Technology Transfer and Adoption of Technology

The 2nd millennium BC is characterised in the Eastern Mediterranean (Aegean, Egypt, Levant) by the emergence of the palatial systems, and the development of luxury craft productions. Among them, goldwork and stone vases industry were among the most flourishing, particularly in Minoan Crete and Egypt. The growth of trade and contacts between the Aegean and the Orient, during the 2nd and 1st millennia BCE, supported the spread of ideas and finished objects. Craftsmen also travelled from one centre to another, bringing with them their tools and knowledge. The two specific case studies presented here (goldwork and stone vessels productions) were recently reconsidered using multidisciplinary approaches in order to identify the manufacturing techniques employed in the diverse regions. These researches have demonstrated that technical processes in Crete were the result not only of transfer from the Orient but also of local innovations and adaptations of the new techniques. The centres of production used and improved localknowledge, but aselection and integration of foreign processes were also practiced. In the stone vessels industry the latter processes were then generally rearranged and adapted to the local repertoires of shapes. However, Minoan gold craftsmanship demonstrates a development of local know-how and experiences readily observable in practicing the techniques of filigree and granulation, while inspiration by and affinity with the Eastern Mediterranean does exist through the 2nd millennium BCE. These technological studies also point out the necessity of direct contacts between craftsmen to allow the diffusion-transmission of techniques. Moreover, it is demonstrated that exchange and transmission were not limited to a single path, but that mutual and multidirectional ways between regional centres existed.

Keywords: Technological transfer; Luxury craftsmanship; Goldwork; Stone vessels; Eastern Mediterranean

El objetivo de este artículo es contribuir a la construcción
de documentación sobre el fenómeno de la transferencia
de tecnología (TT) y, especialmente, la transferencia de
tecnología informática (TTI) en Colombia. Se considera
que el fenómeno ha sido revisado desde una perspectiva
descriptiva y diagnóstica a partir de datos estadísticos
(encuesta de desarrollo e innovación tecnológica - EDIT),
por tanto se considera que se requiere una aproximación
metodológica distinta que rinda resultados aplicables a las
organizaciones empresariales de distintos sectores. Tales
resultados son artefactos de ingeniería: modelos y
métodos, que instrumentalizados entreguen a las empresas
la capacidad para evaluar la conveniencia de la TTI y medir
su impacto. Se trata de un proyecto formulado en la línea
de investigación Gentics: gestión y transferencia de nuevas
tecnologías de informática y comunicaciones, del grupo
de investigación Equis (EQuipo de Investigación en
Software).

Aquaculture has experienced spectacular growth in the past decades, during which continuous innovation has played a significant role, but it faces increasing criticism regarding its ecological and social sustainability practices and the resulting challenges for future innovation processes. However, in the aquaculture literature, there is limited systematic knowledge of how innovation has been approached in terms of how the focus and the scope of aquaculture innovation processes are understood and managed. The objective of this paper is therefore to analyse the different approaches to innovation used in aquaculture development. We conducted a systematic review of the aquaculture literature, using an analytical lens derived from three main bodies of literature on approaches to conceptualize and manage innovation: Technology-driven, Systemic, and Business and Managerial approaches to innovation. One hundred publications were selected from the aquaculture literature covering the topic of aquaculture innovation. Analysis identified the Transfer of Technology approach as still the predominant approach to aquaculture innovation; and, even with the integration of elements of Systemic approaches, most studies remain focused on the farm level and are technology driven. Multi-dimensional studies, integrating technical, biophysi-cal, political, and institutional dimensions of innovation in aquaculture were found, but studies analysing interactions between levels remain scarce, have a strong emphasis on the institutional dimension, and lack focus on the management of the innovation process. Studies with cross-fertilizations between different approaches to aquaculture innovation are limited but address specific research questions regarding the extent to which specific target groups are included in interventions and the need to incorporate diverse dimensions in analysing innovation processes. Our analysis suggests that aquaculture research and technology design that feeds into aquaculture innovation could benefit from innovation management approaches that integrate constant feedback from users, especially when specific groups are being targeted for better inclusiveness, and thus could better foster multi-directional interactions between multiple actors connected to aquaculture systems. This would help to elevate the analysis from just the farm and improve the integration of institutional, political, economic, and socio-cultural dimensions for better management of the innovation process. The study of aquaculture innovation needs to take into consideration the important role of private sector actors and make better use of systemic approaches to further elucidate the multi-dimensional and multi-level interplays in complex aquaculture systems. Ultimately, in-terdisciplinary research on aquaculture innovation could deliver significant insights supporting the development of a resilient and sustainable aquaculture sector. Statement of relevance: Using an analytical lens derived from the literature on innovation approaches, this study systematically analyses approaches to innovation used in aquaculture development. We identify the main trends and existing gaps in aquaculture innovation research and then discuss the potential complementarities between different approaches to innovation in order to better understand and support innovation in the aquaculture sector.

