Phindile Tshabangu said: | 7 May 2009, 7:45 AM

A collaboration of South Africa's leading universities and the Medical Research Council (MRC) and their technology transfer offices (www.tektique.co.za) may be of interest to you as it seeks to provide a platform for collaborative development opportunities for participating institutions in the country.

Robin Grayson said: | 7 May 2009, 9:03 AM

Having read the report, I have a few observations that might be of interest.

1: For the market to work efficiently, all patents should be readable on line and downloadable rapidly free-of-charge. This is true for the USA (USPTO) and theoretically true for WIPO and Canadian patents but these are slow. UK and Australian patents are downloadable for a hefty fee. Clearly for technology transfer to be efficient, all patents should be freely readable and downloadable worldwide. Otherwise it would cost about 50,000 USD to do a worldwide patent search and demand a team of well-paid patent search experts to do it. Its a barrier to inventors, investors and manufacturers.

2: In general, the developing world, particularly the smaller poorer countries, have no urgent need for patents and can't afford them. What they need are affordable products and methods that incorporate such patented technology. That is how the market functions and it does function.

3: Western universities have, generally, lost touch with the needs of microenterprises and SMEs and now cater only for the needs of funders i.e. Government, large corporations and military.

4: If the above assertion is correct, then there is no possibility of getting the patent system cost-effective for technology transfer.

5: A more fruitful avenue would be for WB, IFC, EC and other international donors to fund 'Best Appropriate Techniques BAT (aka BATNEEC) for entire industrial processes such as brick-making and other things vital to developing countries.

To conclude, a thought: "equipment is something that works, technology is something that probably will work better - but not yet"

cheers

Steppegold Mongolia

Scott Knell said: | 7 May 2009, 1:10 PM

Echoing Robin Grayson's comment, it is my experience that when it comes to developing regions technology applications are needed immediately and if it comes down to juicing there the innovation cycle versus importing Part 1 applications into Part 2 environments, care should be taken not to starve the goose before it can begin to lay its golden eggs. For several years now I have partly mentored (but mostly looked on helplessly) ICT-based micr-enterprises in Ghana. As a "northerner" I remain baffled at how difficult it is for start-up businesses to obtain basic entry-level technologies such as hard-drives, digital cameras and Internet connectivity.

Washington DC & Cambridge University

Rasim Abderrahim said: | 7 May 2009, 7:11 PM

Thanks to Valerie D'Costa, infoDev's Program Manager for the e-mail message inviting us to participate in the discussion. I have been dealing with these issues for a long time at the level of U.S. - Middle East economic and trade relations. I would like an opportunity to address all seven questions as much as I can over the next few weeks. However, I can say that certain business and regulatory practices have been behind the increasing hindrances to improving capacity, commercialization mechanisms, and technology transfer modes. In a short research that I recently did on the transition from education to the labor market in certain technical professions in one countries of the GCC, I found the lack of skills to be chronically the number one reason for the limited technology flows.

wilfredo tiu said: | 7 May 2009, 8:20 PM

After reading the publication I found out that our country log behind in the track. While other universities had sofisticated IT equipments, our in the remote provinces in the country, particularly Mindanao in the Philippines has none, especially my technical institution own by the government. While I do believe that online technology transfer can fasttrack the delivery of technology but It will realy take long time to succed in our country.

Thank you so much.

Wilfredo C. Tiu College Administrator II Surigao del Norte College of Agriculture and Technology R.E.Ecleo Sr., Cagdianao, Dinagat Islands

Fatu Gbedema said: | 8 May 2009, 4:09 PM

I agree with most of the comments shared here. While I have not gone through the document in full details, I have a few thoughts to share based on the questions posed in your email.

On South-South Technology Transfer: Most countries in the South are tied to legacy systems of their former colonial masters, therefore it is much easier and cheaper for them to share technology or rely on knowledge systems of the North than among themselves. The cost of communication among South-South countries is higher than communication between North and South. This is a barrier for faster South-South technology transfer. The same applies to transportation and the movement of goods and services - ultimately, trade and commerce. Faster knowledge transfer among the South will occur when these legacy systems are broken and redesigned to sustain the South as well and not just the North.

On the issue of stakeholders: Is there any discussion on whether the stakeholders have equitable influence and power in the process? The reality is that the more influential stakeholders will be the ones who have access to systems, talent, technology and financial resources to carry out their commercial goals. Will the provision of South business intelligence in terms of providing the North with unique insights as to how, for example, US models could be implemented in their countries , fetch equitable compensation and influence as equally yoked stakeholders? South stakeholders also have dominance in numbers with spells massive profits for the North. How can this be leveraged in the best interest of the South?

