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Transformation of national innovation systems towards the global knowledge economy: Key industrial sectors in India
Rajendra Prasad
Scientist, CSIR, New Delhi, India
Abstract
In the post war era, the development of democratic structures and processes has influenced the establishment of institutional frameworks of science and technology systems in many countries. These science and technology systems, also referred to as national innovation systems, have had profound impacts on the industrial competitiveness of individual national economies.
Under conditions of increasingly open international markets, national innovation systems in many countries are restructuring to meet new opportunities and challenges of globalisation. These structural changes in national innovation systems tend to optimize knowledge generation, dissemination and utilization in various sectors. Competitive sectors are referred as 'knowledge-intensive' industries (in place of 'science and technology-based' industries) and now form the basis of evolving 'knowledge societies'.
The role and institutional structure of knowledge creation in innovation is not just limited to individual firms or across the industry, but also up to public institutions and their 'organic' linkages with education, tax incentives, finance and so on. Competitiveness within firms and industries in given sectors thus depends heavily on the ability to access and use embodied and disembodied public institutional knowledge.
Key industrial sectors of the Indian economy, such as drugs & pharmaceuticals and food have been examined with respect to the national innovation system in place, their institutional linkages and their knowledge flows to judge how well these cases are responding to the challenges of the globalised knowledge economy.
Keywords
innovation policy, globalization, national system of innovation, industrial competitiveness, knowledge economy, drug, pharmaceutical and food industry cases
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