Diffusion of technology should be part of national poverty reduction strategies

Pages273-274

Page 273

Sakiko Fukuda-Parr, lead author and Director of the Human Development Report Office, spoke with Axel Palmason about the report:

PALMASON: The report focuses on how to make new technologies work for human development but not so much on how this task should be carried out. Is there a convergence with ongoing work on the internationally agreed millennium development goals, the recent debate on global public goods, and nationally owned poverty reduction strategies?

FUKUDA-PARR:Working out how to implement the ideas in the report is the next step. The recommendations of the report call for global policy initiatives for investing in poor people’s technology, such as medicines for malaria and other diseases; high-performing varieties of cassava, millet, and other food crops; lowcost wireless computers; and decentralized energy sources. These are all global public goods.We consider such initiatives important for accelerating progress toward meeting the internationally agreed millennium development goals. Our analysis shows that without accelerating progress, most countries will not meet these goals. Technology accelerated progress in human survival and food security in the last century and can do so again. Adoption and diffusion of relevant technologies should be considered a part of the nationally owned poverty reduction strategies.

PALMASON: The report asserts that markets do not develop and distribute technology evenly around the globe and that public policy, both domestic and international, must change to accommodate that failure.

How might this affect existing policy priorities, particularly fiscal policy, and how can multilateral organizations help within their given mandates?

FUKUDA-PARR: The report advocates more investment in technology development, as well as adaptation and diffusion of technology for development. It provides historical evidence of investments that have had high returns and of investments in the public sector in developing countries, which are stagnating. This is a call to bilateral aid programs,multilateral organizations, foundations, philanthropists, corporations, and universities to review their expenditure priorities.Much technology development needs to occur at the global and regional levels, but there are not many dedicated sources of financing for this.We do not even know how much is being spent. Technology development can also be effective when the private sector-which has not only the finance but...

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