Autor/es
Descripción
ver mas
Colaborador
Thomas, Hernán Eduardo
Materias
Spatial Coverage
Temporal Coverage
2007-2016
Idioma
spa
Extent
478 p.
Derechos
info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Atribución-NoComercial-SinDerivadas 2.0 Genérica (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
Formato
application/pdf
Identificador
Cobertura
ARG
2007-2016
Abstract
This research aims to analyze the processes of construction of knowledge-intensive technologies and Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies aimed at solving local social and environmental problems in the case of biotechnology.
In Argentina, STI policies implemented since 2007 explicitly emphasize the importance of “science, technology and innovation to propel a qualitative leap in matters of social and economic development and social inclusion” (MINCYT, 2012:11). This stance considers that knowledge-intensive technologies can provide solutions to the exclusion of broad sectors of the population from access to basic goods. In this orientation, a dynamic deployment of policies was generated in terms of institutional creation, planning, instrument design, human resources training and, more recently, evaluation.
As part of this policy agenda, biotechnology has been considered by policy makers, scientists and companies as a strategic technology, given its potential for application in various techno-productive fields (human and animal health, food, environment, agribusiness, biofuels) and an over 30-years trajectory of capacity building in public R&D units, private and public-private companies.
However, it is difficult to establish a correlation between these policy initiatives, the investment in STI and the generation of solutions to the country’s main social problems. Despite explicit policies, projects based on knowledge-intensive technologies aimed at generating solutions to social and environmental problems occupy a marginal place in the R&D agendas.
Diverse analysis on contemporary dynamics of scientific knowledge production and use in Argentina have pointed the following (convergent) trends:
(a) The historical orientation of national R&D agendas towards the international insertion in techno-cognitive fields considered in the “knowledge frontier”, framed in dynamics of academic reproduction based on bibliometric evaluation and funding incentives, in detriment of agendas linked to local problems.
(b) The increasing focus of STI promotion resources towards the generation of productive innovation for economic competitiveness, guided by normative models related to the “national innovation systems” approach.
(c) The non-use (with neither commercial nor social purposes) of most publicly financed knowledge and technologies, even those justified by their “social relevance” associated with public problems.
(d) In cases where these capacities are actually used for productive purposes, this is done through mechanisms for technological linkage with private companies, sometimes even resulting in dynamics that deepen social exclusion.
At the same time, the development of technologies aimed at solving social and environmental problems (generated from R&D units, cooperatives, NGOs, community organizations) are mostly based on simple technologies, with little connection with local STI capacities.
In this scenario, this work seeks to answer: how are the scientific and technological capacities available in Argentina integrated towards the generation of solutions to local social and environmental problems in the case of biotechnology?
Contrary to the aforementioned trends, it is possible to record, though in a dispersed and inconspicuous manner, cases that attempt to produce biotechnologies aimed at solving local social and environmental problems, which we have called “biotechnologies for inclusive and sustainable development” (BISD). Their exceptional nature in relation to local trends in the production and use of scientific knowledge makes them quasi-experiments that allow us to analyze the possibilities and limitations of making inclusive and sustainable development a scientific and technical challenge.
With this objective, this research aims to:
(a) Analyze and characterize institutional R&D capacities in biotechnologies for inclusive and sustainable development in Argentina.
(b) Analyze the articulation between STI public policies, the dynamics of R&D agendas and institutional strategies aimed at solving local social and environmental problems.
(c) Develop and test theoretical and methodological tools to analyze STI policies and techno-cognitive production in scientific knowledge intensive technologies for inclusive and sustainable development.
In programmatic terms, this thesis aims to generate inputs for technologies and STI policies design and management (conception, implementation and evaluation) towards inclusive and sustainable development.
Based on a qualitative design of case survey at a national level and a multiple case study, and a theoretical-methodological approach that triangulates socio-technical analysis and policy analysis, this work shows that in spite of the explicit orientation of the STI policies, knowledge generation was not translated into the effective solutions to social and environmental problems, with few exceptions. Even the rare cases that have been explicitly designed for this purpose, most of them remain as blueprints, prototypes without implementation or implemented on a small scale.
The thesis argues that the prevalence of R&D practices and STI promotion and evaluation strategies associated with the linear model of innovation, as well as public-private linkage instruments based on systemic visions of innovation; both incorporated as a material matrix of affirmations and sanctions that shape researcher’s practices and decisions, constrain the possibilities of designing and implementing projects oriented towards inclusive and sustainable development. It is shown that the exceptional cases where knowledge production was effectively translated into effective solutions to posed problems, this was due to the adoption of alternative strategies by the research groups, outside the incentive systems promoted public policies and STI instruments.
