Investing in Science, Technology, and Innovation - Coursework Example

Topic: Critically discuss why investing in science, technology, and innovation is a key factor in driving sustainable economic growth. University Student Id Course Date Investing in science, technology, and innovation Introduction Technology, innovation, and science are important in ensuring sustainable economic growth. President Obama introduced the campaign “educate to innovate” as he realized the contribution of incorporating technology in education in the process of realizing sustainable economic growth. It is through technology that prosperity can be realized in an economy through increasing output and being innovative in providing economic solutions (Koh, Koh and Tschang, 2005). Obama realized that the economic goals for America could be achieved through investing in technology, science, and innovation. Besides, innovation in education was used as the strategy for achieving sustainable growth of the economy and a solution to unemployment through increasing opportunities for self-employment. This assessment discusses why investing in technology, science and innovation are considered as the key to achieving sustainable economic development. Sustainable economic growth In the process of achieving sustainability in the economic growth, there is the need to investment in technology, science, and innovation. A country that is innovative is in a better position to come up with better economic solutions that can ensure sustainability in its growth. For instance, in many economies, the major problem has been the issue of unemployment (Geels, 2010). Through innovation in education, graduates can be in better position to rate many opportunities for jobs hence assisting in reducing the rate of unemployment. Besides, it is through investing in technology that a country can realize comparative advantages in production. Comparative advantages arise the moment a country is in a position to produce certain products efficiently compared with the other countries. Investing in technology can assist in achieving efficiency in production and improve quality. As a result, the products can be made competitive in the world market hence contribution to the improvement in the economic sustainability. Entrepreneurship has been promoted through increasing investments in innovation where new and better ways of production can be realized through innovation. Besides, the products can be made competitive in the world market through coming up with new and innovative product features that can compete well in the market. Investing in research and innovation can be crucial in the process of making sure that the market need can be best met by developing products that can best meet the needs of the consumers (Yigitcanlar, O’connor and Westerman, 2008). It is through being innovative that the entrepreneurs can also introduce new products and service that can offer an economic solution. Besides, considering the increasing changes and competition in the world market innovation, science and technology can be the best solution. Through science, the best strategies that can help in achieving competitive advantages in the world market can be realized. In the world market, the competitive of products can be determined by the ability to meet the needs of the consumers, unique features and affordability (Godfray, et al., 2010). A product cannot be made affordable and make a profit with utilizing technology that lowers the costs of production. It is the costs of production that determines the final price of the product hence achieving efficiency can be important in making sure that the products are made affordable. The products of a country that are affordable in the world market are likely to increase the demand hence ensuring economic sustainability. Technology has been considered as the primary factor that assists in making products competitive. It is through technology that quality and volume of output can be increased as it increases the speed in the production process and reduces the mistakes common in the process of manufacturing products. Many countries are competing in the world market are likely to invest in technology with the aim of improving the volume of exports and ensure quality (Hekkert and Negro, 2009). As a result, many countries are now ensuring that the production mechanisms employed are capital intensive with the aim of eliminating the possible mistakes that are associated with human labor. Besides, a capital intensive mechanism that can be achieved through investing in technology can assist in making sure that efficiency in production is achieved by producing products in large scale hence enjoying economies of scale. The higher learning institutions in American are being encouraged to teach the learned the best ways of being innovative in production. It is through teaching the learners on how to be innovative that they can be equipped with the necessary skills that can help in exploiting the natural resources that are essential in creating job opportunities. As a result, the learners can be innovative to improve the use of the natural resource that is available to offer economical solutions (Jovane, Westkämper and Williams, 2008). Besides, the strategy of educating to innovate has assisted America in achieving competitiveness and increasing chances of future economic prosperity. The economy is likely to experience improvement hence ensuring sustainability through coming up with new ideas that can help in offering solutions to the diverse economic needs. Value creation Investing in technology and innovation as proved to be key in ensuring sustainability of the economy through enhancing value creation. Apart from the science, technology, and innovation playing its role in the provision of global public goods, it also acts as the crucial facilitator of the rising prosperity together with the improved national competitiveness (Avermaete, et