CID Archive: Events Archive: Past Conferences
International Conference on Globalization of Research and Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries
11 September -
13 September 2001
Grado, Italy
Organized by the Center for International Development at Harvard University, the
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, KSG; and the
Third World Academy of Science
Conference Summary
Download the conference report as PDF
One of the key features influencing the use of new technologies in developing countries is the changing character of research and development (R&D), especially in the industrialized countries. To better understand this process, Harvard University's Center for International Development and Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs co-organized with the Third World Academy of Sciences a three-day conference on Globalization of Research and Development: Challenges and Opportunities for Developing Countries. The conference brought together participants from developed and developing countries drawn from academia, industry, government, civil society and international organizations acting in their personal capacities. The Conference was organized under the auspices of the "Biotechnology and Globalization" Project funded by the Rockefeller Foundation.
The growing importance of private sector research, as well as the changing role of universities, has led to new R&D priorities and patterns of cooperation. Many of the policies being pursued by the developing countries and promoted by international organizations are based on outdated assumptions about the global patterns of R&D, neglecting the role of local knowledge and the importance of information technology in promoting research and knowledge networks even in marginal areas. A better understanding of the current R&D patterns, especially those arising from the impact of globalization, will assist developing countries and international institutions to design and apply realistic policy approaches towards technology development.
This conference began by examining the new global organization of R&D, as well as the continually changing policies in the industrialized world and the political institutions that support them. Case studies were analyzed, documenting the marginalization of developing countries with respect to R&D-inspired innovation. Finally, attention turned to the policy challenges and opportunities for developing countries, presented by this globalization process. The goal was to understand how to harness these opportunities and to outline some initial steps to realize them.
The conference focused primarily upon innovations in biotechnology and applications to developed and developing country agriculture. This conference was the second of a planned series looking at different aspects of biotechnology and globalization. Other conferences in the series include the International Conference on Biotechnology in the Global Economy: Science and the Precautionary Principle, held in September 2000; Ethical Considerations held on September 24-25, 2001; as well as others on Biotechnology in Developing Countries; Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge; and Institutional Innovation.
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© 2007 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College.
Last revised 10/31/2007