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viable S&T Parks. The existing cluster of STI institutions in various parts of the
country presents a good foundation for strategic refocus and re-engineering to
deliver viable S&T parks. Based on this, this chapter presents some potentially
practical and viable S&T Parks for Nigeria.
2 Attributes of S&T Parks
Conventionally, S&T for development can be analysed on the basis of the inter-
action levels between the following three key elements:
• Science;
• Technology; and
• Innovation.
The illustration below may be useful to explain this typical thinking:
A
The National Innovation System (NIS), the domain in which all activities take place
B
Science and Technology
C
Technology and Innovation
D
Science and Innovation
E
Science, Technology and Innovation
Domain B typically results in the generation of new/improved/cutting-edge
knowledge and methods without regard to economic benefits. This has the
potential to bestow leadership upon any nation but it will not, by any means,
translate automatically into tangible economic benefits.
In domain C, the kind of activities that would typically take place would relate
to the acquisition of embodied technologies and an aggressive policy on Tech-
nology Transfer (TF) as a way to drive growth. The advantages in this domain for
Africa and indeed Nigeria are limited by pace and institutional weaknesses.
The Science-Innovation link of domain D suggests the creation of new
economically useful knowledge. With the absence of technology, it becomes a
particularly difficult and nearly impracticable link, as science will seldom yield
any economic benefits in the absence of technology, whether near or remote.
In domain E, the triad of Science, Technology and Innovation co-exists.
Nigeria, and indeed every African nation, MUST aim at this domain. The joining
together of Science (increasing what we know), Technology (applying what we
know) and Innovation (turning our applied knowledge into economic benefits and
promoting the acquisition of new knowledge through learning-by-doing and skills)
is more useful than the singular contributions of any of science or technology.
For a nation to withstand competition in this era of knowledge-based economies
in the globalised world there is need for it to identify its niche areas and build on it
by the application of scientific methods. New technologies and industries may then
be built around these areas of core competences.
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