Globelics Conference

Series

Globelics Conference

Permanent Link

https://hdl.handle.net/1853/70890

Series Type

Event Series

Associated Organization(s)

Organizational Unit

School of Public Policy

Organizational Unit

Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts

Full item page

Publication Search Results

Now showing 1 - 10 of 10

Emerging Technologies and Inequalities: Beyond the Technological Transition

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-10-07) Cozzens, Susan E.

The innovation systems approach to societal development includes a critique of the common focus on high technologies in the development process. Even in affluent economies, directing resources exclusively to high technologies neglects the broader innovative processes undertaken by doing, using, and interacting. In developing economies, with fewer resources, too strong a focus on high technologies is unlikely to produce as much benefit as a more inclusive concept of innovation. Emerging technologies are defined as those that are new, science-based, and of potentially broad impact (Cozzens et al., forthcoming). They are a particular subset of high technologies, located at what some call the technological frontier. Affluent countries compete for leadership in emerging technologies like bio- and nano-technologies, and some less affluent countries have in the past found significant opportunities in the wide open spaces of the technology emergence process. This paper looks at five examples of emerging technologies from the viewpoint of several developing countries, with particular attention to their distributional consequences. None of the examples represents the kind of dramatic opportunities that get so much attention in the innovation studies literature – there are no Koreas, Taiwans, or Singapores here. Precisely because of this, these cases may be more representative of the dilemmas emerging technologies present for countries that are trying to achieve inclusive growth. The paper presents some of the results from a cross-national, cross-technology study of the distributional effects of emerging technologies. The five technologies studied were: genetically modified (GM) maize, mobile phones, open source software, plant tissue culture, and recombinant insulin. The eight countries included were: Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Germany, Jamaica, Malta, Mozambique, and the United States. Half are high-income and half are low or middle income countries. This paper focuses on the results of the study in the four low and middle income countries. Emerging technologies are a strategic research site for examining the interaction of inequalities between countries and inequalities within countries.2 Conceptually, we defined emerging technologies in this project as new and research-based, with potential broad impact. Operationally in the project, we have studied the actual distributional consequences of selected biotechnologies and information and communication technologies (ICTs). The research aims to 1. describe the dynamics that link emerging technologies to patterns of inequality; 2. identify the roles of public interventions in those dynamics; and 3. develop a framework that policy actors can use prospectively to analyze the distributional valence of a specific new technology in a particular national context. Our central research question is how policy interventions affect distributional outcomes for the same technology under different national conditions.
Who collaborates internationally in developing countries? The case of Colombia

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-10-07) Ordóñez-Matamoros, Gonzalo ; Cozzens, Susan E. ; García-Luque, Margarita

International research collaboration is a growing social phenomenon taking place at a particularly rapid pace in developing countries. Most of the literature on the topic claims that research collaboration is an important source of creativity, which in the right set of conditions may increase scientific productivity, research quality, innovative capacity, science and technology human capital, and help the consolidation of research agendas and the expansion of research areas. However, risks and costs associated with international collaboration are also found in the literature, including the privatization and capture of traditional ‘public’ knowledge, the ‘mercantilization’ of knowledge and human capital as resulting from public-private research partnerships, high opportunity costs, and crowding out effects. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to a better understanding of the determinants of international research collaboration in developing countries using Colombia as a case study. In fact, knowing the factors affecting the choice of collaborating internationally will help the design of policies aimed at creating local S&T capabilities through the encouragement of the internationalization of the local S&T community, or at reducing the negative effects derived from that process. The research tests the hypotheses formulated using logit models. It considers different types of collaborative activities and different types of partners while controlling for team characteristics, team leader characteristics, scientific field, characteristics of the home institution and team location. Econometric findings and policy implications are discussed.
Technology Diffusion Dynamics: The case of Chile’s Forestry Industry

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-10-07) Catalán, Pablo ; Cozzens, Susan E.

