paper for the World Bank.

Konte A, Ndong M (2012). The informal ICT sector and innovation processes in Senegal, UNU- MERIT Working Papers No. 2012-009