Scenarios for future scientific and technological developments in developing countries 2005-2015

The specific focus of SCOPE 2015 has been on RTDI cooperation with countries from the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), Maghreb and Mashreq (MEDA), and Latin America (LA). All four regions are important strategic partners for the EU and for a variety of different reasons, including trade, investment, the protection of habitats and the global environment, international security and migration. RTDI can make important contributions to all of these policy areas.

DIFFERENT REGIONS: COMMON PROBLEMS, REGIONAL SPECIFICITIES

Although the four regions studied are very different, there is a strong similarity between the problems they are facing, which include chronic under-investment in RTD, "brain drain", the weak development and lack of reform of RTDI institutions and governance, and minimal or non-existent capacities in new technologies such as nanotechnology. The regions also share a common enthusiasm for collaborating with EU scientists, but lack awareness of the available opportunities,- there is therefore a strong interest in increasing RTDI linkages between countries in the same region.

While the regions are united by many common features, important differences also distinguish them from one another and even separate countries within the same region. Consequently, the report lists the different policy challenges to supporting RTDI in the various regions.

1. COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES (UKRAINE, KAZAKHSTAN, AZERBAIJAN AND GEORGIA): COOPERATION AMONG EUROPEANS

This is partially a European space that falls within the remit of the EC's Neighbourhood Policy, giving it special strategic importance. The region has a highly-educated population with a rich and relatively varied scientific tradition. Its Soviet past has left behind a set of unique institutional arrangements and a legacy of practices that sometimes fit awkwardly with arrangements and practices elsewhere. Among the regions covered, this is the only one where the dominant areas of research are physics and engineering, along with mathematics and computer sciences.

2. SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA (BOTSWANA, GHANA, KENYA AND NIGERIA): PUTTING INNOVATION AT THE HEART OF DEVELOPMENT

This region contains many of the world's poorest countries with pressing needs that call upon limited resources, leaving little room for RTDI activities. Political instability is rife and the apparatus of states is often underdeveloped. These countries have a heavy reliance upon donor aid which strongly influences the RTDI agenda. Reflecting developmental concerns, research in agriculture and medicine are the dominant areas of activity.

3. MEDA COUNTRIES (JORDAN, MOROCCO, AND TUNISIA): CREATING PROSPERITY TOGETHER

As with the CIS, this region falls within the remit of the EU's Neighbourhood Policy. It is perhaps further along the road to some form of integration with the EU through the proposed Euro-Mediterranean Free Trade Zone, due to come into full force in 2010. The economies in this region are undergoing rapid changes, partly as a result of privatisation programmes, but also because of a recent influx of FDI, some of which is technologically rich. Political systems remain rather opaque, however, and are marked by extensive clientelism and secrecy. Research fields are dominated by the need to manage the harsh climate (and the opportunities this might offer), as well as resource extraction concerns.

4. LATIN AMERICA (ARGENTINA, CHILE, COLOMBIA, AND VENEZUELA): TOWARDS A LATIN AMERICAN RESEARCH AREA

The region has a long history of trying to wean itself off dependencies on the West, with economic policy from the 1950s to the 1980s dominated by import substitution, the building up of national champions, and the ambition to be self-sufficient in research and technology. The latter has led to the establishment of much of the RTDI infrastructure present today. While the austerity of the 1980s and 1990s has seen much of the infrastructure eroded, the research areas being pursued remain wide-ranging - although much activity is associated with agriculture, medicine and the extractive industries.