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Changing Opportunities in Global and Regional Contexts
The relationship between politics and technology
Ulrich Hilpert
Technologies are related to everyday life, and to the future of socio-economic development, as well as to urgent or pressing problems. Electronics help to make life easier. Biotechnology or genetic engineering may help to overcome diseases. New energy technologies provide for the efficient use of resources and climate protection. Environmental technologies may help to reduce the contamination of soil, air and water. New materials may help to improve existing products, or new transportation systems may allow for cheaper, more efficient and environmentally ‘greener’ travelling. Many technologies or technological improvements also help to modernize industries and products and keep these industries innovative. Since modern nation states are expected to provide policies that allow for economic growth, prosperity, employment, and a sound environment, government policy makers are confronted with changing policy needs of increasing complexity. Still, political parties and different social interests are put into competition during elections, and they aim to convince the electorate with their political programmes and their demands of policy makers.
Thus, government policies aim both to meet the interests of the electorate and to induce processes of development that satisfy the expectations of important interest groups. While the interests of the different groups are divergent, and even contradictory, implemented government policies are not simply responses only to the actual situation, but also indicate whose interests are provided for best. Nevertheless, among different interest groups in highly industrialized Western countries there is a strong interest in such new technologies that allow for new products and markets and provide higher value added, as well as for higher incomes and wages. Since global warming has become a major issue, in particular in Europe, technologies that help to solve this problem are experiencing active political attention. New energy technologies, fuel efficient cars or alternative engines, changes in metropolitan transportation, and new materials that reduce weight are being developed.
While these situations differ between countries, and even within countries between regions and locations, policies vary a lot. But still a strong focus is oriented on technologies and their innovative application. Government policies are strongly debated and disputed – concerning their effects and their effectiveness in achieving the aims set for them. Often, of course, such policies are discussed as if countries, regions or large and dynamic metropolises are in a position both to control such processes and to address the existing situation. Nevertheless, such processes of innovative development and new technologies are decreasingly addressed to a single country but instead there are collaborative processes that emerge. Even the dominant position of the US in leading edge research and new technologies does not put the country into a situation to achieve such processes independently. They are embedded in networks across countries and continents, and the country as well as its Islands of Innovation finds itself in a position that privileges it for the participation and exploitation of new findings, new knowledge and new processes. European countries are even more closely related to collaborative networks and the exchange of knowledge and competences – and all these countries participate as long as they can and are prepared to contribute. Thus, technology policies and the fostering of scientific research and university education becomes an important policy field (Chapter 16) and it clearly refers to both localization and worldwide collaboration with partners who can provide leading edge capabilities, findings, competences and labour force.
New technologies and processes of techno-industrial innovation clearly cover a variety of spatial dimensions and require particular situations to be developed and to flourish. It requires government action if such policies are needed, but they will not be successfully implemented everywhere in a national territory. Consequently, such policies are related to the locations that can provide appropriate opportunities for leading edge research, highly creative personnel and industries that can apply new findings for economic exploitation. Such policies are inhibited by a particular geography of both innovation and scientific research because such new technologies follow from new findings and new knowledge (Chapter 6 and 12). Consequently, national research and technology policies are related to regional processes and policies, which are effective on a regional or even metropolitan level. Thus, it is the generation of leading edge research that underpins a particular policy related geography, as well as the application or exploitation of such research results that create a policy related geography (Chapter 20).
On the other hand, scientific breakthroughs are generated by small research groups that possess the necessary competences, and search for collaborators to exchange knowledge and to engage in joint research projects. Such research is frequently uncertain until it reaches the point where the breakthroughs are realized, published and widely accepted. The more successful such research strategies are, the more research opportunities and research projects will follow from this situation, demanding more researchers and the exchange of knowledge. These situations clearly cannot be established in a single region, and even large nation states in Europe or even the US are not equipped to undertake such research and innovation strategies on their own (Trippl 2012). Thus, based on individual local or regional situations the exchange of knowledge and findings reaches out across borders building continuous networks of collaboration in research and even in economic exploitation (Chapter 19). While the concentration of leading edge research indicates territorial divergences that emerge as Islands of Innovation, simultaneously, these Islands of Innovation provide the basis for collaboration across borders. International or even global networks of innovation are built and continue collaboration among locations with outstanding competences. As a consequence, new technologies based on such leading edge research is denationalized and based on global networks of Islands of Innovation (Chapter 2). Such locations are prepared to contribute appropriately to these outstanding networks; and it is this regional or metropolitan participation in the global body of knowledge that helps to build the national capabilities for high technology industries.
