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Dr. Biswajit DharDirector General
Research and Information System for Developing Countries
New Delhi
Objectives of the Paper
Experience of technology transfer involving TNCsInfluence of intellectual property regime on North‐South transfer of technologyModels of South‐South technology transfer
Elements of Technology Transfer
Processes covering flows ofKnow‐howExperience and equipment for mitigating and adapting to climate change ... amongst different stakeholders such as
governments, private sector entities, financial institutions, non‐governmental organisations and research/education institutions
Comprises the process of learning to understand, utilise and replicate the technology, including the capacity to choose it and adapt it to local conditions and integrate it with indigenous technologies
Transfer of Technologies and Know‐howEffective adaptation, assimilation and dissemination in developing countries technologies that have been developed in the advanced countriesTechnology can be both embodied (capital equipment) and disembodied (pure “know‐how”)Successful technology transfer processes involves not only the transfer of “know‐how” but also the “know‐why”
North‐South Technology Transfer: The issues
Does foreign direct investment result in meaningful transfer of technology?What role do intellectual property rights (patents) play in the transfer and assimilation of technology?
The FDI‐Technology Transfer Link
Evidence that FDI results in technology transfer is at best mixedThe gains to the host countries takes place only in the presence of certain initial conditions
Local skills enabling successful adaptation, assimilation and disseminationLarge market size and macroeconomic stabilityHigh tariff walls – possibility of “tariff jumping”
In recent years, increasing presence of “short‐term”forms of capital in “FDI” has made the link more tenuous
Patents and Technology Transfer
Patents as a vehicle for technology transfer – what does the recent evidence tell us?
Patent applications by non‐residents are increasing in countries that have proven technical skills to imitate technology, e.g. India, China and BrazilLittle evidence of “spill‐over” – patent applications by residents are relatively low“Bad” patent are being used to pre‐empt entry of competitors in the market for technology
Access to technologies constrained because of enhanced rights granted to the patent holders
Evidence from market for environmentally sound technologies
Questionable Patents can Harm Innovation
“Bad” patents taken on products and processes based on traditional knowledge can stifle local systems of innovationBiotech firms avoid infringing questionable patents and refrain from entering or continuing in fields of research that have preponderance of such patentsSuch effects deter market entry and follow‐on innovation by competitors and increase the potential for the holder of a questionable patent to suppress competition
Questionable Patents Can Increase “Defensive Patenting” and Licensing Complications
In industries such as computer hardware and software, firms can require access to dozens, hundreds, or even thousands of patents to produce just one commercial productMany of these patents overlap, with each patent blocking several others.
The problem of “patent thicket”A “dense web of overlapping intellectual property rights that a company must hack its way through in order to actually commercialize new technology”Evidence from the US shows that the time and financial resourcesspent by software companies on creating and filing these so‐called defensive patents, which “have no . . . innovative value in and of themselves,” could have been better spent on developing new technologies
Problems with Licensing Patented Technologies
Abusive practices include a refusal to license patented technologies, restrictive licensingEvidence of patent abuse in the environmental protection
Private firms and even public institutions of industrialised countries refused to license ESTs like HFC‐134a, fuel cell and IGCC to Korean firms and R&D institutions
Local firms had to invest twelve‐million dollars over a six‐year period to develop their own technology
Implementation of the Montreal Protocol in India where Indian firms were refused licenses on patented technologies for substitutes for ozone depleting substances
These technologies were closely held by a small group of transnational companies, which could be operating as a cartel to control production
North‐South Technology Transfer: Constraints faced by the recipients
Technologies transferred may not be appropriate keeping in view their needs
Mismatch with their resource endowmentsDo not address their critical problems, e.g. in the health sector, diseases endemic to developing countries are not targeted
Huge technological gap between the North and the South limits the possibility of technology adaptation, absorption and disseminationTechnologies protected using intellectual property rights bring with them several problems
Access is limited because of high costs of licensingPossibilities of dissemination is circumscribed since “effective”transfer of proprietary technologies seldom take place
Owners of technologies are not known to transfer the “know why”essential for local absorption and dissemination
Dimensions of South‐South Technology Transfer
Offers options in a large number of sectors without compromising on the technological sophistication
Medical sciencesInformation technologyAlternative energy sources: bio‐fuels
Targeting small and medium enterprises thus offering solutions for use of locally resourcesCoping strategies for conforming with internationally recognised product standardsBuilding capacities for R&D institutions
Medical Sector Cases
Transfer of technology by Cipla Ltd to help establish a production facility for generic medicines in UgandaInitiative taken by an Indian institution to enter into collaborative ventures with Southern partners for mapping human genome sequences
