Enhancing Science Technology and Innovation for Development

Opportunities in South Eastern EuropeSara E. FarleyScience and Technology StrategistWorld Bank

Ljubljana, SloveniaSeptember 28-29, 2006

To be Discussed…

1. A framework for support to Science, Technology, & Innovation (STI) for development

2. Directions for support to STI in South Eastern Europe (SEE)

3. Challenges and next steps

Creating a Strategic Vision

Four policy pillars essential for NIS strengthening: Human resources development Stimulation of demand for

knowledge in the private sector Public support for STI-led growth Strengthening of ICT and

infrastructure

Policy Work: Knowledge for Development (K4D) Initiatives

The web-based tool provides an assessment of a country’s knowledge economy:

Uses a set of 80 structural and qualitative variables to benchmark an economy’s knowledge performance

Includes 128 countries (90 developing economies)

Used to conduct analytic work and policy dialogue (e.g. China, Vietnam, Korea, Russia, Mexico, India, etc.)

Knowledge Assessment Methodologies for ECA

Knowledge Assessment Methodologies in ECA Cont’d

Key STI Challenges Facing SEE Countries

Little private sector participation in innovation (competing on natural resources and low wages)

Weak innovation/technology absorption in firms

Low political priority to STI, limited funding Neglect of STI systems and extensive brain

drain Marginal position of the region vis-à-vis EU

Lessons Learned from Donor Support to STI

Difficulties due to prevailing structure and incentives

Most donors have no single home for STI, rather many actors working across networks and regions with very little coordination

Segmentation and duplication of efforts Previous lack of holistic framework for STI

capacity building (i.e., NIS framework) Complexity of administration and knowledge

bottlenecks

Directions for Support to STI in South Eastern

Europe

Modes of STI Support to SEE

1. Support for research infrastructure2. Capacity building for FP participation 3. STI policy articulation and priority setting4. Establishing quality indicators and

benchmarking STI capacity 5. Improving quality and relevance of tertiary

education (UG and research degrees)6. Fostering good governance and institution

building in STI 7. Partnering with regional networks

More Avenues for Support…

8. Scoping exercises to determine availability and improve likelihood of eliciting donor support for STI

9. Restructuring universities to meet Bologna requirements and improve S&T education

10. Fostering academia-industry linkages

World Bank S&T Lending Between 1980 and 2004, $8.6 billion to S&T

activities; $343 million average annual lending for S&T

9% of projects over the past 25 years provided some support for S&T Annual average = 26 S&T projects:

5 major, 21 minor The Agriculture-Rural Development Sector

provided more support for S&T than all other sectors combined

42 of 75 major non-agr S&T loans went to only 7 countries (Korea, China, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Chile, Mexico)

World Bank STI Support: Case Study Brazil MSI and PADCT

The Brazil PADCT (Plano de Apoio ao Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico) Projects, 1985-2005

Background: 1982: Low level of foreign reserves Exporting raw materials and importing

manufactured products made from those materials at substantial value added

Brazilian Ministry of Planning wanted program to increase value added of mineral and biomass resources

Brazil’s MSI and Lessons Learned

MSI => PADCT III in 2001 Shared aims: both PADCT and MSI concentrated

resources on country’s best researchers 17 MSI Institutes established in research areas

relevant to social and economic development Extensive involvement of S&T community in

MSI/PADCT planning and implementation = broad acceptance and trust in fairness of resource allocation for research

Successful institutionalization of peer review process with effective mechanisms for avoidance of conflicts of interest

STI Capacity Building: Turkey Technology Development Project

Challenges: low industrial quality, highly labor-intensive products, limited growth, low competitiveness

US$ 155 million, 1999-2004 TDP Objectives:

Improve Turkish technology infrastructure and services (e.g., MSTQ, IPR harmonization)

Restructure public R&D Institutions (Marmara) Stimulation of private sector participation in research Formation of venture capital and technology parks

(Technology Development Foundation of Turkey)

Focus on Quality and Linkages: Croatia S&T Project

Challenges: Weak linkages between research and industry and between Croatian scientists abroad and at home; Unfulfilled ambitions of competitive NIS

US$ 40 million, 2006-2010 Project Objectives:

Strengthen and restructure R&D institutions (more applied research at Brodarski Institute and others)

Increase firms’ ability to use, adapt, and commercialize technology

Joint projects with Croatians abroad (Unity Through Knowledge Fund)

Advantages of a Regional Approach in SEE

“Cohesion” as an EU imperative Shared history and history of Yugoslav-EC

cooperation Limitations due to small size of countries’

innovation systems International nature of increasing proportion of

scientific and research endeavors Access to expertise, funding, institutions abroad

=> science beyond the nation-state 1 + 1 = 3

Challenges and Opportunities for the

Bank and its Partners

To the Future: Working Better, Working Together

The World Bank and its partners must respond to three STI challenges: Working cross-sectorally to build

synergies Working at the regional level Leveraging our global partnershipx

for enhanced provision of global public goods

Getting Started on Reform and Engaging with Donors

Engaging the business community, to understand the demand for innovation and sources of your country’s competitiveness

Putting STI into IPA and Development Strategy, and Poverty Reduction Strategy documents

Fostering national and regional STI champions Increasing multi-sectoral STI interventions in

health, agriculture, education, environment, etc. Utilizing “knowledge diffusion agents” in national

level projects Generating “STI for economic change and

competitiveness” analyses for Ministries of Finance and Economy

“The emergence of global science changes the scale, scope and processes of the governance of science.”

“We need a new framework for the governance of 21st century science. The new approach uncouples science from national prestige and ties it more firmly to collaboration, merit and openness. It scales research to the needs of science rather than the interests of the funder.”Caroline Wagner, “Science Policy Beyond the Nation State, Nations, Knowledge and Networks in the 21st Century.” Forthcoming . Brookings. 2007.

Thank you.

Sara E.Farley The World Bank

sfarley@worldbank.org