In Colombia, there is a trend in the transfer of technology that affects endogenous innovation and technological development in the field of telematics. This can be evidenced in the following symptoms or consequences: (i) The amount of Telematic goods and services that are imported is significantly higher to the amount exported, (ii) Particular projects in the Colombian context require specifically developed Telematics technology and, (iii) The high costs of technology due to the mismatch between imported telematic goods or services to our context and those designed for a different context. The above problem has at least two immediate causes. The first one deals with a low amount of human talent trained to participate in technological innovation processes. The second one corresponds to an aspect of financial nature, associated with low investment in research and technological innovation in the country. This bias in education, primary and secondary, precludes a vocation towards technological innovation that is crucial to the shortage of students in engineering programs. In higher education this bias has produced engineers oriented to transfer and technological maintenance, away from creation, invention and innovation. These are obstacles to the level of mental models or approaches stemming from our cultural context.
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RESUMEN
En la sociedad colombiana domina una tendencia a la transferencia de tecnología que se contrapone a la innovación y desarrollo tecnológico endógeno en el campo de telemática. Lo anterior se evidencia los siguientes síntomas o consecuencias: (i) La importación de bienes y servicios telemáticos es significativamente mayor a la exportación de los mismos; (ii) Los problemas particulares del contexto colombiano que requieren tecnología telemática a la medida, quedan desatendidos y se acentúan con el tiempo y; (iii) Los altos costos, de diverso tipo, por concepto de desajuste del bien o servicio importado a nuestro contexto, pues, fue concebido para un contexto fuente con diferencias. El problema anterior tiene al menos dos causas inmediatas. La primera se refiere a que el país no cuenta con talento humano suficiente y con la formación adecuada para participar en procesos de innovación tecnológica. La segunda corresponde a un aspecto de índole financiero, asociado a la baja inversión destinada a investigación e innovación tecnológica en el país. Este sesgo en la educación, primaria y secundaria, imposibilita una vocación hacia la innovación tecnológica que resulta determinante en la escasez de estudiantes en los programas de ingeniería. En la educación superior este sesgo se traduce en ingenieros orientados a la mera trasferencia y mantenimiento tecnológico, lejanos de la creación, invención e innovación. Estos constituyen obstáculos al nivel de modelos mentales o modos de pensar propios de nuestro contexto cultural.

Research from academia, in general, should benefit society and for this to occur, technology transfer must take place. Within the scope of the Brazilian Institutes of Science and Technology (ICT), this transfer function is the responsibility of the Technological Innovation Nucleus - NIT. This sector has as one of its competencies the management of the transfer of technology, however, it is necessary to establish management tools that allow the transfer of technology to happen. In this sense, the present study proposed Technology Transfer (TT) processes within the scope of IFAM, to have a systematic view of the process, thus improving the interaction of NIT with researchers and the productive sector. To elaborate the process, a bibliographical review related to the research topic was carried out, interviews with IFAM employees, a survey of TT processes with NIT coordinators, and the National Institutes Innovation Pole at a national level. From the information collected, technology transfer processes were proposed through Licensing, Assignment of industrial property rights, Non-patented and non-patentable TT or know-how, to contribute to the development of technology transfer strategies. within the scope of IFAM.
Having worked over twenty years at Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK) in Finland, I have come to few conclusions of how educational institutions, at all levels, could play an important and significant role in this change in the world of work.
First of all, we must understand that learning as such is an important skill to be trained. It is important now and even more important in the future. We will be married to a technology revolution, where algorithms are our closest colleagues and supporters. At the same time, creativity and a creative mind will be valued highly.  As the world of work around us is constantly reshaped, we must have a mindset of a continuous learner. As educators, we are responsible in every possible way fostering our students learning capacity. In this book, we will enlighten through the example of Lapassion Manaus, how learning can become an innovative and emotional moment for both students and coaches.
As learning itself being the skill for the future, I also speak for active learning instead of passive learning. With passive learning, I refer to the traditional “following the lectures and taking the exams” -way. Instead, I have throughout my career developed and supported methods, where students being active participants play the main role and where the teacher gets more guiding and coaching role. Memorizing is not playing the main role. There are many ways to organize possibilities for active learning. In Lapassion projects, we aimed at creativity and team learning in an international context. In these projects, we were looking for different kinds of solutions. There were no right answers, only different suggestions as solutions.
Perhaps the most significant joy of my career has to do with the development of the teacher’s role during these years. It has adopted more and more the role of the coach. One of the most important roles of the coach is to create challenging learning moments for the students.  That includes systematic reflection and feedback both ways. A good coach also knows how to excavate the best out of the students. It is also important to bush the students towards the unknown and new. This holistic role is, to my mind, the answer for creating and organizing better learning for the new world of work. In the Lapassion project coaches were trained before every challenge. Becoming a good coach is a long process but every small step is important. In general training teachers and coaches in their pedagogical skills is relevant and crucial for all educational institutions.
Traveling around with the Lapassion project has proved to me again one thing: the students all over the world are amazing. They are creative if we just let them. They take responsibility if we just let them. They are our Future.

Dr. Carita Prokki
Director, Continuous Education
Tampere University of Applied Sciences (TAMK)
Finland