Science, Technology and Innovation: Capacity Building for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction.

Abstract

The World Bank convened a Global Forum on STI Capacity Building for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction. The book, Science, Technology and Innovation: Capacity Building for Sustainable Growth and Poverty Reduction, constitutes the Proceedings of that Global Forum.

The principal theme of the Global Forum was that in today’s increasingly competitive global economy, science, technology, and innovation capacity building can no longer be seen as a luxury, suitable primarily for wealthier, more economically dynamic countries. Rather, if developing countries hope to prosper in the global economy, and if world leaders expect globalization to foster sustainable development and sustainable poverty reduction, STI capacity building is an absolute necessity. In today’s rapidly changing global economy, the critical economic development issue is no longer whether countries should build STI capacity but what type of capacity to build and how to build it, given each country’s economic constraints and starting point.

The Forum was organized around case studies of specific STI capacity building initiatives in developing countries. The main sessions were entitled: Building local capacity for developing and diffusing appropriate technologies; The Gender Dimension of STI Capacity Building; Building STI Capacity to add value to natural resource sectors; The private sector view on STI needs in natural resource sectors; Leveraging FDI for technological learning and supplier development; Building public private partnership institutions for technological catch-up; Supporting entrepreneurship and enterprise innovation; Building R&D capacity in developing countries; and Harnessing R&D capacity from OECD countries.

Individual presentations are available in video and powerpoint formats at the Forum website, linked to above.

Citation

The International Bank for Reconstruction and Development/The World Bank, Washington, USA. ISBN: 978-0-8213-7380-4, eISBN: 978-0-8213-7381-1, DOI: 10.1596/978-0-8213-7380-4. 236 pp.

Published 1 January 2008