IN-DEPTH EVALUATION OF SELECTED UNIDO ACTIVITIES ON DEVELOPMENT AND TRANSFER OF TECHNOLOGY Common Issues and Conclusions Prepared by* United Nations Industrial Development Organization

The report describes first the context and evolution of Programme evaluation in UNIDO and how this particular evaluation on development and transfer of technology concentrated on five components namely: The UNIDO/UNEP National Cleaner Production Centers (NCPCs) Technology Centers Technology Business Incubators and Technology Parks Transfer of Technology on Subcontracting Information Services in Support of Development and Transfer of Technology In the context of this evaluation, we define technology as technical information relevant to production. This definition, which follows Teitel (1993), also has the advantage of avoiding complicating distinctions between technology which is embodied (as hardware), or disembodied (for instance as blueprints), distinctions between know-how and know-why, etc, which arise in some definitions of technology. In the final analysis, hardware and software, know-how and know-why, can all be boiled down to the information of which they and their components are comprised. The accent of the evaluation is on transfer rather than development of technology since, under all five components the majority of activities relate to transfer. Despite the validity of the concept behind each component, their applications cannot be indiscriminate. The concepts are particularly applicable in higher strata of industrialization and should respond to market needs. On their own, they cannot create the demand. At any rate the relevance and applicability in each case has to be carefully analyzed. Sustainability is another common critical issue. It was found that by and large the institutions established/supported even in well functioning market oriented economies cannot survive if their services, particularly to SMEs are not subsidized. The scope of technology actually transferred by interventions in any of the components in isolation is limited. This should not be construed as a negative conclusion since the technology used by industrial enterprises originates in the combination of a number of actions, such as joint ventures, licensing, purchase of machinery, consultancy and technology originated in the enterprises themselves. Given the scope of resources deployed by UNIDO, the impact achieved through UNIDO interventions can hardly be visible at the macro level where foreign direct investment and trade are the dominant factors of technology transfer and technology change. Implementation of technology changes recommended by technical cooperation projects and institutions established under these projects (in particular NCPCs, TCS and TBIs) usually involve investment and consequently financing. A common barrier to the introduction or upgrading of technology is the lack of or insufficiency of adequate financial instruments.