-Elias Riskin
Sunday, October 2, 2011
Issues Facing the Developing World
Last class we discussed the role of science and technological innovation in the least developed countries. Due to high tariffs and low investments, least developed countries are faced with sporadic imports creating a lack of exposure to international technological developments. When combined with a weak internal educational system and the high emigration level of skilled workers, a "brain drain" is created within the country leading to a deepening marginalization in the global economy. The class discussion mainly addressed the two proposed U.N. solutions. The "surge" idea and the "know how" idea. The "surge" idea proposed immediate technological development in the least developed countries. In essence, bringing the least developed countries to the level of developed countries. Though a good concept, the weaknesses of this proposition make it very risky and expensive to attempt as it requires enormous investments from developed countries and nearly instantaneous development in the abilities of internal enterprises and workers. The "know how" idea brings up the point that technology is not simply technological means and information but also technological understanding. The idea proposed that the main focus should be commercial innovation rather than technological acquisition. As agricultural and farming techniques need to be bred to the unique conditions of each country the "know how" idea appeared noticeably stronger. This way least developed countries could join the global economy without having to "copy" developed countries. Lastly, we discussed the importance of internal policy developments that created framework to enhance education and learning of technological developments.
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To add to what Elias was saying about agricultural techniques, there is much dependence on local soil and climatic characteristics. Importation of seeds, plants, animals and machinery can make a huge difference in LDCs. However, this requires local breeding of plant and animal varieties to meet local ecological conditions, because many from elsewhere can locally be of limited use. Therefore, agricultural research and development requires a great deal of tests. Although LDCs are growing rapidly, they're still fragile as they depend on aid and exploitation of natural resources. Unless they learn how to invest, there is a possibility of their collapse in the near future -- technological development is key to their economic successes. Also, LDCs must upgrade their export activities and agricultural productivity, promote the growth of domestic business firms, and learn more from international trade and FDI. They must improve physical infrastructure and human capital and financial systems in order to have significant technological development. Finally, policymakers in LDCs need to address how to devise supportive policy frameworks in order to enhance learning and to consider all options as well as already available knowledge resources. Establishing proprietary IPR systems and creating property rights will help improve the LDC's knowledge.
ReplyDeletebuilding on the point that developing countries do not need to "copy" developed countries, we can already see how developing countries are addressing the needs of their own countries by using the technology that exists and is readily available like cellphones to improve on the situation. In Mozambique and india governments are using cellphones to administer e-governance which works better than using e-governance on computers. In Zimbabwe, South Africa and Kenya, a person's cellphone is also a person's bank account where they can perform transactions using an sms based platform. With the existing technology, developing countries can move towards development but there needs to be a level of innovation to tailor the technology to a specific country.
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