Governance of science, technology and innovation for food security in Africa: A conceptual framework for developing indicators
This paper (PDF) by professor John Ouma-Mugabe at the CTA website, lays out the conceptual framework for developing indicators for assessing the governance of science, technology and innovation (STI) in Africa. It is erected on the premise that the subject of ‘governance of science, technology and innovation’ is increasingly becoming part of academic inquiry and public policy discourse in Africa and internationally, yet there are no conceptual tools as well as empirically tested indicators for demonstrating what constitutes it. For clarity, and to make the distinction between government and governance, professor Mugabe identifies three key principles that underlie good governance and institutions: participation, accountability and transparency. The rule of law is at the core. Mugabe also distinguishes between politics and policy making and elaborates on two aspects of STI policy making: policy for STI (e.g. funding, and the pursuit, application, diffusion and adoption of knowledge) and STI for policy (use, organization and application of knowledge to improve decision making). Mugabe proposes a framework as well as indicator areas for the three elements of good governance and recommends that the framework be tested through a series of case studies.