How Important Research and Development Is to a Countrys Economic Viability - Essay Example

How important is Research and Development (R & D) to a Country’s economic viability? Research and Development (R& D) refers to any investigative activity that is conducted with an aim of increasing stock of the existing knowledge in a given subject, product or application. This is mainly done so as to make a discovery that can lead to development of a new technology, product or procedure or improve existing technology to a better one. Research and Development consist of four distinct types of activities namely: basic research, applied research, product and process development. Anderson (2000) states that basic research consist of all original experimental work that is done without any specific commercial aim, it is mainly done in education institutions like the universities. Applied research on the other hand refers to all experimental work that is done with a given aim in mind. Product development in the context of R&D refers to the improvement to an already existing product while the process development refers to improvement of existing processes or creation of new ones (Anderson, 2000). Different sectors of economy rely on R&D for their survival; this paper will illustrate in details how important Research and development is to economic viability of any country. In any country, the key to economic competitiveness and technological breakthroughs that improve people’s lives is innovation. This cannot be achieved without research; it’s through the basic research that technological innovations are fueled which is vital for a country’s science and technology sector and growth of highly skilled jobs. It is through the scientific and technological advances achieved by research that many countries have the ability to create remarkable new jobs, industries, improve the standard of living for people, and provide complex technology that ensures that a country security is guaranteed at all times. All these are the pillars of any country’s economy (Pavitt, 2001). For example, new industries ensures that a country is bale to create employments for its people, this in return boost the economy by ensuring that a country work force is utilized in the right manner to help the country achieve its economic target. Through research and development a country can be able to come up with science and technology that is used to manufacture sophisticated weapons used to safeguard the country security. Peace and stability of any nation is dependent on how well a country can defend itself from enemies and terrorists. All this cannot be achieved without the right weapons to do so, when a country has peace, it means that all the activities in all the sectors of the economy can be run smoothly. It is for this reason that many countries that have been engaging in war, their economy is at the verge of collapsing a good example of this being a country known as Somalia in Africa which has not had a stable government for a long time now. War not only interferes with the activities of a given nation but also destroys many of the infrastructures that are necessary for economic growth (UN, 2010). However, research and development has helped in development of many sophisticated equipments that are used in ensuring peace and stability in many countries. In this new era of science and technology, public commentators believe that there is an expanding role of knowledge in many countries as a source of value in information intensive economy. Many countries have apparently realized that new knowledge is the key in development of innovations that can be used to spur economic growth. It is for this reason that there is a lot of funding for scientific research in those countries that have realized the importance of research and development to their countries. According to Drucker (2006), the real controlling resource and decisive factor of production in any economy is neither land nor capital nor labor but it is knowledge. His theme has gained a lot of popularity in many policy documents. In one of the policy paper known as New Framework for Economic Policy (1994), in advanced countries Agenda for jobs and Growth, it was stated that information was replacing energy and raw materials as the key resource in creating economic value for those countries. According to this policy paper, a new drug, piece of software or a microchip has almost no material value because they are the pure embodiment of information that is inform of highly specialized knowledge. All these cannot be possible without research and development, the information and knowledge gained together with their application and technologies are the root of economic growth of any nation (Government of Canada, 2005). In recognition of the role played by research and development in a country’s economy, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) has labeled the emerging economic order as the knowledge based economy. This label is aimed at reflecting the role plaid by knowledge and technology achieved through research and development in economic growth. Consequently, the OECD economies have become more dependent on manufacturing, distribution and use of knowledge got from R&D than ever before, in rapidly growing, knowledge intensive service industries and high technology production industries. For the survival of knowledge based economy the science system is very important. This is why the support of public research laboratories and universities which are at the core of the science system is very important. Without these two, the research and development in a given country cannot be realized thereby blocking the economic benefits that would have been brought by the same (Organization for Economic Co–operation and Development, 2006). Education play a very important role in any country’s economy, this is the reason why matters regarding education are of great importance to a given nation. The quality of education provided at the institutions of higher learning such as the universities determine how beneficial these graduates will be to the nation. By exposing these graduates to scientific research at this early stage it means that they will have the right knowledge and skills when they are employed in different sectors of a country’s economy. Nelson (2002) states that the knowledge, training, expertise gained is very important in developing systems that can solve some of the complex problems often encountered in many industries. This will be very important in improving the efficiency with which a given industry has been operating and also improving the set standard of knowledge in that industry. In addition, the research knowledge brought by these graduates enables industries to increase their base of tactic knowledge