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The purpose of this paper is to explore and discuss possible future pathways of the Finnish science, technology and innovation (STI) system. The paper sketches three speculative pathways for the Finnish STI system.

Theoretical considerations behind the pathways are based on analyses of the determinants and behaviour of small open economies, their innovation systems and governance. The empirical background of the paper is in the current trends of the Finnish economy and STI system. The analysis of pathways is based on three dimensions: institutionalized policy environment and economy, domestic interest groups and policy and STI institutions and funding. Changes in these dimensions are analysed by paying special attention to two variables: the position of the nation state and the general economic development.

The first future pathway outlined is based on an optimistic view by setting Finland on the basis of past success factors as an European and global STI hotspot. The second pathway is based on the assumption that the Finnish STI system will be increasingly subordinated to international structures and decision-making. The third one is geared around the assumption that the Finnish STI system will be dominated by industries.

While Finland has been seen as a European showpiece of innovation since the early 2000s, currently the country’s national economy and STI system are undergoing a critical period. The paper sheds light on this transformation and its potential future outcomes and attempts to raise debate on the options policy makers may face in the increasingly complex global environment in small countries.

The paper introduces potential future avenues for the Finnish STI system and provides a contribution to the debate of the future of small countries’ STI systems and innovation policies by emphasising the limited space of the STI policy choices and how the development paths and space for policy making evolve from the interaction of socio-economic factors between domestic and wider international context.

A growing number of African countries are starting to produce science, technology and innovation (STI) indicators. The purpose of this paper is to provide some lessons learnt in the production and use of STI indicators in Malawi and South Africa. It is compares the two countries’ efforts to conduct Research and Development (R&D) surveys and examines whether and how STI indicators are used in policymaking processes.

The study approach is qualitative. The research methodology encompasses a thorough review of both policy and academic literature as well as some interviews.

The study demonstrates that South Africa has a relatively developed institutional arrangement for undertaking R&D and innovation surveys and developing related STI indicators. There is evidence that efforts are being made to use STI indicators to inform policymaking in the country. On the other hand, Malawi conducted its first R&D survey under the African Science, Technology and Innovation Indicators Initiative (ASTII) and has not established an institutional mechanism dedicated to producing STI indicators. There is no evidence that indicators are used in, or to inform, policymaking in the country.

Because of significant differences in STI policymaking histories, capacities and cultures of the two countries, it is not really useful to compare the STI production and use. Rather it is important to draw lessons from the efforts of the two countries.

The results suggest that the production of STI indicators should be embedded in policy processes. To be useful and effective, STI indicators production needs to be explicitly linked to policy formulation, evaluation and monitoring activities without necessarily undermining the independence of producing STI indicators.

Creating stand-alone programmes or agencies for R&D and innovation surveys without clear articulation with policymaking needs erodes opportunities of having evidence-based STI policy regimes.

Although in 2005 only South Africa and Tunisia had national programmes dedicated to the generation of R&D statistics, by the end of 2010 at least 19 African countries had experimented with conducting R&D surveys under the auspices of the ASTII of the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. These countries accumulated different experiences and consequently build different kinds of institutional capacities. Through the Malawi and South Africa case studies, some important lessons for STI indicators production and use and STI policymaking can be drawn for developing countries in general and African countries in particular.

This paper aims to analyse innovation models and interdisciplinarity in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Costa Rica between 2015 and 2021. The core focus is to evaluate the public policy in light of the groundwork that sustains the designed and proposed actions.

The authors applied a qualitative approach to build a set of dimensions and conducted content-analysis of selected documents. The analysis encompasses all current STI public policy documents in Costa Rica, including the planning instruments of the Central Government and the National Policy on STI.

The main findings show that STI policy in Costa Rica is based on different innovation models, but the projects and instruments themselves show the predominance of the reductionist model. Innovation receives a residual role. In turn, interdisciplinarity is based on the concept of convergence, which limits disciplinary collaboration to the natural, physical and engineering sciences, minimising contributions from other fields of knowledge to an instrumental role in innovation processes.

The authors conclude that the interlinkage between open innovation models, the participation of diverse societal actors and the inclusion of an interdisciplinary perspective leads to inclusive and more democratic public policy, allowing more sectors and organisations to benefit from innovation processes. This would imply a greater reach and impact of the policy, conditions that translate into innovation achievements and a better return on public investment.

This paper contributes to current discussions on STI policy by studying the implications of the link among policies, innovation models and interdisciplinarity.

The purpose of this paper is to survey and analyse the literature emanating from less developed countries (LDCs) and international agencies and dealing with their perception of the needs of LDCs for scientific and technical information (STI) in relation to social and economic development.

