Theme: Knowledge transfer and the creation of research and technological capabilities in transnational cooperations in Latin America
Speakers: Sara Valencia and Abel Villa
Date: Thursday 28th January 2016
Time: 2-3:30pm.
Place: Seminar room (Rm 1.06), Old Surgeons' Hall, High School Yards (http://www.issti.ed.ac.uk/about/how_to_find_us)
Abstracts:
Knowledge production inside multinational clinical trials: vaccine evaluation in Colombia, Brazil and Mexico
Sara Valencia (PhD candidate, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies)
Currently in Latin America, pharmaceutical companies are conducting multinational clinical trials (MCT) to introduce a vaccine for a pandemic tropical disease in the region. The approval of vaccines lies on reliable scientific evidence that demonstrate that the product is safe, efficacious, and efficient to be used on humans. To obtain this data, a protocol is designed and implemented in different localities at the same time. However, coordinating MCT in the region to produce standardized, compatible, and reliable results is challenging. Firstly, the diverse number of actors involved in the trials (pharmaceutical companies, Contracted Research Organizations, research teams, regulatory agencies and ethical review boards) implies the creation of interconnected and individual strategies to manage their internal and external knowledge, expertise, and capabilities. Secondly, the difference between countries on their regulations, technological capabilities, and social aspects affects directly the development of the trial. Using a multi-disciplinary perspective, this PhD project aims at identifying and analysing the challenges and strategies implemented by the actors to mobilize, learn, and produce scientific knowledge on multinational clinical trial conducted in Colombia, Brazil, and Mexico.
The role of regional innovation systems (RIS) in creating technological capabilities (TC) in the agricultural sector of Northwest Mexico: the cases of Sonora and Baja California Sur
Abel Villa (PhD candidate, Science, Technology and Innovation Studies)
Technological capabilities of firms have been regarded as an important strategic resource enabling them to achieve competitive advantages. In emergent economies, the presence of Transnational Companies (TNC) in regions or localities change the behaviour and thus the dynamics of local companies when it comes to adding value to their products. These linkages are known as Global Value Chains (GVC), where international linkages can play a role in accessing technology and knowledge and enhance the learning process and innovation. In this sense, agriculture in Mexico, especially in the Northwest region, has undergone changes as a result of presence of TNC, where they have created interactions with global markets. In this context, it has not been explored how this learning process takes place in primary sectors like agriculture nor considers the participation of firms in GVC. In addition, the Northwest region of Mexico shows signs of a locus where the generation of scientific knowledge oriented towards the needs of sectors, the social cohesion, the trust generated among the civil society, business and their willingness to cooperate may influence the learning process of firms to build Technological Capabilities. This research project aims to understand how firms that participate in GVC generate technological capabilities, but also how actors and institutions that are present in a region may have taken part in the learning process of Technological Capabilities.
For more information or to apply for presentation, please contact:
Justyna Bandola (s1471808@sms.ed.ac.uk)
Anna Kuslits (s1469844@ed.ac.uk)