Intermediation for technology diffusion and user innovation in a developing rural economy: a social learning perspective

Abstract

Technology intermediaries are seen as potent vehicles for addressing perennial problems in transferring technology from university to industry in developed and developing countries.This paper examines what constitutes effective user-end intermediation in a low technology, developing economy context, which is an under-researched topic. The social learning in technological innovation (SLTI) framework is extended using situated learning theory in a longitudinal instrumental case study of an exemplar technology intermediation programme.The paper documents the role that academic-related research and advisory centres can play as intermediaries in brokering, facilitating and configuring technology, against the backdrop of a group of small-scale pisciculture businesses in a rural area of Colombia. In doing so, it demonstrates how technology intermediation activities can be optimised in the domestication and innofusion of technology amongst end-users. The design components featured in this instrumental case of intermediation can inform policy making and practice relating to technology transfer from university to rural industry. Future research on this subject should consider the intermediation components put forward, as well as the impact of such 2 interventions, in different countries and industrial sectors. Such research would allow for theoretical replication and help improve technology domestication and innofusion in different contexts, especially in less developed countries.Keywords -university-to-industry intermediation, regional development, technology transfer, innofusion, situated learning, rural industry. IntroductionRegional development policy in Latin America has been geared toward creating national systems framework is extended by using situated learning theory (Lave and Wenger 1989;Brown and Duguid 1991, 1998Wenger 1998Wenger , 2000Swan, Scarbrough and Robertson 2002) to create a potent analytical lens. The focus here is on the mechanism of a certain type of technology intermediation programmes, i.e. run by academic-related/third sector research and advisory centres, within a low technology/traditional industry sector in a developing economy setting.The level of analysis is a successful intervention programme undertaken by a regional thirdsector intermediary, bringing together academic, local government and pisciculture industry stakeholders. This particular programme was designed to address the lack of technology transfer to small pisciculture agribusinesses, which is deemed as an issue of strategic priority in Colombia, given the importance attached to the expansion of key rural industries (Cruz-Casalias, Medina-Robles and Velasco-Santamaria 2011).The paper is organised as follows. The second section delineates the theoretical background, explicating the constituent elements of situated learning theory used to extend

Transferring intermediate technologies to rural enterprises in developing economies: a conceptual framework

“…One study in a rural enterprise in Colombia (Theodorakopoulos et al 2014) has described how the PIRC helped with configuration during the domestication of technology in the local production system of the pisciculture businesses by selecting the technologies most likely to be adopted. The institutional arrangements were considered an important role in the domestication and diffusion of the technology.…”

“…Adopting the right mixture of technology will allow them access to other more profitable market environment and competition (Lee et. al., 2012;Theodorakopoulos et al, 2014).…”

“…The role of stakeholders in technology transfer interventions was considered successful based on the implementation of programmes in which different institutional arrangements prevailed in the two rural industries analysed during this intervention (Theodorakopoulos et al 2012;Theodorakopoulos et al 2014). The programmes included an agenda with goals to achieve them in a collaborative way by the participants.…”

“…Specifically, emphasizing high-tech environments, technology transfer research in the mainstream literature focuses on the inputs and deliverables of the transfer process, whereas the relatively limited literature in lower-tech contexts centres on the dynamics of the process and the interactions between participants (e.g. Saggi, 2002;Theodorakopoulos et al, 2014). Given the importance of intermediate technologies for the development of regional rural economies (Cimoli, Ferraz and Primi, 2005;Saad and Zawdie, 2011) and the paucity of research at this end of the spectrum, it is argued that the enablers facilitating technology transfer in this particular context merit further study (Rodrik, 1999;Spithoven, Clarysse and Knochaert, 2011).…”

Association of SME and Government Policy Factors with the Creation of New Employment: Manufacturing Industry in Korea

“…Organizational innovation can be defined as an innovation activity to enhance the efficiency of a business operation by introducing innovative organizational management policies, such as a flexible working time system. On the other hand, marketing innovation is generally referred to as an innovation activity which tries to increase the value of a product by improving brand communication, new market exploration, and an optimization of marketing processes (Bryson et al 2012;Theodorakopoulos et al 2014).…”