This outstanding importance of Islands of Innovation provides for a relationship between national R&T policies, regional participation and societal opportunities, and global networks of collaboration. In addition, national and global networks provide for a globally growing body of knowledge that is also applied nationally or locally. This aim can be realized on the basis of policies that facilitate engagement in techno-scientific research and the building of such Islands of Innovation. Thus, techno-scientific competences and processes of innovation are based on previous political decisions (Chapter 3). In general, societies have different opportunities and the divergent profiles of their political programmes indicate the priorities they have chosen. Decisions taken in favour of solar technologies or environmental technologies clearly relate to political majorities that were present in particular societies (Chapter 23). This is particularly visible in Western democracies. In addition, such democratic decisions again vary between governmental systems. This is particularly obvious, when it comes to centralist vs. federalist countries. Sub-national governments of federalist countries (e.g. Germany or the USA) can design and realize their individual strategies that suit the situation and the existing interests of social and political groups from their region. Nevertheless, even in non-federalist countries and outside of Western democracies such processes of regionalization can be identified. This refers to small countries (e.g. Singapore, Ireland or Denmark) and regions in newly emerging innovative locations (e.g. China) (Chapter 12, 13 and 18). Since processes of technology development, leading edge research and innovation demand a concentration of competences and capabilities, regional patterns emerge – and recognition of such concentrations is related to such patterns. Branding becomes an important issue (Chapter 5) and it clearly refers to existing innovative clusters, highly skilled labour and science–industry relationships (Chapter 6, 19 and 22). Such constellations need to be arranged but they also need to be identified and brought to global attention.
When taking these phenomena into account there is a strong relationship with innovative labour and its habits of research, engineering and migration (Criscuolo 2005: 1352; Breschi and Lissoni 2009: 442). Since such kinds of highly trained labour provide the basis for techno-industrial innovation, a concentration in particular regions or metropolises, and their orientation towards centres of scientific excellence (Mahroum 1999: 382, 2000b: 374; Williams et al. 2004: 39) puts Islands of Innovation and countries that contain such locations into a privileged position. Thus, regions and metropolises are of particular analytical interest as phenomena of innovative processes since almost all innovative processes and technology developments are related to leading metropolises. It is their particular situation and the opportunities they provide that enable them to participate in new technologies and innovation. Focusing on existing and newly emerging Islands of Innovation or innovative metropolises in different countries or located on different continents provides methods to indicate similar processes and to get closer to the generalization of processes and variables that are necessary to participate in continental networks of collaboration and innovation. Again, the empirical findings vary systematically along with different technologies and rationalities of innovation. While biotechnology and new pharmaceuticals demand high amounts of capital and access to markets, new software may be developed based on less capital and virtual market access through internet opportunities. Consequently, the general process of both innovation and the development of new technologies may be identified in divergent expressions, but it demonstrates the role of government, divergent political interests and spatial patterns of regionalization and continentalization.
Taking these processes and the spatial variations into consideration indicates the interplay of different polities with different interests in particular policies (Chapters 8 and 20). In addition, regional or local situations, and their embeddedness into continental or global networks of collaborative innovation, provide highly divergent opportunities concerning different technologies. Thus, the analysis of the relationship between politics and government policies on the one hand and new technologies and innovation on the other hand, demands complex analysis that takes these multiple interplays into account (Chapters 28, 29, 30 and 31). A better understanding of processes of innovation helps to identify the role of government; and a deeper look into the situations when governments launch policies helps a better understanding of the particular interests underpinning particular policies (Chapter 23). Politics rarely come along as direct influence taken but become obvious when the situations and opportunities on different levels of government or governmental systems are taken into account (Chapter 20). A comparative view helps to identify the role of interests and ideologies. Such an analysis clearly takes advantage of other disciplines and indicates the contribution of an interdisciplinary approach when the role of modern governments in advanced socio-economic development is under investigation. Since capable governments that find themselves in proximity to leading edge research institutions, creative academics and knowledge workers, innovation oriented enterprises and industries, and globally or continentally oriented locations can launch highly divergent programmes in different policy fields. The variety of perspectives is related to systems, cultures and aims, and it disseminates before being identified as complementary contributions to a process that relates closely to government activities – or even relies on them. The fact that governments regard new technologies and processes of innovation as means to fulfil their role in a changing situation and to solve emerging problems makes them become major players concerning a process that is of fundamental importance for the future of the society and economy.
