Publication: Innovation Systems : World Bank Support of Science and Technology Development
Date
2004-04
ISSN
Published
2004-04
Author(s)
Goel, Vinod K.
Koryukin, Ekaterina
Bhatia, Mohini
Agarwal, Priyanka
Abstract
Innovation systems and science and
technology (S&T) projects supported by the World Bank
have taken on many forms in the past several years. The
Bank's involvement in industrial technology projects
started in the 1970s, with Israel and Spain numbering among
the first countries to receive support in the form of
industrial technology development. This paper reviews the
lessons learned in S&T projects that have been supported
by the Bank, with an emphasis on the examples of the past
decade (1989-2003). Projects and their components were
included in this review if their objectives included the use
of scientific and technological knowledge to improve
development. The review included 51 projects, in an
aggregate amount of over US$4.2 billion; not including
agricultural research projects. The amounts invested in
individual projects ranged from US$3 million to US$300
million, with a mean project size of about US$58 million.
The paper discusses the concept of the knowledge-based
economy (KE) and its relation with the S&T sector, and
then identifies the main themes of KE projects, groups them
by the four pillars of the knowledge economy, and summarizes
the key lessons learned. Since the Bank experience is most
substantial in the areas of innovation systems and related
policy frameworks, the review focuses on industrial
technology development and on building national innovation
systems. It touches briefly on the themes of education, and
information and communications technology, with the aim of
providing the proper context for the main study. A List of
Projects is included in Box 1, and brief descriptions of
these projects are in Annex B.
Citation
“Goel, Vinod K.; Koryukin, Ekaterina; Bhatia, Mohini; Agarwal, Priyanka. 2004. Innovation Systems : World Bank Support of Science and Technology Development. World Bank Working Paper;No. 32. © Washington, DC: World Bank. http://openknowledge.worldbank.org/entities/publication/2c5c262f-e9a9-5bcf-b279-0f1c420c82bb License: CC BY 3.0 IGO.”
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