ever changing needs of society to which the health sector has to respond, makes the health sector reform inevitable for any country worldwide. increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of health services, equity, sustainable financing and management improvement are the main objectives of health sector reform. healthcare reform was set high on the new administration’s agenda with the start of ...

Technology roadmapping has become an important foresight tool for science, technology, and innovation (STI) policy technology strategy development. There are, however, challenges in translating evidence from into the strategies of STI agencies planning research & development (RTD) organizations. While evaluation literature identifies methodological issues related to granularity, scope, stak...

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify and extract the implications of critical realism for science, technology and innovation policy-making as one of the later research traditions in social sciences. Nevertheless, its main focus, according to the different stages of the policy-making cycle and extent of its contributing factors, is on the stage of "policy evaluation". Methods: Thi...

Interrogating Irish Policies draws together 10 of the author’s papers published between 1976 and 2006 and adds a concluding chapter written specially for this volume. It provides a fascinating and thoroughly unique perspective on a range of important issues that are normally dealt with in isolation (when considered at all). Amongst these are how innovative lawmaking can substitute for microecon...

The relationship between technology and international competitiveness dates back to the neo-technological trade theories of the 1960s. This approach considers difference in technology as the primary motive for difference among nations in terms of trade performance. The technology gap approach emphasizes inter-country differences in innovativeness as the basis for international trade flows. The ...

Comments should be addressed to one of the authors: [email protected] Abstract The paper argues that science, technology and innovation (STI) play a critical role in expediting transition to a sustainable mode of development. Latecomer nations suffer from several disadvantages as they attempt to catch-up with the technological leaders, but they can enjoy latecomer advantages, if appropriate str...

Lehoux et al provide a timely and relevant turn on the broad and ongoing discussion around the introduction of health technology and innovation. More specifically, the authors suggest a demand-driven approach to health innovation that starts from identifying challenges and demands at the health system level. In this commentary, I review a number of underlying implications of their study in rela...

Many rich countries experience two opposite demographic trends: a growing number of elderly who will need care over a long period of time – and a decreasing work force of young people. This “gap” represents an economic and organisational challenge, and politicians in many countries expect welfare technologies – especially digital technologies – to contribute to bridging it. In this paper we rep...