Strategies and politics: the role of government
Role of government – emerging technological powers
New technological opportunities are inseparably tied with modern capitalism and industrialization. Technological breakthroughs in shipbuilding and sailing allowed overseas trade and in relation with modern weapons it provided for the expansion of European colonialism. Steam engines and railroad systems allowed for highly efficient manufacturing and transportation. Systematic scientific research provided the basis for growing both a country’s wealth and individual incomes; governments played an important role in supporting such changes by improving transportation systems and expanding universities and polytechnics (Kuhn 1996). There were, of course, also problems associated with such changes as energy supply, environmental impacts, diseases and the supply of highly trained or university educated labour. Still, today one can identify more efficient or new energy technologies, green technologies that protect from pollution of air, water and soil. There are more efficient transportation systems, new pharmaceuticals etc. Thus, there was a growing demand for new technologies in manufacturing and for problem solving. A better knowledge of such problems and how to avoid them led to increased interest in new technologies, and simultaneously political interests and regulation created markets for new technologies that were considered to help in overcoming such problems (e.g. catalysts in automobiles or filter systems to avoid pollution). Clearly, public policies had an opportunity to achieve both problem solving and socio-economic development.
The history of modern shipbuilding or steam engines, of course, also indicate that such modernization may become mature, and may become firmly established at locations that were not industrialized before. Electronics industries are a much more recent example which also points out that time is an important factor when it comes to socio-economic development (Chapter 3). People at other locations learn how to make use of technologies and there may emerge cheaper places to manufacture products (Chapter 15 and 26). While the transformation of former Third World countries into Newly Industrialized Countries (NICs) has introduced a fundamental change in structures of world trade (Chapter 25), it also indicates that new technologies that meet a need and their markets will provide the basis for both new industries and modernization of existing industries when merging traditional competences with new technologies (Chapter 11; Sable et al. 1991). Advanced mechanical engineering, precision engineering, medical instruments, plant construction etc. was made possible due to new technologies, new materials and new scientific findings. New products provide opportunities for higher value added and allow for both higher profits and higher incomes. Government policies thus find themselves in a situation, where policies become more closely related with technologies, innovation and universities – public support of research, technologies and education became an important issue to continue economic growth, employment and the growth of high incomes (Chapter 9, 14 and 16). As governments in leading Western countries engaged increasingly in support of scientific research and the development of new technologies, processes of innovation became closely related with political decisions.
The continuing transfer of mature technologies from Western industrialized countries to countries that were not manufacturing industrial goods before, simultaneously transferred competences and know-how to these countries (Chapter 12, 13, 15 and 26). Multinational enterprises, in addition, were greatly interested in exploiting cheap labour forces and weak regulation to increase their profits when transferring both equipment and competences to such countries; and, of course, they continue to be interested in these newly emerging markets and opportunities to manufacture high end products at low cost (e.g. Apple products manufactured in China). A growing stock of capital from low cost manufacturing and the idea of the developmental state has put these countries into a position both to design and to follow a path of improvement of the quality of their products and to strengthen their capabilities in scientific research. The role that government played during the rise of Japan (Johnson 1982) to become a major player in industrial goods and high tech products providing showed that there are opportunities for fast socio-economic development and to link up with the most developed countries. High tech products need not be a reserved market for some European Countries and North America. There are obviously opportunities for additional countries to participate in such attractive markets and sectors.
While the processes are different, there is again an involvement of government policies and of particular interests that aim at a continuing modernization of economy, industry and society (Chapter 25). The model referenced is generally the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Industry (MITI) which has strongly coordinated the strategies of industrial development and technological innovation (Johnson 1982). This outstanding role has diminished as Japan has reached a similar economic level to the leading industrialized countries. In addition, Japan was strong in some technologies and industries; the country showed a clear pattern of specialization and still does. Similarly, strategies of industrialization of the other Newly Industrialised Countries of East Asia indicate clear patterns of specialization. Since these countries do not exploit natural resources they aim at higher value added products. After the early periods of industrial development and economic growth, the national capabilities and capital available was concentrated on selected sectors. This allowed a small country such as Singapore, which simultaneously is a metropolis, to invest substantial ...