On knowledge transfer - we cannot look at technology transfer purely as something that occurs from North to South. Knowledge transfusion will occur at a much faster rate when the technology that is being used affirms and respects all stakeholders' intellectual capital no matter which part of the globe they reside on. It all boils down to re-examining our definition of value. The fact that a lot of the times, the North does not understand how the South traditionally shared knowledge and technlogy does not mean that there is no value in our tranditional systems of technology and learning.

Some of the weaknesses of the US model lies in practices of their private sector where the focus is on amassing wealth for the select few to the detriment of the majority - resulting in the world financial recession that is plaguing everyone today - no matter where you are iin the world. Traditional capitalism does not work effectively for the South because there are huge pockets of poor who are pitched against tiny slivers of the middle class. The issue ethics, moderation and social responsibility have to be addressed. This is especially important for the South because most of our value systems are based on empowering the community and not just individuals.

Thank you.

Fatu Gbedema, President, Global Ingenuity & Management Consulting, Georgetown, Guyana, South America

sam mutarindwa said: | 9 May 2009, 5:39 AM

technology transfer is conventionally viewed as the role of Universities and R&Ds. mechanisms should be designed to include the active role of the industry as major stakeholders to stimulate entrepreneurship and innovation.

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Juan P. Martinez said: | 11 May 2009, 1:03 PM

Dear All,

I may be on the other side of the scope. I am in Guatemala, trying to start a community deveolpment program with sustainable technologies, but is very hard to get the technology we need to go ahead.

Our idea came from the Barefoot College, in India, where women from low income areas get the necessesary information to build PV panels and install them in their communities, therefore, helping everybody to have electric light with 0 emissions.

I have been trying to find a company that could transfer technology to us in order for us to spread it and help the most troubled ones, but it has produced 0 results.

On the renewable energies, I met Dr. CH. V. Krishna, from India, who is willing to come to my country and help me develop a biomass/biodigester program, that maybe in the near future can be translated into a big project to reduce trash and produce energy. Nevertheless, Dr. Krishna has been the only one willing to transfer technology to us, and other contacts around the world have been less willing to do so.

Maybe there could be a nice balance between the one that gives and the one that receives...in the end, we want a peaceful and beautiful garden to be our planet, so good ideas have to be spread widely and paid for in a fair way.

All the best for you all,

Jp.

Rafael Hernandez said: | 11 May 2009, 4:41 PM

Juan, in case you haven't done so, it might be helpful for you to look at the past experience of deploying PV powered lights in Honduras by Enersol's Solar-Based Rural Electrification Project (http://www.enersol.org).

Dolly Bhasin said: | 13 May 2009, 9:24 AM

Why is that research is always associated with academic institutions? In fact, the most usable and worthwhile research is carried out by the SMEs. As they are hotbeds of innovation. The try to see the real application challenges and innovate to bring out new products to carve a niche. I feel not enough tools or help is provided to them to aid the technology assessment and technology transfer. Also, there is a great role of the policy makers in developing the necessary capacities and evolving the TT mechanisms to aid the SMEs. I have been running a consulting company in India and have conducted many workshops and capacity building training/knowledge creation exercises in this area. Would like to know with the participants of their views on same in their respective countries. Thanks in advance for your responses. DOlly Bhasin, SPH Consultants

Bodunde Ade said: | 16 May 2009, 12:28 PM

A gap that seems to be continually overlooked is the need to carry end users along by identifying their needs, prioritising such needs vis-a-vis their purchase power. Having worked with farmers groups, cooperative groups, unemployed youths and women groups in agriculture, health care and education sectors for some years, the recuring problem I notice is that of trying to adapt to what researchers have developed instead of actually developing it together with the target buyers concept of what is adoptable, workable and cost effective. I would suggest that NGOs that work at community level with strategic groups of stakeholders should be involved in product development and trials. There are some equipment and products, particularly in the agriculture sector, that have proved a total waste of time and resouces on importing them to Nigeria for certification in recent years.

Abdulmalik Ndagi said: | 29 May 2009, 12:22 PM

Technology is said to be practical application of science and technical knowledge in the industry/manufacturing and transfering this entire process from higher/research institutions to the industries or from developed economy to developing economy owning to my ten years expirence as an incubator manager we need a pragmatic, systematic and integrated approach to technology transfer; This will give us an amicable understanding among stakeholders which will ease the transfer process without hardfeelings and suspecious tendencies. We have tried it at Technology Incubation Centre, Minna and Federal University of Technology, Minna; Where we relate directly with the researcher and link them to the required Incubatees/Techno-preneurs/Industrialists. Through this method we have successfully transfered eight (8) R&D results to industries. If this personal touch and contact can be improve upon Technology transfer can be easier and more interesting than we could imagine. I hope to contribute on IP, Patenting and TT consultants in Nigeria in the following weeks. Thanks. Dr Abdulmalik Ndagi (PhD - Tech. Mgt) Technology Incubation Centre, Minna Niger State, Nigeria

