International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development - Volume 3, Issue 2, 2004

A capacity-building programme for sub-Saharan Africa was undertaken as an intergovernmental initiative over a four-year period during the mid-1990s. The African Centre for Technology Studies (ACTS) Capacity Development Programme [CDP] was established in 1994 to enhance policy analysis capacities in sub- Saharan Africa with special reference to issues of technology and environmental policy arising out of Agenda 21. A number of important features and lessons emerged from this experience: the introduction of policy analysis directly to the recipients (government officials) and the providers of knowledge (research sector); a focus on the problem as the unit of analysis rather than the academic discipline; a combination of broad orientation lectures and seminars (to bring participants up to speed with basic issues and agendas) with field research project work (to show participants that there is much to be gained by interacting directly with those at the receiving end of public policy); training in basic communications skills (verbal and written); and a focus on a specific set of policy issues (those arising from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climatic Change). Despite some success with this approach, it became clear that this is a new form of capacity building that needs further exploration. The main lesson perhaps is that such initiatives should be tried out in other contexts. What is certainly true is that the need for this type of capacity-building programme is a sad reflection on the higher education sector in many countries.

Drawing insights from firm-level surveys, this paper addresses three broad issues relating to the role of learning and knowledge in African industry. First, we examine modes of learning using training in small and medium firms as a proxy. We found that elementary learning mechanisms such as apprenticeship, which result in the creation of tacit knowledge, are the dominant forms of learning. While knowledge externalities tend to benefit larger firms, small enterprises with little absorptive capacity are locked into repetitive routines of learning-by-doing and disconnected from both local and global knowledge pools. Second, we analysed the types and nature of the mix of formal knowledge and human skills possessed by firms and how this impacts on the learning process. Management and technical training are mostly conducted in-house and correlate with firm output and export performance. Third, the level of resources devoted to training correlates with firm performance and export capabilities. The study suggests that policy has an important role to play in stimulating dynamic learning in firms.

This article is an attempt to understand the issues underlying the problem of water scarcity in southern India and how perceptions of scarcity are influenced by various institutional forces and motivations. Two case studies are used to show the interplay of political considerations, contested rights and claims over water. The first one focuses on scarcity in the context of Chennai, a city with a population of six million, and examines access to water supply from the perspective of the issue of entitlements. The second discusses the interstate dispute over the water from River Cauvery, and seeks to identify some of the causes of the longrunning riparian dispute. While the empirical focus of the paper is on southern India, the issues raised are of significance to other Asian and African contexts.

Technological progress has been a major factor behind contemporary socio-economic development and the rapid pace of globalization. As such, it has transformed the conventional ways in which such concepts as country, enterprise, government, knowledge, work, and even science have been understood. It has also brought to light the distinction between the hardware and software aspects of technology and the increasing significance of the latter. This paper discusses how the evolution of technology has culminated in a shift of emphasis in research and development from hard to soft technologies. Changes in technology paradigms have brought about changing views about technological competitiveness, technological innovation systems and strategies for sustainable development. After briefly characterizing contemporary popular notions of technology, this paper puts forward the case for a broader view of technology. The complementary roles of ‘hard technology’ (which is machine or product-centred) and ‘soft technology’ (which is essentially human-centred) are emphasized. The paper argues that soft technology has historically played a critical role in social and economic development, even though it might not have been recognized as such.