International Journal of Technology Management & Sustainable Development - Volume 7, Issue 1, 2008

Following China's Green Revolution, public policy now aims to maintain high yields while reducing the amounts of water and agro-chemicals used by agriculture and so to lower costs and minimise environmental damage. This goal is pursued by supporting biotechnology-based research to develop new crops with the required characteristics, but the innovation systems framework suggests that a range of non-research actors are also essential for these efforts to lead to practical changes. This article therefore examines what the new policy direction means for university-based researchers, whether such research is set within an institutional context of the kind necessary for effective innovation, and whether the various actors involved shared the goals of the new policy. It reports that the study area possesses all the elements needed for an effective innovation system; but that the various actors in place lack the agreement on objectives that is required for effective innovation.

The growth of China's economy hinges to a large extent on the ability of the logistics industry to operate more efficiently and effectively in the global supply chain system. China's logistics service providers should pay attention to adopt more efficient logistics technologies to provide better services for their customers. This article studies the factors influencing the adoption of technological innovations by logistics service providers in China and investigates the influences of adopting new technologies on supply chain performance. A questionnaire survey is conducted to study the adoption of technological innovations by China's logistics industry. Technological innovations are classified into data acquisition technologies, information technologies, warehousing technologies, and transportation technologies. The influencing factors include technological, organizational, and environmental characteristics. We find that the adoption of technological innovations is significantly influenced by technological, organizational and environmental characteristics and that adopting new technologies will increase supply chain performance for the logistics industry in China.

This article is concerned with the analysis of university-based initiatives in Brazil, emphasising activities directed at enhancing innovation and entrepreneurship. The Triple Helix thesis is utilised here to probe the nature of the changes taking place in Brazilian universities, reflecting the characteristics of the changes taking place in the wider economy. The article begins by reviewing some of the modifications introduced in the Brazilian innovation system and by explaining how universities have been incorporating entrepreneurial activities. Three university case studies are presented in order to identify different models of entrepreneurship and innovation activities. The article shows that different structures have arisen in universities in order to stimulate innovation and entrepreneurial activities. Government support for these initiatives has been increasing at the federal, regional and local levels.

The United Kingdom (UK) has a strong base of offshore oil and gas (O&G) industry and possesses enormous offshore wind power (over 40 per cent of the total in Europe). The skills and technological resources of the O&G industry could possibly be applied to develop offshore wind farms to generate electricity. In this article, the core capabilities and competencies of offshore O&G industry are studied to see if they can supplement the emerging offshore wind industry, which is likely to be one of the future renewable energy sources for the United Kingdom. The fact that the United Kingdom will turn out to be energy importing country in the future against its current position as energy exporting country, prompts the need to explore avenues for alternative sources of energy. The authors perceive this threat to offshore O&G sector as an opportunity for the offshore wind industry, and investigate, through a survey of views, the proposition that the offshore wind industry offers a future market opportunity for the offshore O&G industry in the United Kingdom.

Les changements qu'a subi le contexte politique, conomique et social ont suscit le dveloppement des accords de partenariat public-priv. La prsente recherche a mis l'accent sur les diffrentes conditions favorables et dfavorables susceptibles d'influencer la russite de la relation de sous-traitance des services publics. La recherche empirique mene auprs de dix-huit tablissements universitaires en Tunisie (Sfax) ainsi qu'auprs de leurs fournisseurs a permis de relever que: les valuations pr et post contractuelles et le climat de confiance reprsentent des voies porteuses pour le succs de la relation de sous-traitance. Les conflits d'intrts et l'asymtrie d'information entre les partenaires constituent des conditions qui entravent la russite d'une telle relation.

Science and Citizens: Globalization and the Challenge of Engagement, Melissa Leach, Ian Scoones and Brian Wynne (eds.) (2005)

London: Zed Books, 295 pp., ISBN 1 84277 550 2 (hbk); 1 84277 550 0 (pbk), 19.99.

Biotechnology Policy in Africa, Clark, N.G., Mugabe, J. and Smith, J. (2007).

Nairobi: African Centre for Technology Studies, 137 pp., ISBN 9966-41-148-8.