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The Role of Science and Technology in Socio-Economic Sustainable Development

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 June 2023) | Viewed by 4406

Special Issue Editor

Faculty of Social Science, University of Slovenia, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Interests: research and development policies and strategies; development; SDGs; evaluation of R&D and innovation policies and instruments

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Throughout history, science and technology have influenced the direction and pace of socio-economic development. Today, with dynamic advances of science and new technological applications, the impact of S&T on economic development, especially in advanced economies, is significant, leading to exponential growth of investment in R&D and innovation. Often, the main motivation behind these investments is the improvement of the competitiveness of the national economies. At the same time, the world is facing a number of global challenges. These include the impact of climate change, protection of biodiversity, digital and emerging technologies including artificial intelligence, sustainability of natural resources, food security, to distribution of global income and sustainable socio-economic development. The role of science and technology is essential in finding answers to these challenges. Yet, the key question is how to best support research, which will aim at these global challenges and provide input in sustainable socio-economic development. With the Sustainable Development Goals, the global community has set itself a type of development it wants to pursue. To succeed in this, the role of science and technology is the key, yet only if the scientific research places SDGs as its primary motivation.  

The aim of this Special Issue is to explore what determines the focus of scientific research. With increased pressure on measurable outputs and commercialization of research results, is there room for research addressing societal challenges? How have developments in research ecosystems affected the settings of research priorities? Since global challenges are not an issue of a single discipline but require inter and transdisciplinary research, a question of appropriateness of the current research ecosystems is highly relevant: traditionally, the S&T system, the funding, the evaluation of proposed research and its impact assessment, and promotion criteria in research institutions have been based on a single disciplinary approach, leaving little room for new modes of research collaboration. Are there possible (largely unexplored) mechanisms to drive the direction of scientific research to respond better to the public benefit? In the past, we had theoretical and policy discussions on concepts such as appropriate technology, social shaping/ construction of science and technology, frugal innovation, etc., all looking for the orientation of science and technology towards topics important for socio-economic development. Can any of the lessons learnt be applied today to stimulate research focusing on sustainable development? 

The Special Issue, among other topics, looks at the shaping of science and technology strategies and policies in response to sustainable development, identifying problems, possible solutions, and good practices in developed and developing countries.  In this framework, contributions addressing the impact that local, national, and/or international policies on science and technologies have on the content and direction of scientific research are invited. What is the potential impact S&T may have on socio-economic sustainable development and where the barriers to increase societally relevant research are? How can we stimulate transdisciplinary research? How can we harness increased public–private partnerships in research to address topics related to sustainable development? Contributions with related arguments, in the form of both specialized and interdisciplinary manuscripts, are also welcomed.

I look forward to receiving your contributions. 

Prof. Dr. Maja Bučar
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • science and technology systems
  • socio-economic sustainable development
  • setting research priorities
  • S&T policies
  • transdisciplinarity

Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

29 pages, 2891 KiB  
Article
“Digitalisation” and “Greening” as Components of Technology Upgrading and Sustainable Economic Performance
by Randolph Luca Bruno, Monika Matusiak, Kirill Osaulenko and Slavo Radosevic
Sustainability 2023, 15(3), 1838; https://doi.org/10.3390/su15031838 - 18 Jan 2023
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1930
Abstract
This paper explores the pace and direction of technological development by using a technology upgrade conceptual and measurement framework. This approach is applied to a sample of 164 economies worldwide between 2002 and 2019. Within the framework of technology upgrading, the paper focuses [...] Read more.
This paper explores the pace and direction of technological development by using a technology upgrade conceptual and measurement framework. This approach is applied to a sample of 164 economies worldwide between 2002 and 2019. Within the framework of technology upgrading, the paper focuses on digitalisation and “greening” as its two significant structural features. We explore their relationship with different components of technology upgrading and the relationship between technology upgrading components and different indicators of macroeconomic productivity. We have adopted a longitudinal fixed effects regression method with control for unobserved heterogeneity, clustered standard errors, and time dummies. Our results show that the growth of research and development (R&D) capabilities does not translate into aggregate productivity growth. There is a lack of unconditional relationship between aggregate productivity growth, digitalisation and greening. However, there are “latecomer advantages” to basic digitalisation for lower middle- and low-income economies and “latecomer liabilities” in the greening of the economy for upper-middle-income economies. In addition, levels of digitalisation and greening do not correlate, suggesting these two transformation processes are not yet integrated into ‘ICT-assisted greening’. When we control for income levels, the impact of components of technology upgrading on productivity is isolated to specific components and significant only for some income groups. The absence of a significant simultaneous effects of several components of technology upgrading on productivity points to large transformation failures. We conclude that the role of science and technology systems in spurring sustainable development would require a broad scope for science and technology (S&T) policies, their coordination, and integration with non-innovation policies. Full article
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17 pages, 278 KiB  
Article
Living Labs and Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Symbioses Propelling Sustainable Innovation
by Julian Alexandrakis, Julia Hein and Jan Kratzer
Sustainability 2022, 14(19), 12729; https://doi.org/10.3390/su141912729 - 06 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1244
Abstract
Until recently, it had not been certain to what extent the integration of SMEs in Living Labs, as a special form of open innovation ecosystems, actually leads to successful commercialization of (sustainable) products and/or services. Today, while the effectiveness of publicly funded innovation [...] Read more.
Until recently, it had not been certain to what extent the integration of SMEs in Living Labs, as a special form of open innovation ecosystems, actually leads to successful commercialization of (sustainable) products and/or services. Today, while the effectiveness of publicly funded innovation projects is increasingly being debated, especially by European policymakers, who once hoped to solve the European paradox through this type of public-private-people partnership, this article can prove that in parts of the innovation process—and this includes, in particular, the sustainable innovation output—an increase in innovation performance on the site of the SMEs can be detected. Based on the concept of program evaluation, the effects on SMEs’ innovation are determined with a preliminary qualitative study. The impact of Living Lab projects on innovation output, activities, capabilities, and knowledge flows of 12 European SMEs are then empirically tested in a quantitative study. Significant effects on the innovation performance of SMEs resulting from participation in Living Labs are identified. According to this study, Living Lab projects mainly influence the sustainable innovation output and knowledge flows of SMEs. Full article
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