The methodologies and approaches used in this project will draw upon a large body of academic and practitioner work carried out in, and at the boundaries between, development studies, economics, innovation studies and science policy. We will apply a highly interdisciplinary approach to understanding science and innovation systems and using a more holistic perspective, explore the roles and interactions between different actors in a national innovation system, and how these are affected by wider social or political factors.
Within this holistic understanding of innovation, the research will then look in more detail at the science and technology-based aspects of the system. The key actors that we will examine in all case studies include relevant government departments and funding agencies; a range of universities with scientific expertise (focusing on all aspects of the higher education system from undergraduates to PhDs, research to teaching); non-university research institutions; enterprise and venture capital funds; private R&D-focused businesses; multi-national companies; relevant think thanks / NGOs; science or innovation-based networks or associations; individual scientists and entrepreneurs; national science academies; and diaspora scientific communities. The role and future of universities will be particularly integral to the research, and in many countries, it is likely that a university department or research centre will be nominated as the National Research Partner.
Central to our analysis across all countries will be an appreciation of the different policies, regulations and legal / governance frameworks that are in place at both state and federal level, as they influence and often connect these actors in the innovation system and stimulate public and private sector investment and expertise. At the same time, given the increasingly complex international nature of innovation networks, our research will emphasise the international dimensions of science and innovation within the Islamic world, by tracing flows of people, ideas and investments across OIC countries, and between OIC countries and the wider world. And we will look closely at how international collaboration – between individual scientists/innovators, universities, firms and policymakers – can contribute to the strengthening of STI capacity, as well as building wider economic, political and cultural linkages.
A central strand of the project’s international analysis will be the role of diaspora research communities. Both directly and indirectly, diaspora communities are key conduits for the transfer of knowledge, technology, capital and remittances to their country of origin. This is particularly important for developing countries where diaspora communities can encourage high tech-industries and act as bridges between foreign technology, markets, local innovators and entrepreneurs, whilst also understanding how such opportunities might best complement cultural factors and strengthen local institutions. The project will aim to help OIC-member countries develop policy tools which help diaspora connect and contribute to development in their home countries, particularly where they have chosen to settle in other Islamic-world countries. Similarly, many OIC countries have significant immigrant and emigrant populations, particularly in the manufacturing and services sectors. The influence of such communities on indigenous STI capacity building and the absorptive capacity of a country to leverage such opportunities will be one component of our research. Any analysis of diaspora networks will build on recent reports of the IDB, ISESCO and the Islamic World Academy of Sciences, as well as the latest analysis from policy institutes in the US, Europe and beyond.
