Kansallinen innovaatiojärjestelmä ja paikallinen tieto Namibiassa (National innovation system and indigenous knowledge in Namibia).

Abstract

Namibia, a developing country in southern Africa, aims to become a knowledge-based<br />society with a well-established national innovation system (NIS). Development based<br />on knowledge and innovations is considered to increase sustainability and contribute<br />positively to poverty reduction in developing countries, even if this causality is also<br />contested. Based on policy document and key-stakeholder interview analyses, this<br />research takes a novel viewpoint to scrutinise NIS as a framework of sustainable regional<br />development in Namibia. Particular focus is placed on indigenous knowledge,<br />the new source of innovations and an opportunity to root NIS framework better to<br />local communities, and include bottom-up approaches in policies. The study concludes<br />that to achieve the objectives of sustainable regional development and poverty<br />reduction, both innovation and NIS need to be defined broadly, and to be based on a<br />synthetic knowledge base and indigenous knowledge. Finally, the NIS will only have<br />positive impacts on poverty reduction if it has been strategically designed to tackle<br />these challenges and is implemented accordingly.