SciDev.Net
Science and Development Network
News, views and information about science, technology and the developing world
Search Archive
Key Documents archive results 1-20 of 186 in Science & Innovation Policy
Climate change: A call to action for African leaders
This policy brief, prepared by the Africa Progress Panel, African Development Bank and UN, outlines the implications of climate change for Africa, emphasising the need for a strong and cohesive negotiating position at the December 2009 climate talks in Copenhagen. The authors argue that African...
KEY DOCUMENT | EN
How Developing Countries Can Manage Intellectual Property Rights to Maximise Access to Knowledge
This book, published by the intergovernmental organisation South Centre, presents a collection of articles on intellectual property (IP) restrictions and access to knowledge for developing countries. An outcome of the South Centre Innovation and Access to Knowledge Programme, the book responds to...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: February 2009 | EN
Tech transfer in the TRIPS age
This policy paper, published by the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD), addresses technology transfer issues in developing countries and considers current intellectual property rights. The author makes practical recommendations to least developed countries (LDCs)...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: May 2009 | EN
Malaria and its vectors in the Caribbean: The continuing challenge of the disease forty-five years after eradication from the islands
This journal article, written by three researchers in Trinidad and Tobago, looks at malaria in the Caribbean. It asks why there are still outbreaks -- including a big one in Jamaica in 2006/2007 -- when the disease was allegedly eliminated in the late 1950s. The authors review malaria and vector...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: November 2008 | EN
Using climate to predict infectious disease epidemics
This report from the WHO assesses the potential for creating early warning systems for vector-borne disease. It reviews the current state of research for several diseases such as dengue fever, leishmaniasis, malaria and West Nile virus. The report includes an algorithmic framework for developing...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: 2005 | EN
El Niño Southern Oscillation and vegetation dynamics as predictors of dengue fever cases in Costa Rica
This journal article describes the first climate-based model used to predict outbreaks of dengue fever. Researchers from the University of Miami and the University of Costa Rica used climate data and vegetation indices from Costa Rica to predict disease outbreaks with 83 per cent accuracy. ...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: March 2009 | EN
Analysis of technology transfer in CDM projects
This report, written by climate change economist Stephen Seres and published by the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), analyses the extent to which projects funded by the UNFCCC's Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) contribute to technology transfer. Although the CDM does not...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: December 2008 | EN
A survey of South–North health biotech collaboration
This article, written by scientists from Canada, China, Egypt and India, examines the spread of alliances in health biotechnology and the extent of collaboration in this sector between the South and the North. The authors surveyed 288 firms on South-North health biotech collaborations and use the...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: March 2009 | EN
Constructing knowledge societies: New challenges for tertiary education
This World Bank report describes the role higher education plays in building developing countries' capacity to participate in a knowledge-based world economy and outlines policy options to promote economic development. It confirms the shift in the World Bank's attitude to education support as a...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: January 2002 | EN
Accelerating catch-up: Tertiary education for growth in Sub-Saharan Africa
This World Bank report examines higher education in Sub-Saharan Africa, asking how it can stimulate economic growth in the region. Drawing on international experience and regional case studies, the authors argue that there is an urgent need for countries in Sub-Saharan Africa to invest in human...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: 2009 | EN
What donors should do
This opinion article highlights the need for donors to support higher education in poor countries. The authors, Jos H. C. Walenkamp and Ad Boeren from the Netherlands Organisation for International Cooperation in Higher Education, discuss how higher education and research can reduce poverty. They...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: September 2007 | EN
The impact of globalization on higher education and research in the Arab state
These selected proceedings from a regional research seminar in Morocco, hosted by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), examine the state of higher education in Arab states. They highlight the impact of globalisation on local systems and discuss the role of funding...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: May 2007 | EN
African higher education development and the international community
This paper from the Association of Commonwealth Universities outlines the commitments and activities made by major international partners -- specifically the G8 countries -- to developing African higher education between 2000 and 2004. Projects are analysed by topic -- from human resources...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: June 2005 | EN
Beyond the ABCs: Higher education and developing countries
This paper, written by researchers at the Universities of Pennsylvania and Columbia in the United States, examines various aspects of higher education in developing countries including its impact on economic development. The authors discuss the growing demand for higher education in developing...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: February 2008 | EN
A global green new deal
This report from the UN Environment Programme (UNEP) calls for international action to combat the global economic crisis with a stimulus package based on clean energy and environmental protection. The author -- Edward B Barbier from the University of Wyoming -- argues that while stimulating growth...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: February 2009 | EN
A comparison of the cost of research in South Africa's public research and higher education institutions
This paper examines the relative costs of research in South Africa and the apparent disparity in researchers' salaries. A 2004-2005 research and development survey provides data on the unit cost of research across higher education institutions (HEIs), science councils and the business sector....
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: December 2008 | EN
The technology transfer debate in the UNFCCC: Politics, patents and confusion
This discussion paper from the South Centre and Center for International Environmental Law, discusses the international transfer of environmentally sound technologies within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). The authors present an overview of the UNFCCC's structure for...
KEY DOCUMENT | EN
Patent counts as indicators of the geography of innovation activities: Problems and perspectives
This paper challenges the idea that patent counts provide reliable indicators of innovation in cross-country assessments. The authors argue that national differences in patent systems -- how and why patents are granted and standards of examination -- make comparisons across countries difficult at...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: December 2008 | EN
Nanotechnology: The social and ethical issues
This report, published by the Project on Emerging Technologies at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, looks at social and ethical issues of emerging technologies, with a focus on nanotechnologies. The author examines social context issues such as unequal access to health care,...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: January 2009 | EN
Trade and Health
This series of commentaries and papers, published by The Lancet, examines the challenges to achieving a balance between trade and health. It includes analyses of the WHO and World Trade Organisation (WTO), arguing that they facilitate trade before the health of poor people. Other authors...
KEY DOCUMENT | Publication date: January 2009 | EN
Information Services
Missed the Global Health Forum 2009?
Our blog, by SciDev.Net columnist Priya Shetty, will fill you in, as will our interview with the Global Forum's Gill Samuels