al., 2004). Moreover, since the technological skills and knowledge are cumulative, the science, technology and the innovation have created a global landscape which is uneven. Therefore, the process of connecting the local technological requirements to the international technological changes is quite challenging in the majority of the developing countries. Furthermore, an ecosystem for the STI which is well-functioning is required to comprise various factors such as the; among other things, intellectual property rights and also political stability among the others. Also, provided that the aspect of knowledge shows a large number of properties for the public good, there is a persistent risk for low investment. Therefore, the policy makers have opted to improve on incentives to create and also transfer the aspect of knowledge from the funded research to the enterprises (Jansen, 2003). However, apart from the national strategies, both the international and the regional frameworks which include the UN agencies, programs and also funds are supposed to respond in various ways so as to ensure that innovation is well integrated to the priorities of the national development (Jovane, et al., 2008). Moreover, in many cases, the frameworks of the regional and for the international are mostly found in the countries which are less developed. Furthermore, the varied responses to the science, technology, and innovation are necessary since their ecosystems tend to be complicated and also are mostly based on the competition which involves the market incentives. The intellectual property is always a significant method of rewarding innovation a well as the commercialization which underpins both development and growth, and also that disseminates the technological information. Besides, the intellectual property is a significant element of the STI ecosystem (Geels, Hekkert, and Jacobsson, 2008). However, commitment to protecting the intellectual property via cooperation of states should go in hand with the commitment of making sure that all countries get benefits from the intellectual property rights concerning the cultural, economic and also social development. Moreover, looking for the right balance which exists between reward and accessibility for the innovation and creativity is still a major challenge in the establishment of development paths which are sustainable. Furthermore, the countries which require the intellectual property policies should also look for the technical assistance which is appropriate so as to foster the developmental goals. Improving economic growth Technology, science, and innovation are crucial in achieving economic growth through increasing the levels of production. Moreover, in the process of technological change, the capability of the both local enterprises and also firms in accessing the technological know-how is of great importance in shaping their provision ability for both goods and services (Dutz, 2007). Also, the technological change is also necessary for improving the living standards of people, thus promoting competitiveness and also growth. However, the technological change usually requires investment in both the manufacturing industries and also in sectors that contribute towards the public policy goals which include; nutrition, health and also agriculture among others. There are various investment activities such as the financial services, marketing services and also the management services which within a period assist in increasing the absorptive capacity thus causing gradual improvement in the productivity level. Also, the accumulation of knowledge in various countries in most cases depends on the steady investments to improve the science education and also the STI policy environment which contributes to the endogenous innovations (Seyfang and Smith, 2007). Therefore, the introduction of the science education in the school curricula is one of the major steps which facilitates to the technological changes. Conclusion The developed countries like America have ensured proper investment in science and innovation with the aim of improving competitiveness and increasing opportunities for future economic prosperity. Besides, the partnership for the research institutes of the universities is an important driver in improving the STI ecosystem in the countries which are developing and also in the developed ones. Hence, widening the culture of innovation, technology, and science is of great significance since they are required to be accessible in all the learning levels. Also, sharing of knowledge either nationally or even internationally is quite critical, thus can be promoted via the broadband networks. Therefore, the sustainability of the economic growth is entirely determined by the level of investment in technology, science, and innovation. References Avermaete, T., Viaene, J., Morgan, E.J., Pitts, E., Crawford, N. and Mahon, D., 2004. Determinants of product and process innovation in small food manufacturing firms. Trends in food science & technology, 15(10), pp.474-483 Dutz, M. ed., 2007. Unleashing India's innovation: toward sustainable and inclusive growth. World Bank Publications. Geels, F.W., Hekkert, M.P. and Jacobsson, S., 2008. The dynamics of sustainable innovation journeys. Geels, F.W., 2010. Ontologies, socio-technical transitions (to sustainability), and the multi-level perspective. Research policy, 39(4), pp.495-510. Godfray, H.C.J., Beddington, J.R., Crute, I.R., Haddad, L., Lawrence, D., Muir, J.F., Pretty, J., Robinson, S., Thomas, S.M. and Toulmin, C., 2010. Food security: the challenge of feeding 9 billion people. science, 327(5967), pp.812-818. Hekkert, M.P. and Negro, S.O., 2009. Functions of innovation systems as a framework to understand sustainable technological change: Empirical evidence for earlier claims. Technological forecasting and social change, 76(4), pp.584-594. Jansen, L., 2003. 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