Innovation and Development Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Innovation and Development - Essay Example But there are many obstacles to a real climate of development in those countries. One big issue is political corruption. This is one of the most difficult problems that need to be overcome for the developing countries to find a way out into higher levels of socioeconomic development. The United Nations through some of its institutions studies closely all the issues related to development and poverty reduction. Innovation policies will indeed help any developing country to find an appropriate climate for competition that can produce structural changes in favour of a real enhancement of the socioeconomic development. "According to World Development Report 1998 (WDR) in addition to taking advantage of the large global stock of knowledge, the developing countries should develop the capability to create knowledge at home. It also acknowledges that 'some types of knowledge must be built from the ground up'. This capability to create knowledge at home must encompass not only strategies to develop knowledge locally but also policies and mechanisms that will eventually enhance the capability of the nation to absorb knowledge. Together these would constitute public innovation policies in the developing-country context." As we can see from these assertions, innovation policies are necessary in order for the developing countries to adapt themselves to this new knowledge society in which the globalization process is a reality in every corner of the planet. Dr. Mani (2003) speaks about the market shortcomings in the following terms: "Further the recent Human Development Report 2001 of the UNDP also states that the market is a powerful engine of technological progress, but it is not powerful enough to create and diffuse technologies needed to eradicate poverty. Even in the network age, domestic policy still matters. All the countries, even the poorest, need to implement policies that encourage innovation, access and the development of advanced skills." Once again the need for innovation policies seems to be a priority in this new scenario of global restructuring among all the nations with a transition period from an industrial-manufacturing society to a knowledge society. But there is a very common problem in most of the developing countries regarding the lack of innovation policies or even the awareness of their existence as a tool that can increase the competitive advantage of any enterprise in any market leading to sustainable development thanks to the power of innovation. Dr. Mani (2003) addresses this problem as follows: "Most developing countries do not have a policy on innovation, as it is generally believed that developing countries do not engage in any innovative effort at all. At best they are expected to undertake incremental innovations, which are basically the adaptation of imported technologies to local conditions. But the recent growth experience of some of the developing countries and especially those from East Asia shows that they have become generators of new technologies." We have South Korea and Singapore as relevant