Based on Everett Rogers’ diffusion model, the article explores diffusion dynamics in Chile’s Forestry Industry. Technology adoption is defined as depending upon innovation attributes, collaboration, communication channels, research and development (R&D) capacity, and institutional environment. The attributes of innovation are in turn divided into five sub-factors: comparative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, and trialability. Our case study analysis is based on 21 interviews with various actors in the Chilean forestry industry and on secondary information sources. Our conclusion is that the attributes of innovation in terms of comparative advantage, observability, and compatibility are technology diffusion drivers, and that the industry needs higher collaboration, better R&D capacity, less bureaucracy, and a more flexible public funding system to achieve a better performance.
Distributive paths and channels of emerging technologies in developing countries: What can we learn from biotechnology and ICTs in Argentina and Costa Rica?

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2009-10-07) Bortagaray, Isabel ; Cozzens, Susan E.

This paper analyzes the paths of emerging technologies in developing countries, particularly considering its distributive dimension along the chain of functions, from knowledge production, to the technology’s production/provision, its incorporation into the productive system, and to its more generalized access and use. Two contrasting countries, Argentina and Costa Rica, set the context of study of these paths, the different conditions through which they make their way across sectors and actors, their functions and roles, and the type of distributive channels involved. The analysis of the distributive patterns of emerging technologies must include at least two intertwined levels: at the level of knowledge production, diffusion and access, and the second related to technology’s diffusion-commercialization, access and use. The twofold analysis involve a common emphasis on the identification and analysis of who produces/gets what, how and when, and on the channels of distribution that contribute (or not) to the breadth and depth of the technology. More in particularly, it considers those policies, organizations and/or institutions that substantially influence/shape the way in which the technology penetrates society. In some cases these have to do with establishing channels for bridging knowledge production and use, while in others their contribution is towards the expansion of technological access and appropriation. It also looks at the different roles of policies along each phase of the technology. This paper argues that at the level of knowledge production, public research organizations (national and/or international) are fundamental for catalyzing the expansion of the distributive path, in spite of differences and peculiarities of the technologies. Yet at the level of the distribution of the technology, this role is not always embraced by a specific actor or by policies, in which cases distributive paths are interrupted, and pockets of population remain outside from the technology’s path. It directly results from a large research project, RESULTAR2, oriented to study the distributive consequences of emerging technologies in five countries of the Americas (Argentina, Canada, Costa Rica, Jamaica and United States), and concentrated on two sets of emerging technologies: biotechnologies (GM, tissue culture, and recombinant insulin) and ICTs (Open source software and Mobile Phones). Moreover, RESULTAR attempts to: “(1) describe the dynamics that link emerging technologies to patterns of inequality; (2) identify the roles of public interventions in those dynamics; and (3) develop a framework that policy actors can use prospectively to analyze the distributional valence of a specific new technology in a particular national context.”3. This paper takes some distance from the focus on outcomes to concentrate on the paths of these technologies across the population, focusing on the mechanisms and channels through which they are accessed and utilized. In particular it draws on 40 indepth interviews conducted to a wide range of actors, including researchers, policymakers, technology users, NGOs, and productive actors related to the five technologies in the two countries.
The potential for biofuel production and use in Africa: an adaptive management approach

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Soumonni, Ogundiran ; Cozzens, Susan E.

