Extrapolating strategies for the scientific and technological development of underdeveloped societies from the examples of South Korea, Slovenia and Serbia

The recent history of scientific excellence of a society could be used as an indicator of its economic, cultural and communal prosperity. In this work, two examples of countries that successfully arose from the remnants of comparative poverty and established themselves as scientifically thriving societies, South Korea and Slovenia, are compared with the case of Serbia, a country that is presumably on the doorsteps of a similarly explosive developmental path. Guidelines for social progress in the direction of greater scientific and social prominence are outlined in the course of the discourse. It is concluded that the ideal model of growth is to be based on parallel progress on the plane of R&D policies and on the level of excellence of scientific and basic education. The 'leapfrog' approach which dictates that the less developed countries should learn from the mistakes committed by the developed ones and thus accelerate their progress and catch up with the latter is invoked as an essential systemic strategy to be adopted. Incorporation into global scientific network of cooperation is also outlined as a necessity as much as stable and thriving local scientific and technological bases that would make up for prolific grounds for an efficient transfer and implementation of knowledge.