Generic Medicines
Agreement between Govt. of Uganda, Quality Chemicals Limited and Cipla Ltd in 2007 to produce anti‐AIDS retroviral and anti‐malarial drugs
Cipla and Quality Chemicals each own 41.8% of the equity capital (February 2011)
The plant produces Duovir‐N: Uganda's first‐line treatment for AIDSThe unit plans to produce
Anti‐retroviral combination therapy triomune, containing lamivudine, stavudine, and nevirapineAnti‐malarial drug, Lumartem, containing artemisinin and lumefantrine
Government of Uganda made a commitment to procure the drugs for hospitals
Cipla’s Contribution in the Joint Venture
Cipla Ltd provided the following $4.2 million in equipment and technology Technical assistance and training
Responsibility of Quality Chemicals Ltd Identifying local scientists, engineers, and technicians equipped having the skills to get trained to manufacture pharmaceuticals in keeping with the quality‐processing methods
Benefits to Quality Chemical’s employeesInclude training and exposure to technology that will deepen the capacity of staff as
Knowledge workersPotential innovators
Importance of Cipla‐Quality Chemicals Partnership
Production facilities set up by Quality Chemicals Ltd could result in the following benefits
Besides Uganda, the venture aims at augmenting supplies in East African countries, including Burundi, Rwanda, Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan
Lower the cost of anti‐retrovirals and other drugs by reducing transport and customs costs and creating economies of scale
Price reduction expected in the range of 30‐35%Enhance employment opportunities for Uganda’s scientists, engineers, and technicians
Human Genome Sequencing
Frontier area of medical researchSuccessfully carried out in India by the Institute of Genomics and Integrated Biology (IGIB) under the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research of Govt. of India
Technology transfer takes place through a public‐private venture ‐ The Centre for Genomic Application (TCGA)
IGIB scientists have been the core of a consortium of Indian scientists who mapped genetic variation amongst the ethnically and linguistically diverse populations of IndiaImportance of the technology
Clinical application for diagnosis and treatment of various complex diseasesDevelopment of more efficacious and personalised medicines
Pharmacogenomics of drugs for asthma and epilepsy are being studied by correlating genetic variation to drug efficacy Spectrum of polymorphisms in genes linked to complex disorders like diabetes, cardiovascular and neuropsychiatric disorders in the Indian population are also being explored
The South‐South DimensionCollaboration of IGIB with institutions in Sri Lanka and Malaysia for genome sequencing of the local populationThe Sri Lankan Personal Genome ProjectThe first Sri Lankan Personal Genome was successfully sequenced by specialists in bioinformatics from the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka and the Institute of Genomics and Integrative Biology
Identifying the human DNA sequence variationsTo understand molecular processes of diseases and drug metabolic pathwaysTo assimilate knowledge and expertise and possibly co‐create resources which would enable the interpretation of data and its application in healthcare
The Malay Genome Re‐sequencing Project in collaboration with UniversitiTeknologi MARA, SelangorTo unmask the genome architecture and the wide spectrum of variation of population of South East AsiaTo produce a reference for mapping the disease causal variants and most importantly implications of molecular and personalized medicine
Positive “Spill‐overs” of the Initiative
Collaboration among publicly research institutions to generate large databases of critical information for diagnostics and preventive and curative medicinesDatabases will be in public domain enabling generation of non‐proprietary technologies
Would help promote “open source” initiatives in science and technologyMuch wider adoption in the developing world
Pan Africa E‐network Project: An Indian Initiative
Government of India initiative to set up infrastructure in African Union (AU) Members for providing
Tele‐education and Tele‐medicine services from Indian Universities and Super Specialty Hospitals To establish connectivity among the AU Heads of States
Project covers supply, installation, testing and commissioning of hardware and software, end to end connectivity, satellite bandwidth First phase of the Project, initiated in 2009, covers 11 countries
Tele‐medicine patient end locations have been set up in 11 Indian Super Specialty Hospitals Locations connected to 33 Patient‐End Hospitals in African countriesRegular tele‐medicine consultations have commencedMore than 1700 students from AU Member States have registered with Indian universities and they are being imparted tele‐education by Indian Universities
Technology and Capacity for BiofuelProduction: The Options
India involved in projects for transferring jatropha‐based bio‐diesel technology to other developing countries including Ghana, Indonesia, Mozambique, and the PhilippinesBrazil has taken a number initiatives to production of bio‐ethanol from sugarcane in partnership with Mozambique (under the Brazil‐EU‐Africa bio‐fuels agreement), Zambia and AngolaEmergence of China as a supplier of technology for bio‐fuel production based on cassava
China‐Nigeria joint venture for the production of invested about US$90 million in Nigeria for the production of 150,000 metric tonnes of cassava‐based bio‐ethanol
Technologies for SME Development in Africa
National Research Development Corporation, the technology licensing arm of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, the national network of R&D institutions in India, has launched a major initiative based on the following business model
Utilisation of locally available resources, especially agro‐basedHarnessing entrepreneurship for catalysing changeCreating employment opportunities, particularly for the women