Biofuels are projected to play an increasingly important role in the gamut of sustainable energy options for the future. As countries such as the U.S.(corn ethanol), Brazil (sugarcane ethanol), Indonesia (oil palm ethanol), South Africa (maize, sugarcane) and others adopt and expand their biomass ethanol programs, many important questions have arisen in the media and elsewhere questioning the viability of biofuels. These articles have suggested that studies which had shown that biofuels would play a dominant role as an energy resource were wrong or exaggerated (Walsh 2008; Grunwald 2008). A review of assessments of the potential of corn ethanol reported that a positive net energy gain between the nonrenewable energy used to provide ethanol and the resulting energy from the fuel was obtained when ethanol co-products and the most recent data were included (Farrell et al. 2006). Another study has demonstrated that the net effect of the production of food crop-based biofuels through the clearing of carbon-rich habitats such as rainforests and savannas is to release more carbon dioxide than the reductions obtained by using biofuels (Fargione et al. 2008). It has also been reported that the diversion of existing crops or croplands into biofuels creates an increase in food prices, which further results in an accelerated rate of clearing forests and grasslands (Searchinger et al. 2008). Nevertheless, all three studies propose that cellulosic ethanol or bio-fuels derived from degraded crop land and waste biomass have the potential to reduce competition with food crops, minimize the destruction of habitats and reverse carbon debts that result from land clearing (Fargione et al. 2008; Farrell et al. 2006; Searchinger et al. 2008). Africa currently has a relatively low level of biofuel development and investment with the exception of a few countries such as South Africa (Dynes 2008). This situation presents a need for more information and research required to address policy options, land requirements, standards and investment opportunities on the continent (Arungu-Olende 2007). Many countries such as Ethiopia, Malawi, Nigeria and Uganda already produce sugarcane for sugar as well as some cash crops like oil palm which can be used as biofuels. However, their development as energy crops is constrained by the environmental problems and food production issues that take precedence as highlighted previously. Indeed, a preliminary content analysis (done by our group) of the newspaper coverage of biofuels around the world from May 2007 to May 2008 revealed that the majority of news articles from Africa displayed a greater emphasis on the food crisis than on the emerging potential for biofuels development. The objective of this paper is to analyze the currently dominant biofuels strategies and apply the principal elements of the concept of adaptive management to the selection, production and use of biomass ethanol in African countries. Given the difficulty of predicting the precise nature of the benefits and consequences of biomass ethanol to sustainable development, the adaptive management approach is pertinent as it emphasizes both substantive and procedural rationality. Substantive rationality is very specific, puts policy options on the table and tries to identify the quantifiable costs and benefits of the policy approach. Procedural rationality is the outcome of appropriate deliberation which does not yield a single decision point but guarantees that the policy decisions are made iteratively and that they are reversible (O'Neill, Holland, and Light 2008). It assists in the mitigation of unforeseen consequences that may disproportionately affect certain societal groups, particularly if they are not part of the decision making process. One implicit assumption that comes up in the discussion of biofuels is that all the stakeholders are primarily preoccupied by the energy crunch or by climate change. Some stakeholders are motivated by the economic profits from a new investment, others by jobs, others by environmental activism and a myriad other priorities, interests, preoccupations or lack thereof. In attempting to resolve the energy crisis sustainably, it is important to address such a system holistically, as a complex interaction of all the parts as opposed to adopting a reductive position such as linking the problem directly with the economy or with a purely ideological orientation. Furthermore, one individual or group‘s wellbeing in one way may ultimately be counterproductive for the whole system, thus reducing the range of options for future generations. As will be shown subsequently, these are all factors that must be taken into consideration in designing a biomass ethanol program.
The distributional consequences of mobile phones in Jamaica

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Thakur, Dhanaraj ; Cozzens, Susan E.

The paper seeks to understand the nature of distributional consequences associated with mobile phones in Jamaica. By distributional consequences we are referring to the changes in the distribution of key aspects of social and personal development. Mobile phones are a pervasive technology in almost all societies. They are even more important in societies such as Jamaica which have had traditionally low levels of fixed-line telephone penetration. While the potential benefits from such a communication technology are enormous, from a policy level, it is also important to understand how these benefits (and costs) are absorbed by different groups in society given a particular set of national conditions. To understand this dynamic, we first explain the framework and methodology which we will use in this paper. Next, we look at national socio-economic conditions of Jamaica. This is followed by an examination of the development and diffusion of mobile phones in Jamaica and the current industry environment. We then review the various public interventions in the sector including major telecommunications policies. Finally we analyze the various distributional consequences of mobile phones based on the national conditions, industry structure and public interventions that have been outlined.
Global systems of innovation: Water supply and sanitation

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Cozzens, Susan E. ; Catalán, Pablo