The purpose of this paper is to analyse innovation policies in India from 1958 to 2020. A policy tools framework was developed to compare the innovation policies in India. India developed and implemented four innovation policies from 1958 to 2013. The recent policy change was brought in the year 2020 with releasing the draft of the Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (STIP 2020). The authors analysed the recent draft of STIP 2020 with the earlier four innovation policies.

Innovation policies implemented from 1958 to 2013 in India were studied and analysed in the “text as a data approach” and a comparative policy analysis tool was designed for this purpose. The recent draft of STIP 2020 was evaluated and the provisions of the fifth draft of STIP 2020 were compared with the previous four innovation policies' design and formulation. The CPA tool design consists of five broad themes Awareness and capacity building; Finance and infrastructure; Resource management and governance; Outreach and networking; and Policy implementation and evaluation.

Draft STIP 2020 has many features similar to earlier policies. However, policy has focused on bringing in more clarity about national challenges, goals and objectives, yet it needs better implementation to achieve stated outcomes more effectively and efficiently. New initiatives include strengthening the innovation system with open science, improving STI education, expanding the financial landscape, establishing national STI observatory acting as a central repository of all data related to the STI ecosystem and accountable research ecosystem, promoting translational and foundational research of global standards, promoting entrepreneurship, self-reliance, mainstream science communication and public engagement and decentralised institutional mechanisms. Thus, the STIP 2020 is ambitious in its approach to promoting STI in India and needs a supportive mechanism to achieve the stated objectives.

Current comparative policy analysis focused only on identifying similarities and differences among innovation policies implemented in India from 1958 to 2020 and its evolutionary changes in policy and its instruments choice. The recent draft STIP 2020 is not approved and has no update regarding its approval and implementation by the government. The revised and yet to implement STIP 2020 may have variances in the policy instruments. The earlier policies are so broad and without specific problem statements. They were released as statements and resolutions which makes it is challenging to understand the impact of each policy. Similar policy tools in STI 2013 and STIP 2020 were only considered to observe the policy instrument choice. The achievements of the innovation policies implemented before STIP 2020 are not included. Evolutionary changes in the problem statements and policy tools prescribed in innovation policies are studied.

Department of Science and Technology, Government of India, released a draft of STIP in 2020. The draft of STIP was evaluated with previous Innovation Policies. To the authors’ understanding, this is the first attempt to evaluate the STIPs of India using the “text as a data” approach. The tool can be validated by using it for CPA of innovation policies of other emerging, developed and least developed economies to understand cross-country variations in policy instrument choice by policymakers.

This paper aims to consider the case study of Ireland with regards to the implementation of a formal parliamentary technology assessment (PTA) capability. With emphasis on innovation and knowledge-based economies, society faces a proliferation of technological challenges with far-reaching unpredictable impacts. Elected representatives need unbiased scientific knowledge to underpin evidence-based policy-oriented decision-making. PTA is directed at policy-oriented decision-making processes within the parliament. It identifies the role played by existing agencies and the gaps that remain to be filled in the current landscape. It explores the feasibility of potential future institutional arrangements in a country without a recognised formal PTA agency.

An embedded case study approach was utilised based on three main sources of evidence: relevant published documents pertaining to science and technology governance; interviews with key decision-makers; and illustrative case of “hydraulic fracturing” demonstrating key issues stemming from the lack of a formal PTA structure.

The case revealed the interplay between key actors in the area of science, technology and innovation in Ireland. It demonstrated the need for improved citizen engagement. The analysis revealed that formal technology assessment channels should be established to provide a voice for civil society to engage in policy-making. Given the requirements and constraints, a feasible way to implement PTA seems to be the “parliamentary office” model which would seem to be a good fit in the context of Ireland’s current situation.

The paper presents how PTA may be realised in a country without a formal PTA agency using a parliamentary office model to provide a channel for citizen engagement in science, technology and innovation (STI) policy-making.

The purpose of this paper is to review the contributions of what has been established as Latin American thought, as science, technology, and innovation (STI) in Latin America have been strongly related to development.

The analysis method is based on the review of a group of Latin American and Latinoamericanista (Latin Americanist) authors who were selected on the basis of their contributions to the explanation and proposals of public policy related to STI. The following are some of the questions that guide the analysis. How much has STI in Latin American thought contributed to the development theory? Given the fact that there are other dominant mainstreams, can we say that Latin American thought is still relevant?

The main conclusion of this work is that Latin American thought is still applied to current Latin American development discussions. This can be proven by the creation of particular concepts and analytical frameworks such as structural heterogeneity, development styles, authentic and spurious competitiveness, Sabato’s Triangle, the centre-periphery model, and STI policy practices.

This paper gathered contributions and categorised them into three dimensions: state participation (intensity, composition), industrialisation as the impulse for development, and instruments and public policy actions that can be implemented or have already been implemented.