Apurba Pandit said: | 8 June 2009, 3:00 PM

technogy have to be available for all. Proper guidence and effective approach can make it possible. health is our fundamental right. A lot of bangladeshi deprived from better health service. We want to provide health through IT.Please click on our effort www.amarhealth.com.

raymond shonholtz said: | 25 June 2009, 3:23 PM

Is anyone working on "crowd-sourcing" as a development tool for donors and receiving any funding for this effort? raymond shonholtz partners for democratic change rshonholtz@partnersglobal.org

EMMANUEL DALUNG said: | 12 July 2009, 2:39 PM

THIS IS AN IMPRESSIVE DOCUMENT THAT WILL FACILITATE THE AFRICAN CONTINENT TO KEY INTO THE GLOBAL REALITIES OF TECHNO-DEVELOPMENT. I LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING MORE OF THIS SELF HELP SUPPORT DOCUMENT AND MORE IN THE PRACTICAL REALM.

Alice Mungwa said: | 27 July 2009, 11:32 PM

Dear All, I stumbled on this fantastic discussion group while trying to build understanding on the challenges facing a project I recently initiated in Bamenda,a city in the North West region of Cameroon, in central Africa. My idea was to promote interest in technologies amongst marginalized communities in the region where the awareness and use of technologies is very minimal. As some contributors to this forum have mentioned, the involvement of end-users in the development of technologies is crucial. Our ideas was to introduce approaches such as communities of practice for techology- have-nots such as rural women and youth, to enable them pool their knowledge and experience together and craft potentially technology-driven projects with the help of relevant experts. We would then seek to acquire necessary technologies and know-how to be delivered to them for implementation. This way, there will be full ownership and the technologies being introduced would help in adressing crucial community needs, which would in turn boost their integration into the local economies in a more sustainable manner. We have however hit a high wall in trying to find donors supporting such ventures. I therefore agree that the transfer of technologies present serious economic and strategic stakes, and should not be assumed both on the part of the holders, and of the end-users or "transferees".

I would also like to echo the view that end-user facilitation is an important stage in the transfer of techonolgies. To take a small example, it is widely beleived that the Internet is rapidly penetrating remote areas in developing countries, and that the technology is thus being rapidly transfered. However, we very quickly realized that clients using the internet cafe in our project were severely lacking in how to make the most of the time they spent surfing the internet, after emailing. It is also common knowledge that most owners of cell phones never use most of the capabilities included in their subscription packages, though paid for as wel. This is thus draining scarce resources more to the benefit of the owners of these technologies than the already impoverised end-users. More meaningful transfer of technologies should really seek to ensure optimal relevance for end-users. This is increasingly difficult to achieve particularly with the advent of compact technologies combining multiple capabilities often not relevant to those without full prowess. I am seeking to know approches being used by others working to address these issues at the grassroots levels. Alice Mungwa -aamungwa@yahoo.com

KIBINKIRI ERIC LEN said: | 26 August 2009, 6:26 AM

I will like to express my deepest thanks to Valerie D'Costa, infoDev's Program Manager for this wonderful initiative on ICT development and transfer. As a matter of fact, It is never too late to contribute to knowledge creation and dissemination especially issues concerning ICTs and development. ICTs have change so many things in the society. For instance the way we work and relate to one another. Many institutions have equally experienced these changes which have impacted some positively and others negatively. There is no doubt that ICTs have brought us closer to one another and has facilitated the way things are done. Bringing us closer to each other therefore suggest that everybody in the society must be involved with issues relating to ICT Transfer and development. Infact there is a need for a Participatory Approach. The various communication strategies must be applied for a better ICT Initiative in any given locality. You can consult my blog for more on this issue http://kibinkiri-altsolutionstoeduafrica.blogspot.com/ Thank you very Much

Cavin Mugarura said: | 23 December 2009, 5:33 AM

its impossible for countries in Developing Countries (DCs) to fully participate in the Global Knowledge Economy given the inadequate resources at most of their Academic Institutions. However with the rapid advances of Computing Power and Technology, Universities in DCs no longer need to invest a lot of money in physical infrastructures like servers, and high end super computers. The ability to use cloud computing and other technologies available on the Internet, means that a lot of research can be conducted online. The major bottleneck to research and innovation is low Internet bandwidth speeds. A lot of investment is required to develop a Global super highway that will not only benefit the developing countries, but the developed countries as well. Many Multi national firms have set up shop in developing countries in search for business opportunities, and their business operations are affected by the poor state of ICT Infrastructure in particular, Internet Connectivity. With high speed Internet speeds, Academic Institutions in such countries can transfer knowledge through the click model as compared to the existing brick and mortar paradigm. In conclusion looking at Technology Transfer for emerging markets before analyzing technology/knowledge acquisition is putting the cart before the horse.