Innovation is a process of problem solving. In its broadest sense, innovation means doing things in new ways. When conditions change and routines no longer work, humans experiment and learn. In a narrower sense, innovation means developing new ideas into new products or processes. Whether the process happens in the public domain or in the market, the sign of successful innovation is something new being used widely to solve a problem. Many problems that face humanity today take on global dimensions, and their solutions are likely to involve cooperation as well as competition across national boundaries. Global climate change is the clearest example: human activity has set changes into motion that affect people in various parts of the world in ways that they did not choose but have to work together to address. Disease is another example, in which growing networks of transportation are spreading pathogens faster and wider than ever. No one country can protect its health without joint information gathering and international public health efforts. To address global challenges, humanity needs to be able to solve problems at global scale. In our research, we aim to deepen understanding of one form of global problem-solving, namely, global systems of innovation. A global system of innovation (GSI) is a learning space (Arocena and Sutz 2000) in which a multi-level network of diverse actors interacts to address a world-level challenge, accumulating knowledge across national borders and developing, testing, and adopting new approaches. This paper helps to develop the GSI concept using information on responses to global challenges in the household water supply and sanitation sector (WSS). In this research, we use a broad concept of innovation that encompasses both new technologies and new approaches, such as community-demand driven systems and privatization. The paper reports preliminary observations based on interviews with nearly 100 people who work in organizations in the sector, at global, national, and local levels, including intensive interviews in Costa Rica, Mozambique, and South Africa. In addition, we have analyzed the published literature in this area and consulted an extensive set of documentary sources. The first section of the paper introduces the concept of a global system of innovation. The second section describes how preliminary data from the WSS sector match or modify the GSI concept. The final section raises further research questions and points to possible policy implications.
The interactions between emerging technologies and institutional environments in developing countries: The case of GM maize in Argentina

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Bortagaray, Isabel ; Cozzens, Susan E.

This work is aimed at advancing the understanding of the interactions and dynamics between emerging technologies, and the institutional environments in national settings. Interactions and coevolution of technologies and institutions are fundamental drivers of social change (Nelson 1994a), and this is particularly the triggering question for this analysis. How and up to what extent have the institutional environments co-evolved with the emergence of agricultural genetic engineering within specific national settings? What types of interacting paths have they shaped, what actors have been involved and in what roles, and what have been the outcomes of these processes in terms of production, utilization, appropriation and commercialization of the technology? Furthermore it aims at tracing and tracking back and forth the connections and disconnections between institutional and technological change, and ultimately identifying and analyzing the outcomes of these processes and the role of policy in terms of who gets what, when and how3. These interactions are analyzed in the context of agricultural genetic engineering in the second country with GM planted area, with a tradition of crises and where policy environments “functionality and responsiveness are often at odds with innovation and change, and policy anticipation might be weak. This paper reviews this relationship in the context of an emerging technology such as agricultural GE in Argentina. At the institutional end, it traces the “critical junctures” as indicators of institutional innovation, and feedback effects, as indicators of their reproduction (Thelen 2003). The focus on the institutional environment refers to policy objectives, policy instruments and agendas, the timing of the interventions, and the regulatory framework. At the technological end, it traces the specific context of introduction of the technology, its production and utilization, the related set of capabilities developed, and the actors involved. The links and gaps between these two are analyzed, connecting the dots, tracing the trajectories and signaling the missing links, problems and bottlenecks over time. At the broader level, this analysis intends to contribute with the discussion on the systemic character of innovations, focusing on the interaction mechanisms between technologies and institutions and a more precise understanding of the structure of these interactions, and the causal mechanisms supporting differential patterns of change. This study fundamentally draws on work conducted in the context of the RESULTAR4 research project, on the distributional consequences of emerging technologies. In depth interviews were conducted in Argentina in November 2007, and were complemented with government reports, bills and regulatory documents, and academic articles, among others.
Is there a trade off between innovation and inequality in developing countries?

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2008-09) Cozzens, Susan E. ; Kaplan, Dave ; Sampath, Padmashree Gehl ; Altenburg, Tilman ; Sutz, Judith ; Lorentzen, Jo
Distributional Assessment of Emerging Technologies: A framework for analysis

(Georgia Institute of Technology, 2006-10) Cozzens, Susan E. ; Gatchair, Sonia ; Harari, Elena ; Thakur, Dhanaraj