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1321. Building Capacity in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation: The Role of Private Sector

Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
The call to industrialize and modernize Africa has become popular in recent years, and the African Union’s Agenda 2063 and the Common African Position on Agenda 2030 identify science, technology and innovation (STI) as key enablers. Many African countries fail to achieve their development targets partly as a result of underdeveloped and underused science and technology as well as limited invention and innovation by both the private and the public sectors. For most African countries, the major proportion of domestic contribution to research and development (R&D) activities is provided by the government, with little from the private sector. This policy brief is based on The Africa Capacity Report 2017 (ACR 2017). It describes the importance and contribution of the private sector to advancing science, technology and innovation development in Africa. The paper also highlights the capacity imperatives needed to increase private sector participation in STI development and formulates key policy recommendations.
Topic:
Development, Government, Science and Technology, Capacity, Innovation, and Private Sector
Political Geography:
Africa

1322. Building Capacity in Science, Technology, and Innovation for Africa’s Transformation: The Role of Higher Learning and Research Institutions

Publication Date:
05-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
The African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF)
Abstract:
This policy brief by the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF) notes that African countries have shown interest and willingness in developing their economies through an approach driven by science, technology, and innovation (STI). Agenda 2063 and the Common African Position on Agenda 2030 identify STI as a key enabler to achieving inclusive and sustainable development in Africa. The ACBF’s STI Survey (2016) confirms the importance of STI strategies and capacity development in African countries. The survey findings point to African institutions of higher learning as having a crucial role in building Africa’s STI capacity. Thus, it is imperative that these institutions create appropriate systems that produce well-trained human capital in STI and other sector-specific critical technical skills. This entails refocusing investment priorities towards accumulating STI infrastructure, creating and strengthening partnerships, and redesigning curricula to meet Africa’s needs.
Topic:
Development, Science and Technology, and Capacity
Political Geography:
Africa

1323. Digital Middle East: State and Society in the Information Age

Author:
Center for International and Regional Studies
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International and Regional Studies (CIRS), Georgetown University in Qatar
Abstract:
In recent years, the Middle East’s information and communication landscape has changed dramatically. Increasingly, states, businesses, and citizens are capitalising on the opportunities offered by new technologies, the fast pace of digitisation, and enhanced connectivity. These changes are far from turning Middle Eastern nations into network societies, but their impact is significant. The growing adoption of a wide variety of technologies in everyday life has given rise to complex dynamics that beg for a better understanding. Digital Middle East sheds a critical light on the continuing changes closely intertwined with the adoption of information and communication technologies in the region. Drawing on case studies from throughout the Middle East, the contributors explore how these digital transformations are playing out in the social, cultural, political, and economic spheres, exposing the various disjunctions and discordances that have marked the advent of the digital Middle East.
Topic:
Science and Technology, Communications, and Digital Economy
Political Geography:
Middle East

1324. Digitalisation and Flight: How Can Donors Leverage Digital Technologies to Support Refugees?

Author:
Charles Martin-Shields
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
This policy brief provides a review of how refugees use digital tools, gives examples from organisations deploying digital technologies in the field, and discusses the effectiveness of and the ethical issues surrounding the use of digital technologies to support refugees. By putting the needs of refugees at the centre of their digital strategies and working with implementing organisations, such as UNHCR and Mercy Corps, to develop technology solutions that meet the needs of refugees and field staff safely and ethically, donors can get the most out of digital tools for supporting refugees.//In der vorliegenden „Analyse und Stellungnahme“ wird ein Überblick über die Verwendung digitaler Tools durch Flüchtlinge gegeben. Des Weiteren werden Beispiele von Organisationen vorgestellt, die digitale Technologien einsetzen, und die Wirksamkeit sowie ethische Fragen im Zusammenhang mit dem Einsatz digitaler Technologien zur Unterstützung von Flüchtlingen erörtert. Durch Fokussierung auf die Bedürfnisse von Flüchtlingen bei der Entwicklung von Technologielösungen und die Zusammenarbeit mit Partnerorganisationen, die in der Lage sind, Sicherheitsstandards im Datenschutz zu erfüllen, wie z.B. dem UNHCR und Mercy Corps, können Geber digitale Tools bestmöglich zur Unterstützung von Flüchtlingen einsetzen.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Migration, Science and Technology, and Refugees
Political Geography:
Europe, Germany, and Global Focus

