"Knowledge and Innovation for Development: The Sisyphus Challenge of the 21st Century" by Francisco R. Sagasti

This text provides a comprehensive introduction to the many different issues related to the Sisyphean task of building science and technology capabilities in developing countries. It attempts to answer crucial questions including: how can knowledge be utilized to improve the human condition, and how can we bridge the growing knowledge divide between those who produce and use modern science and technology - and those who do not? This highly innovative and original work will strongly appeal to academics, policymakers, development practitioners and students interested in the role of knowledge and innovation in contemporary society, and in the disparities between developed and developing countries.

Francisco Sagasti examines the complex interactions between science, technology and development through history, explores how capabilities in these areas are created in different countries and places the role of international co-operation in perspective.
The book then introduces a 'science and technology capability index' to rank countries, analyses the policy implications of the place they occupy, and summarizes the experience of developing countries in formulating science and technology policies. It concludes with a review of important lessons for the future.

Contents
List of figures
List of tables
List of boxes
List of abbreviations
Preface
Introduction
1 Knowledge, technology and production: a conceptual framework
1.1 The diffusion of Western science
1.2 Elements of an integrative conceptual framework
2 A brief historical perspective
2.1 The challenge of the West
2.2 The evolution of speculative thought
2.3 Changes in the technological base
2.4 Changes in production and service activities
2.5 Interactions among the currents: the ‘triple crisis’
3 The knowledge explosion and its manifestations
3.1 The emergence of the knowledge society
3.2 The twilight of the Baconian age and the transformation of scientific research
3.3 The systemic nature of technological innovation
3.4 The restructuring of world production and a new technoeconomic paradigm
3.5 Traditional knowledge, techniques and production
4 The knowledge divide and disparities in developing country capacities
4.1 The magnitude of the knowledge divide
4.2 Disparities between developing countries: a Science and Technology (S&T) Capacity Index
5 Strategies and policies for building an endogenous science and technology base
5.1 The context for mobilizing knowledge and innovation for development
5.2 The experience with science and technology policies in the developing countries
5.3 An approach to strategy and policy design
5.4 The repertoire of policies and policy instruments
5.5 A role for international cooperation
Concluding remarks
Appendix 1 Comparison between the Science and Technology Capacity Index and other indexes
Appendix 2 Science, technology and development: the imperative of social innovation
Bibliography
Index