and venture into new activities (Nelson, 2002). All these benefits go a very long way in improving the economy of a given country in a very big way. Research is the key to development of new instrumentation and methodologies. Through basic research the development of new instrumentation and methodologies is achieved. More often than not the economic impact of any basic research is mainly expressed through the medium of new instrumentation technologies. Due to many problems encountered in basic research, many researchers have been forced to invest and design new equipments to help them solve some of the challenges they might be encountering. These equipments although they are initially designed to solve a specific research problem, they often become useful in other areas. A good example of this process is the computer. The development of a computer was a product of scientific instrumentation needs where a lot of tedious and time consuming computational problem in research work needed to be solved (Rosenberg, 2005). Computers play a very vital role today in a country’s economy. They are utilized in almost all sectors of economy because they make work easier and the efficiency with which activities are performed has improved in a very big way. Computers also act as a medium of communication and the importance of communication to a country economy cannot be over emphasized. Research and development has played a very big role in the industrial sector, through development of systems and new engineered products that can effectively address the challenges faced in industries. One of the advantages of R&D in industrial set up is the use of robotics which has brought revolution in many manufacturing processes. A good example of this is the use of automation in manufacturing of motor vehicles, this has brought a lot of improvement in terms of the number of motor vehicles that can be manufactured during a given period and the quality of such vehicles can be guaranteed. This increase in the number of motor vehicles produced means that a lot to the economy of a country because it means that the demands of the consumers can be met at all times. In addition automation in many industries has made to increased product output hence a country can be able to produce goods both for domestic market and for exporting to other countries Nelson (2002). All these efforts would not be possible if the was no research and development since it’s through research that such innovations have been achieved. In the last couple of years, many countries have witnessed an increased use of internet in the corporate sector. Internet has brought many advantages as well as disadvantages. However the advantages brought by this resource outweigh the disadvantages it comes with. Through internet, many people have gained a lot of knowledge that has improved their quality of life in one way or the other. Unfortunately, the world has witnessed a growing collection of internet security threats in the past few years. According to Predd et al. (2002) in US the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) has identified vulnerabilities in cyber space as a matter of urgent national security challenge. Currently many corporate networks are increasingly at risk, malicious attacks have been on the rise, and terrorists and organized crime have improved their internet capabilities. All these threats are a reality and no organization or individual either in public or private sector is immune to them in this digital era. To overcome this problem there is a need for concerted and collaborative research efforts from different stakeholders. This is where research and development come in handy in ensuring that means guaranteeing internet security are achieved. Through R &D products like antivirus have been developed, this has ensured that attacks from suspicious malwares are minimized as much as possible. Such attacks often lead to loss of data for organizations which amount to millions of losses. By having means to secure internet usage, this contributed a lot in a country’s economy by avoiding such losses (Predd et al., 2008). Another sector of economy that has benefited a lot due R&D is the agricultural sector. It is estimated that by 2030 the world’s population will have increased to approximately 2.5 billion, with much of this growth affecting the developing countries. This being the case, food requirements are expected to double by 2025. Unfortunately many countries have observed decline in cereal production, and the present yield is below the rate of population growth. This means that without any intervention, this is a disaster in the waiting. It is for this reason that R&D has a very big role to play in that through it genetic modification (GM) of plants has been made possible. This will ensure the food security in a nation and hence a healthy population. Also through GM cure for disease causing organisms has been found. A healthy population can be able to drive the economy forward hence the importance of research in any country (Bumol & Watanabe, 2001). In conclusion, this paper has addressed some of the major advantages that are brought by R&D to any country’s economy. Research and development touch almost every sector of economy, there is need to increase knowledge in different field so as to be able to overcome some of the economic challenges that many countries are facing. Through R&D many innovations have come up, among them being automation in industries, development of new products, discovery of new medicines, and discovery of genetically modified plants which will guarantee food security in many countries. This means that R&D plays a very important role in economic viability of a given country. References Anderson, N. G. (2000). Practical process research &development. New York: Academic Press Bumol, T. F., & Watanabe, A. M. (2001). Genetic Information, Genomic Technologies, and the Future of Drug Discovery. Journal of the American Medical Association, 285 (5), 541–55. Drucker, P. F. (2006). Post–Capitalist Society. New York : Harperbusiness, Government of Canada (2005). Building a More Innovative Economy. Industry Canada: Ottawa. Predd, J., Lawrence, S., Hunker, J. & Bulford, C. (2008). Insiders Behaving Badly. IEEE Security andPrivacy, 6 (4), 59-70 Nelson, R.R. (2002). The Role of Knowledge in R&D Efficiency. Quarterly Journal of Economics,96(3),283-321. Organisation for Economic Co–operation and Development (2006). Science, Technology and IndustryOutlook. OECD: Paris. Pavitt, K (2001). ‘What Makes Basic Research Economically Useful?’, Research Policy, 20, 109-119. Rosenberg, N. (2005), ‘Scienctific Instrumentation and University Research’, Research Policy, 21, 381-390 United Nations (2010). Economic and Social Survey in Africa. New York: Cengage. Read More