1325. Risks of Maladaptation: Climate Insurance in Agriculture

Author:
Benito Müller, Leigh Johnson, and David Kreuer
Publication Date:
01-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)
Abstract:
Weather risk is an issue of extraordinary concern in the face of climate change, not least for rural agricultural households in developing countries. Governments and international donors currently promote ‘climate insurance’, financial mechanisms that make payouts following extreme weather events. Technologically innovative insurance programmes are heralded as promising strategies for decreasing poverty and improving resilience in countries that are heavily dependent on smallholder agriculture. New subsidies will amount to hundreds of millions of dollars, yet funders and advocates have thus far neglected the social and ecological ramifications of these policies. Reviews have focused largely on near-term economic effects and practical challenges. This briefing draws on an initial inventory of potential adverse effects of insurance programmes on local agricultural systems that we have recently assembled. Our review shows that farmers with insurance may alter their land-use strategies or their involvement in social networks previously used to mitigate climate risk. Both processes constitute crucial feedbacks on the environmental and the social systems respectively.
Topic:
Agriculture, Climate Change, Development, Environment, and Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Germany and Global Focus

1326. Rethinking Africa's Future Through Science, Technology and Innovation

Author:
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim
Publication Date:
09-2017
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Columbia University World Leaders Forum
Abstract:
This World Leaders Forum program features an address by Her Excellency Mrs. Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, President of the Republic of Mauritius, titled, Rethinking Africa's Future Through Science, Technology and Innovation, followed by a question and answer session with the audience. Welcome, Introduction and Moderated by: Jenik Radon, Esq., Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University in the City of New York
Topic:
Climate Change, Development, Economics, Science and Technology, and International Affairs
Political Geography:
Africa, East Africa, and Mauritius

1327. Chinese and Indian Competition in Space Heats Up

Author:
Sudha Ramachandran
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
China Brief
Institution:
The Jamestown Foundation
Abstract:
At the height of the Cold War the United States and the Soviet Union used money and weapons to build satellite states; today China and India are using satellites in space to win influence and secure their geo-political and economic interests. They see each other as competition in the global satellite launch business. So how do the Indian and Chinese space programs compare? In which areas is competition likely to be most intense?
Topic:
Economics, Science and Technology, Geopolitics, Soft Power, and Space
Political Geography:
China, India, Asia, and Sri Lanka

1328. Artificial Intelligence and National Security

Author:
Gregory Allen and Taniel Chan
Publication Date:
07-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Center for a New American Security (CNAS)
Abstract:
Partially autonomous and intelligent systems have been used in military technology since at least the Second World War, but advances in machine learning and Artificial Intelligence (AI) represent a turning point in the use of automation in warfare. Though the United States military and intelligence communities are planning for expanded use of AI across their portfolios, many of the most transformative applications of AI have not yet been addressed. In this piece, we propose three goals for developing future policy on AI and national security: preserving U.S. technological leadership, supporting peaceful and commercial use, and mitigating catastrophic risk. By looking at four prior cases of transformative military technology—nuclear, aerospace, cyber, and biotech—we develop lessons learned and recommendations for national security policy toward AI.
Topic:
Science and Technology, International Security, Military Strategy, and Cybersecurity
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1329. Mapping the Global Legal Landscape of Blockchain and Other Distributed Ledger Technologies

Author:
Julie Maupin
Publication Date:
10-2017
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI)
Abstract:
Blockchain, tangle and other distributed ledger technologies (DLTs) are pushing a broad array of previously centralized global economic activities toward decentralized market structures. Governments should tackle the new regulatory conundrums of an increasingly disintermediated global economy by focusing on DLTs’ individual use cases rather than its underlying enabling technologies. Grouping the known use cases by common characteristics reveals three broad categories of blockchain-law interfaces. For ease of reference, this paper labels these the recycle box, the dark box and the sandbox. Each raises distinct legal, regulatory and policy challenges deserving of separate analysis.
Topic:
Science and Technology and International Security
Political Geography:
Global Focus

1330. Experts, Coders, and Crowds: An analysis of substitutability

Author:
Kyle L Marquardt
Publication Date:
11-2017
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Varieties of Democracy Institute (V-Dem)
Abstract:
Recent work suggests that crowd workers can replace experts and trained coders in common coding tasks. However, while many political science applications require coders to both and relevant information and provide judgment, current studies focus on a limited domain in which experts provide text for crowd workers to code. To address potential over-generalization, we introduce a typology of data producing actors - experts, coders, and crowds - and hypothesize factors which affect crowd-expert substitutability. We use this typology to guide a comparison of data from crowdsourced and expert surveys. Our results provide sharp scope conditions for the substitutability of crowd workers: when coding tasks require contextual and conceptual knowledge, crowds produce substantively different data from coders and experts. We also find that crowd workers can cost more than experts in the context of cross-national panels, and that one purported advantage of crowdsourcing - replicability - is undercut by an insuffcient number of crowd workers.
Topic:
Science and Technology
Political Geography:
Global Focus