In Argentina, STI policies implemented since 2007 explicitly emphasize the importance of “science, technology and innovation to propel a qualitative leap in matters of social and economic development and social inclusion” (MINCYT, 2012:11). This stance considers that knowledge-intensive technologies can provide solutions to the exclusion of broad sectors of the population from access to basic goods. In this orientation, a dynamic deployment of policies was generated in terms of institutional creation, planning, instrument design, human resources training and, more recently, evaluation.
As part of this policy agenda, biotechnology has been considered by policy makers, scientists and companies as a strategic technology, given its potential for application in various techno-productive fields (human and animal health, food, environment, agribusiness, biofuels) and an over 30-years trajectory of capacity building in public R&D units, private and public-private companies.
However, it is difficult to establish a correlation between these policy initiatives, the investment in STI and the generation of solutions to the country’s main social problems. Despite explicit policies, projects based on knowledge-intensive technologies aimed at generating solutions to social and environmental problems occupy a marginal place in the R&D agendas.
Diverse analysis on contemporary dynamics of scientific knowledge production and use in Argentina have pointed the following (convergent) trends:
(a) The historical orientation of national R&D agendas towards the international insertion in techno-cognitive fields considered in the “knowledge frontier”, framed in dynamics of academic reproduction based on bibliometric evaluation and funding incentives, in detriment of agendas linked to local problems.
(b) The increasing focus of STI promotion resources towards the generation of productive innovation for economic competitiveness, guided by normative models related to the “national innovation systems” approach.
(c) The non-use (with neither commercial nor social purposes) of most publicly financed knowledge and technologies, even those justified by their “social relevance” associated with public problems.
(d) In cases where these capacities are actually used for productive purposes, this is done through mechanisms for technological linkage with private companies, sometimes even resulting in dynamics that deepen social exclusion.
At the same time, the development of technologies aimed at solving social and environmental problems (generated from R&D units, cooperatives, NGOs, community organizations) are mostly based on simple technologies, with little connection with local STI capacities.
In this scenario, this work seeks to answer: how are the scientific and technological capacities available in Argentina integrated towards the generation of solutions to local social and environmental problems in the case of biotechnology?
Contrary to the aforementioned trends, it is possible to record, though in a dispersed and inconspicuous manner, cases that attempt to produce biotechnologies aimed at solving local social and environmental problems, which we have called “biotechnologies for inclusive and sustainable development” (BISD). Their exceptional nature in relation to local trends in the production and use of scientific knowledge makes them quasi-experiments that allow us to analyze the possibilities and limitations of making inclusive and sustainable development a scientific and technical challenge.
With this objective, this research aims to:
(a) Analyze and characterize institutional R&D capacities in biotechnologies for inclusive and sustainable development in Argentina.
(b) Analyze the articulation between STI public policies, the dynamics of R&D agendas and institutional strategies aimed at solving local social and environmental problems.
(c) Develop and test theoretical and methodological tools to analyze STI policies and techno-cognitive production in scientific knowledge intensive technologies for inclusive and sustainable development.
In programmatic terms, this thesis aims to generate inputs for technologies and STI policies design and management (conception, implementation and evaluation) towards inclusive and sustainable development.
Based on a qualitative design of case survey at a national level and a multiple case study, and a theoretical-methodological approach that triangulates socio-technical analysis and policy analysis, this work shows that in spite of the explicit orientation of the STI policies, knowledge generation was not translated into the effective solutions to social and environmental problems, with few exceptions. Even the rare cases that have been explicitly designed for this purpose, most of them remain as blueprints, prototypes without implementation or implemented on a small scale.
The thesis argues that the prevalence of R&D practices and STI promotion and evaluation strategies associated with the linear model of innovation, as well as public-private linkage instruments based on systemic visions of innovation; both incorporated as a material matrix of affirmations and sanctions that shape researcher’s practices and decisions, constrain the possibilities of designing and implementing projects oriented towards inclusive and sustainable development. It is shown that the exceptional cases where knowledge production was effectively translated into effective solutions to posed problems, this was due to the adoption of alternative strategies by the research groups, outside the incentive systems promoted public policies and STI instruments.
Título obtenido
Doctora de la Universidad de Buenos Aires en Ciencias Sociales
Institución otorgante
Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Sociales