Emerging Technologies, Trajectories and Implications of Next Generation Innovation Systems Development in China and Russia

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

The advance of "Rising Powers" - including Brazil, China, Russia, and India - promises to be one of the major forces in global economic, political and social development in the 21st Century. Shifts in the distribution of technological and innovative capabilities underpin these changes. During the 20th Century, the United States along with Western Europe, Japan, and other established economies, led in the application of science and technology in fostering economic growth. In the present century, the Rising Powers are seeking to move beyond low-wage or resource-based strategies for development by expanding their science and technology capabilities. Critically, progress on this front requires not only building up R&D capacities and commercial applications, but also developing appropriate governance systems and institutional and corporate structures, building financial, human capital, management and related complementary assets, facilitating technological entrepreneurship, fostering demand and accessing international markets, and ensuring environmental, societal and political sustainability. If these countries are successful, it is likely that there will be major implications for the established developed countries. These include new opportunities through expanded markets, growth of talent pools and inventiveness, and prospects for scientific collaboration in addressing global environmental and societal challenges. The implications also include potential threats in terms of loss of technological leadership, increased international trade competition, shifts in the balance of military capabilities, and competition for scarce resources. Yet, if the Rising Powers (or at least some of them) fail in their efforts to develop and broadly apply advanced scientific and technological capabilities to further their economic and social development, growth expectations will be unmet or will proceed wastefully and societal tensions might rise, contributing to internal and international political instabilities.This project aims to address scholarly, management and policy issues related to the causes, sustainability and competitiveness of advanced technological development in driving the growth of Rising Powers, and in so doing also explore associated issues of governance and equity. Our technological focus will be on the emerging domain of nanotechnology. Our Rising Power country focus will be on China and Russia, with significant consideration of not only internal developments but also the interactions and implications of the growth of nanotechnology in these two countries for the UK and other developed and developing economies. The project will be undertaken by an interdisciplinary team, involving units of the University of Manchester in partnership with colleagues from China and Russia, with attention to capacity development, building a new research network, fostering training, and engaging users.