RESEARCH and innovation have historically been the main drivers of economic growth more than financial investment. For that reason, investment in research and development has been the lifeblood of economic growth as it breathes new ideas, products and services onto the market. Countries that invest in knowledge creation and innovation tend to be trendsetters and enjoy stable economic growth. BY TAPIWA GOMO The essence of research lies in its ability to create new knowledge and innovative ideas — a process that often allows conversion of zero into items of economic value — with some focused on improving efficiency. Armed with new knowledge, societies can either sell the knowledge in patent form or as products produced out of the new knowledge. And that comes with economic power of knowledge. Research has always had a profound impact on human development, it was during the industrial revolutions of the 18th and 19th centuries, when technologies transformed Western societies from traditional means of production to technology-driven economic growth which had a huge impact on the standards of lives worldwide until today. Countries that were or are still epicentres of these industrial revolutions have experienced economic booms which made them superpowers. The influence of research and development on economic growth was also witnessed in Asia since the second half of the 20th century with countries such as South Korea ranking among the world’s leading innovative nations. Its economic transformation story is remarkable in that in the first half of the 20th century South Korea was a war-zone and an agrarian-based Japanese colony. As the country attained peace and adopted a protectionist policy in the 1960s, its leadership invested in research and development through its people and this made it a hub of global technology today. Its success was tailored on a top-down innovation approach aimed at promoting close collaboration between research centres, private sector, government and academic institutions as part of the broader nation building agenda. Coming out of a war and a troubled past, the leadership wanted to wean South Korea from technological imports and to establish a home grown industry. Research and development were central to the strategy mainly to identify new ideas and innovation spearheaded by the Korea Institute of Science and Technology and later the Science and Technology ministry. This gave rise to new large-scale technological industrial groups owned and controlled by South Korean individuals or families which later transmuted into big global corporates such as Samsung, LG, Lotte, Hyundai Group, Com2uS and several others mainly in the consumer electronics and gaming industries. Its strategy recognised the importance of investing in research and development through its people, probably a much cheaper and easier way of achieving economic growth with minimum borrowing from international financial institutions. What does a struggling country such as Zimbabwe need to do to strengthen its research and development?