El propósito de este trabajo es el de reflexionar sobre algunas aportaciones provenientes de lo que hemos denominado pensamiento latinoamericano en relación con la innovación, la ciencia, la tecnología y su relación con el desarrollo.

El método de análisis se basa en la revisión de un conjunto de autores latinoamericanos y latinoamericanistas que hemos seleccionado con base en sus aportaciones para la explicación y sus propuestas de política pública en relación con la CTI. Algunas preguntas que guían nuestro análisis son las siguientes: ¿en qué medida el pensamiento latinoamericano en CTI ha contribuido a la teoría del desarrollo? y ¿dada la existencia de otros enfoques que predominan como pensamiento único, podemos hablar de una vigencia del pensamiento latinoamericano?

La principal conclusión de nuestro trabajo es que hay un pensamiento latinoamericano vigente que ha sido y aún es un referente actual para la discusión del desarrollo en la región latinoamericana, como lo muestran la creación de conceptos y esquemas analíticos como los de heterogeneidad estructural, estilos de desarrollo, la competitividad auténtica y espuria, el Triángulo de Sábato, centro-periferia, así como estrategias de política en CTI.

Como parte del marco analítico hemos agrupado al conjunto de aportaciones en tres direcciones: a) la participación del Estado (intensidad, composición); b) la industrialización como impulso al desarrollo y c) los instrumentos y medidas de política pública a implementar o que han sido implementados.

The purpose of this paper is to provide information about the long-term ex-post impacts of Vision 2023 technology foresight (TF) on the defense sector and to identify critical success factors (CSFs) of impactful foresight.

In the present research, a theory-based evaluation approach was adopted with the logic-model of defense TF to identify the intended outcomes, impacts and leading mechanisms. The impact assessment framework developed by Johnston, R. (2012) was adopted to identify (un)intended impacts and possible measures.

TF had some effects on technological developments, foresight capacity and capability and skills on the sector. The overall impact was assessed at the “some contribution” level with 2.9 out of 5.0 points. It contributed to the development of science technology and innovation (STI) policies and research and development programs, awareness-raising in STI, increase in cooperation between government-university-industry and the development of foresight culture. However, the impacts were more visible in the early years of TF. Additionally, country/sector-specific CSFs were identified. In consequence, it was proposed to measure the maturity of strategic technologies with technology readiness level as a tangible indicator.

According to the authors, this is the first study to assess the long-term ex-post impact of TF in defense. An instrument was developed to assess TF’s contribution to impact measures. The constructs and weights of the instrument differentiated from the adopted framework/schema reflecting the national/sectoral context of TF. Additionally, the study revealed country/sector-specific CSFs and new tangible impact measures.

The purpose of this paper is to assess the agricultural practices in a drought-prone region of India in an effort to find out how science, technology and innovation (STI) measures can address the existing problems and help achieve sustainable solutions. This study has been planned with two specific objectives: to study the agricultural practices of small and marginal-holding farmers in a drought-prone region and to examine the opportunities for suitable interventions to mitigate the impacts of droughts. The study is based on primary survey conducted in Banda district of Bundelkhand region, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Empirical survey was done in eight different blocks of a drought-prone region of India using structured questionnaire. The questionnaire was pre-tested with a group of 12 farmers during a workshop through a pilot survey conducted during April 2017. Stratified sampling based on land holdings (small farmers having 1–2 ha of land, medium farmers having 2.1–5 ha of land and large farmers having more than 5 ha of land) and irrigation types (canals and tube wells) were utilised in different blocks of the district for selecting farmers in the surveyed villages.

Findings suggest that due to various reasons like change in climatic conditions, frequent crop failure, crop diseases and high cost of production, farmers have adopted certain crops which are not suited to their agro-climatic conditions. The paper recommends that farmer’s school or “on-farm training school” have to be initiated to integrate farmers’ traditional knowledge with modern knowledge systems with amalgamation of STI tools.

Uttar Pradesh is divided into nine agro-climatic zones; however, this study is focused on Bundelkhand and may be region specific, though the findings are important for other drought-prone areas.

The paper links the existing agricultural practices and further linking them with farmers’ socio-economic, cultural and environmental settings. Only 17.5 per cent of respondents owned any agricultural equipment due to high cost of farm tools, difficulty in taking equipements on rental basis and lack of sharing tools among the farmers.

This paper targets small and marginal farmers in the drought-prone region of India who face the dual shock of climate impacts and poverty. Adoption of modern agricultural practices and use of technology is inadequate which is further hampered by ignorance of such practices, high costs and impracticality in the case of small land holdings.

This paper has advocated for well-organised, efficient and result-oriented STI system to mitigate the adverse impacts of drought-prone agriculture. Farming community in drough-prone areas needs adequate investment, local-specific technology, better quality inputs, real-time information on weather and most importantly latest know-how for sustaining commercial and cost effective sustainable agriculture.