sustainable development 20 years on from the ... - José Eli da Veiga

2<strong>20</strong>
1. Science and technology in Latin America and the Caribbean
More than a decade on from Budapest, many of the targets proposed in the WCS documents are still far
from being attained, as shown by consultations between UNESCO member States and associate members
in Latin America and the Caribbean. The generation and absorption of scientific-technological knowledge
remain almost exclusively concentrated in developed countries, and the technological gap separating them
from developing countries has widened. The intensification of globalized relations and the
internationalization of scientific and technological production continues to be hampered by restrictions on
the circulation and dissemination of the knowledge produced.
The Latin American and Caribbean technological innovation system underwent a
transformational change in the 1990s, as a result of common macroeconomic policies implemented
throughout the region and the consequent changes (see chapter I). The barriers to national technological
<strong>development</strong> increased as a result of the adoption of foreign technological packages, an increase in FDI, a
reduction in the importance of public enterprises and their research and <strong>development</strong> departments, and an
increase in the market share of foreign firms. At the same time, the gap between regional technological
processes and achievements at the innovation frontier is widening in many cases, as a result of rapid
progress worldwide in the fields of biotechnology, new materials, energy sources, information technology
and telecommunications.
In Latin America and the Caribbean, investment in science and technology and in research and
<strong>development</strong> is generally small, heavily concentrated in the larger countries and mainly dependent on the
public sector (see figure V.10). The challenges facing technological <strong>development</strong> include insufficient
financing and poor links between the productive sector and academic institutions operating with public
funds (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>10b; UNESCO, <strong>20</strong>10a). Nonetheless, in recent <strong>years</strong> policies and strategies have been
implemented to overcome these difficulties. These instruments place great importance on environmental
issues (see box V.1).
The gap between developed and developing countries in terms of expenditure on research and
<strong>development</strong> (R&D) remains wide. Moreover, technological achievements vary greatly between
developing countries themselves and even between different sectors of activity within each country.
The challenge of closing this gap is becoming increasingly demanding, because the region does
not invest enough in innovation or use all of its resources efficiently. Although R&D investment in the
region has grown, it is still inadequate to needs. In <strong>20</strong>07, R&D investment amounted to approximately
US$ 19 billion at constant <strong>20</strong>00 prices, almost triple the 1990 level, and constituted just over 2% of the
global total (UNESCO, <strong>20</strong>10a).
With the exception of Brazil, Latin American and Caribbean countries invest less in R&D than
other countries of similar income levels (UNESCO, <strong>20</strong>10a), which partly explains their low total
productivity, compared to the “Asian tigers” for example. If R&D is measured as a percentage of GDP,
not even the most advanced countries in the region have attained the level of European countries, the
United States or Japan, which range from 2% to 3.6% of GDP (ECLAC, <strong>20</strong>10b), compared to no more
than 0.5% of GDP in many Latin American countries.