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The Future of Innovation Studies in Less Economically Developed Countries

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Abstract

In this paper, we argue that there are patterns of innovation occurring in less economically developed countries (LEDCs) that have been historically overlooked by the innovation studies literature, including the literature on innovation systems and the triple helix. This paper briefly surveys cases in agriculture, banking, biomedicine and information and communications technologies that demonstrate organizational, scientific and technological innovation in Africa, South Asia, and Brazil. In particular, we track new developments in two distinctive patterns within LEDCs: (1) civil society as a site of innovation and; (2) innovation through appropriation. By systematically uncovering patterns of innovation in LEDCs, science and technology policy scholars may make new theoretical gains in innovation studies that can potentially contribute to innovation policies in the global South.

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Notes

  1. Less economically developed countries are alternatively referred to in this paper as countries of the global South, low-income countries, or developing countries.

  2. Japan was already industrialized, but is often included in the list of "Tigers."

  3. We learned about these two specific degree types from emailing Dr. Rufaro M. Madakadze, a Program Officer in Education and Training for AGRA.

  4. We learned about these other crops from emailing Dr. Rufaro M. Madakadze, a Program Officer in Education and Training for AGRA.

  5. India is described by some as a newly industrializing country, but it nevertheless has one-third of the world’s poor. Both India and Nepal are finding ways to provide eye health care to rural, low-income blind people through the multi-pronged strategy that we will describe.

  6. Mytelka (2000) and other science and technology policy scholars might call our cases of technology appropriation ‘imitative innovation,’ however, this concept does not attend to the power dynamics of a user moving from consumption to production (Eglash 2004).

  7. In 2007, Safaricom was a parastatal organization because the majority of the company (60%) was owned by the Kenyan government (www.safaricom.co.ke).

  8. Brazil, like India, is considered a newly industrializing country. This example still may be useful to less economically developed countries trying to navigate international commerce and law.

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Acknowledgements

We thank Susan Cozzens and Ron Eglash for their comments on an earlier draft of this article. We also appreciate the special issue guest editors Arie Rip and Daniel Sarewitz; their comments were very useful as we were revising the draft. Logan D. A. Williams is grateful for the Council of American Overseas Research Centers Multi-Country Fellowship that is funding her dissertation fieldwork in Nepal and India on the non-profit eye hospitals Tilganga and Aravind. Thomas S. Woodson would like to thank the National Science Foundation for funding his studies through the Graduate Research Fellowship.

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  1. Science and Technology Studies, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th St, Sage Lab 5th FL, Troy, NY, 12180-3590, USA

    Logan D. A. Williams

  2. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, D.M. Smith, 685 Cherry Street, Atlanta, GA, 30318, USA

    Thomas S. Woodson

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Correspondence to Logan D. A. Williams.

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Williams, L.D.A., Woodson, T.S. The Future of Innovation Studies in Less Economically Developed Countries. Minerva 50, 221–237 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11024-012-9200-z

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