Background Paper for the Workshop on Science, Technology, and Innovation in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria
In the last five decades, there has been a rapid growth in the effort to coordinate scientific research. Improvements and advances in science and technology are now considered a major force in accelerating growth and improving living standards. Tho...
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| Language: | English en_US |
| Published: |
Washington, DC
2014
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/2009/06/16397060/background-paper-workshop-science-technology-innovation-jordan-lebanon-syria http://hdl.handle.net/10986/19331 |
| Summary: | In the last five decades, there has been
a rapid growth in the effort to coordinate scientific
research. Improvements and advances in science and
technology are now considered a major force in accelerating
growth and improving living standards. Though technological
progress can arise from accidental discoveries, it is
crucially dependent on intentional investments of resources
(be they human/intellectual or financial) by governments,
profit-seeking firms and individuals as well as various
institutions (academic, research and so on). Research and
technological advances can be driven by various motives
(from military purposes to the pursue of fame), but the
catalytic role of commercial returns and economic incentives
to industrial innovation cannot be overrated. Approximately
80 per cent of all R&D is conducted in developed
economies. In turn, some of the knowledge of these countries
flows into and creates the stimulus for new ideas in less
developed and less R&D intensive economies through
technology transfers. The degree of R&D intensity in an
economy is determined by a number of factors that range from
macroeconomic stability and sound public policies, to the
development of human capital and an openness to ideas. In a
constantly changing international environment, countries
need to find their own ways to innovative in order to remain
competitive. Even resource abundant economies are now
seeking to diversify economic resources, and an important
aspect of this drive is building the capacity to tap into a
continuously growing stock of global knowledge and, in doing
do, tailoring it to meet local needs. |
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