Integrating Science, Technology and Innovation in the National Development Planning Process : The Case of Uganda

• Science, technology and innovation plays a critical role in enhancing economic growth and contributing to national development. It is the means by which new products and services are developed or improved and brought to the market. However, to make this contribution, science, technology and innovation must be integrated in the national development planning process. Over the years, the integration of science, technology and innovation in Uganda’s national development planning has been implicit. Intentions to use science, technology and innovation as the vehicle for economic growth were evident in the country’s comprehensive development framework such as the Poverty Eradication Action Plan (1997 – 2008/09) and the National Development Plan (2010/11-2014/15). However, strategies of how to use it to bring about the desired outcomes of economic growth were lacking. The recent designation of science, technology and innovation in the National Development Plan of Uganda as a sector that provides institutional and infrastructural support to the production of goods and services demonstrates that integration of science, technology and innovation in development planning could be accomplished through endogenous efforts. But such inclusion of science, technology and innovation in the Plan should not be taken as an end in itself; rather it should be seen as a process. And implementation of the science, technology and innovation provisions of the National Development Plan ought to be undertaken within the context of the national innovation system.

Subject headings

SAMHÄLLSVETENSKAP  -- Medie- och kommunikationsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

SOCIAL SCIENCES  -- Media and Communications (hsv//eng)

Keyword

Innovation

Innovation System

Science

Technology

Uganda

Publication and Content Type

ref (subject category)

kon (subject category)