2011 South East Asian Regional Workshop on Science, Technology, and Innovation Indicators

1. 2011 South East Asian Regional Workshop on Science, Technology, and Innovation Indicators Hanoi, Vietnam 5-8 December 2011 Dr. Chan Roath, Director, Department of Scientific Research, MoEYS & Mr. HakPonnara, Focal Point, COST Cambodia

2. Content of Presentation A) priorities concerning STII B) experiences on innovation survey C) suggestions for regional collaboration

3. A) priorities concerning STII: 1. Cambodia in a Regional & Global Context 2. Building the Potential of STME for Cambodia’s Innovation System 3. STME System Issues

4. 1. Cambodia in a Regional & Global Context • OECD work shows innovation as a new basis for competitiveness • Other countries responding to a cooperative imperative • Rapid regional industrialisation and development creating changing opportunities • S&T not directly in development plan and no implementation strategy • Yet, need a strong S&T platform for future development - otherwise Cambodia will lag further behind.

5. Cambodian Social Science and Science Publication, 1990 – 2008 Source: Science citation index Web of science Cambodia STEM Presentation 1

6. Scientific papers and Co-authorship: 1998-2008 Cambodia Presentation 5-8/12/2011

7. Scientific Papers and Citations 1998 - 2009 Cambodia STEM Presentation 1

8. Scientific Publications by Field of Science: 2000-2007 Cambodia STEM Presentation 1

9. 2. Building the Potential of STEM for Cambodia’s Innovation System • Four key Challenges; • Establish anational approach to STI policy • Produce and engage a supply of highly skilled scientists, engineers and technicians • Develop and enhance linkages between S&T institutions and with the private sector. • Monitor and review progress in the context of the national innovation

10. a: Establishing a national approach to STI policy • No single ministry with overall responsibility • 33 universities under 11 ministries • At least 8 ministries with some S&T responsibilities • Need for cross-government coordination • Need to identify key agency with coordination responsibilities • Need for national R&D priorities • Enhancing public awareness of S&T potential

11. b: Producing and engaging a supply of highly skilled scientists, engineers and technicians • Rebuilding the training system • No coordinated policy for training, attracting and retaining scientific and technical personnel • Balancing rural urban development • Linkages between different levels of institutions: • eg universities - public/private • High schools / universities • Secondary schools/high schools • Establishing a central national laboratory

12. c: Developing and enhancing linkages between S&T institutions and with the private sector. • A weak but emerging private sector • Need for national training priorities • Need for national R&D incentives • Private/public cooperative training systems • Using foreign firms as training organisations

13. d: Monitoring and reviewing STEM progress in the context of the national innovation • No single agency responsible for national innovation strategy • Establish STEM review process as part of national indicators for development • Include STEM as part of innovation progress in national development indicators • Undertake periodic data collection for analysis and policy review

14. 3. STME System Issues • Poor or non-existent collection and exchange of information concerning research/teaching strengths, knowledge inputs and outputs; • No policy making science council or co-ordinating committee; • No research funding council (no systematic funding stream); • No research policy (national priorities); • Current R&D Unit understaffed and insufficiently focused.

15. a) Institutional Structures: some change options • Research and Innovation Fund • To administer a research budget; • Peer review system; • Receive and assess proposals and monitor outputs and impact using expert panels etc.; • Administration provided by STI Policy Unit.

16. b) Education Issues – University issues • Laboratory equipment often isolated and not shared extensively nor in any systematic way; • Suitability and effective exploitation of existing international links is not clear; • Position of technical training in relation to universities needs to be reviewed

17. c) Education Issues – primary and secondary • Lagging mathematics and science curriculum and pedagogy • Limited opportunities for talented math and science students to progress through the system • Limited talent flowing into vocational streams.

18. B) experiences on innovation survey 1. National Innovation System Analysis 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS 3. Opportunities and Challenges

19. 1. National Innovation System Analysis • National Innovation System → “a set of institutions whose interactions determine the innovative performance of national firms ---- Nelson →”constituted by elements and relationships which intersect in the production, diffusion and use of new, and economically useful knowledge”--- Lundvall

20. 1. National Innovation System Analysis (cont.) → Institutions – public, private, academe (international relations) • Arrangements - socio-political relations, legal framework, cultural factors → all countries have ways of doing things, their own “NIS”

21. 1. National Innovation System Analysis (cont.) → useful for benchmarking developing countries • Thus, we use the NIS framework • Note, will not carry out NIS analysis quantitatively – will only be descriptive in most parts

22. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS • Public Institutions → National Assembly – policies, laws, budget, development plans (SEDP, NPRS, NSDP) → Royal Government – prepares the plans, implements the programs ◊ Ministry of Planning ◊ Ministry of Economy and Finance ◊ S&T concerns – ad hoc committee of 8 Ministries headed by MIME with MoEYS;

23. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) Posts and Telecommunication; Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries; Public Works and Transport; Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction; Environment; Water Resources and Metrology; Health → Ministry of Commerce and Cambodian Investment Board Private Sector → Special Economic Zones – 21 proposed, 13 no investors yet, 8 with investments in garments, footwear, bicycle manufacturing, etc.

24. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) → Growth areas – garments, tourism and property development → Industries, primarily are SMEs in food, beverages and tobacco → No key industries - those that mark industrial economies - such as petrochemical, steel, machine tool, electronics, etc. → Financial sector and capital market just getting started

25. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) → Productive agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector but limited by lack of technology → Infrastructures (roads, ports, airports, power plants, transmission lines, distribution networks, telecommunication and Internet ) needing investments for upgrade Academies → 33 public and 44 private Universities and Colleges → Prestigious public institutions are RUPP, Institute of Technology, Royal University of Agriculture, Royal University of Fine Arts

26. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) → Present status – heavy teaching load, not too many with PhDs in discipline areas, very little research and publications, can offer BS mostly → Main Graduate school – Royal Academy, most number of senior scientists with PhDs but so far has not graduated a PhD → Universities and Royal Academy are not producing scientists and engineers with advanced training. For this, students go abroad with support provided by foreign institutions

27. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) • Arrangements → Within the public sector ◊ disjoint planning and allocating ◊ 8 Ministries in charge of S&T – can be confusing and may lead to absence of focus ◊ Thus, plans do not have a well-defined S&T component ◊ 11 Ministries in charge of 33 public universities – problems in planning programs to upgrade standards, improve efficiency in offering degree programs

28. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) ◊ Since heavily dependent on ODA, planning and programs must have been strongly influenced by foreign institutions → Within Private sector ◊ Industry organizations, which can promote industry concerns, are still very few → Public-Academies ◊ Dispersed supervision of tertiary institutions ◊ R&D support to science and engineering institutions is minimal ◊ Level of support to Universities must be minimal since faculty development programs and improvements in programs are dependent on external funding

29. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) → Public-Private ◊ MIME support for SMEs in 19 priority areas and technical help through labs established through foreign funding ◊ In response to complaints raised by business people on the cost and time to register a business, the government is improving the process ◊ Provision of incentives to attract foreign investment and establishment of Special Economic Zones

30. 2. Brief Review of Cambodia’s NIS (cont.) → Industry-Academy ◊ Apprenticeship of engineering students in firms ◊ Technical cooperation and country programmable aid by international agencies, countries, NGOs, development agencies, etc. ◊ In basic education, tertiary education, agriculture and fisheries, financial sector, infrastructures, industries, etc.

31. 3.Opportunities and Challenges • Tertiary Education → Advanced countries are generous in sharing knowledge in the sciences (not technology) → Coupled with ODA support, Cambodia can catch-up fast in the sciences → Challenge is for the local science community to develop culture of scholarship and excellence even during period of hardship

32. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) • Developing key advanced S&T areas → There are key technology areas that the country should start developing as early as possible. Expertise in these areas can be acquired by sending students to advanced countries then setting up laboratories as they come back. → Challenges are convincing the decision makers to prioritize these areas and inducing students abroad to come back and serve in the Universities

33. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) Technology Acquisition through ODA funded projects → A number of major infrastructures are being funded. Cambodian ministries should make sure that these projects are not done wholly by foreign engineering firms and knowhow is transferred to local firms. → The challenge is producing properly trained engineers and technicians by the numbers.

34. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) Strengthening the SME Sector → The biggest industry sector in terms of number of firms, employment and people directly served → Today, mostly in food, beverages and tobacco → Diversify in other areas through subcontracting arrangements → Technology support through labs and training programs of MIME → Challenge is how to provide capital and convince DFIs to make use of local SMEs

35. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) → Acquiring technology to increase production and promoting sustainable agriculture are needed. Fortunately, development agencies, foreign universities and laboratories and even NGOs are willing to transfer knowhow. → Challenge is to convince farmers and fisherfolks to make use of new techniques and to have access to capital for technology upgrade.

36. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) Industry Growth through SEZs → SEZs can contribute to industry growth and not just for property development. → Incentives will help but most countries offer the same incentives. → Again, focus on technology acquisition through various mechanisms. → Challenges are cost competitive infrastructures and huge supply of engineers and technicians.

37. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) Technology development in agriculture and fisheries → Rice production is much higher than the country’s requirement but export limited by lack of mills, etc. → Fish production is big but with limited market because of sanitary concerns → Rubber plantations are being privatized and are expected to increase production. Industry needs to move up the value chain.

38. 3.Opportunities and Challenges (cont.) Petrochemical Industry → The discovery of oil and natural gas may just be the opportunity for Cambodia to establish a key Second Wave Industry – petrochemicals. Important for agriculture, energy, plastics, etc. → Challenges are big – capital investment, human resources, management and organizational expertise

39. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration • The main point is for Cambodia to always focus on acquiring knowledge, narrow the technological gap and eventually take the lead in key areas.

40. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) Cambodia must develop the capability for S&T Planning → Start the field of Technology Management → Train people to be specific industry experts → The country must define a long-term S&T plan → The country’s decision makers should look into the possibility of drafting an industry development program

41. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) Tertiary Education → Establish the National Science, Technology and Engineering Research Center (NSTERC) → Establish the National Higher Education Coordination Committee (NHECC) → Sandwich Programs for advanced studies → Require return service for those sent abroad

42. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) Developing key advanced S&T Areas → NSTERC Proposal → In the long term, once the number of PhDs reach a critical level, many Universities (public and private) would establish specific laboratories for key advanced S&T areas → Provide research incentives such as ISI publication awards, research grants, etc. → Scientists should always vet their ideas by publishing in international journals

43. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) → The MIME and the first practitioners of Technology Management should convince the Council for the Development of Cambodia why the country should be supported in its technology acquisition

44. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) → Technology transfer would be facilitated by the establishment of SMEs that can do subcontracting work for foreign firms. This will also help in diversifying the SME structure, from the present food, beverages and tobacco to light industries, metalworks, etc.

45. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) Mechanism for providing capital to SMEs, rural areas for technology upgrading → Explore possibility of Grameen operation for technology upgrade in rural areas and SMEs → Establish fund for development of science and technology

46. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) Developing a National Science, Technology and Engineering Research Capability (NSTERC) in Cambodia. • A national science and engineering research centre? • A higher education coordination committee? • Harmonizing professional and technical training systems? • Enhancing the role of the Royal Academy in a national innovation system • Cross institutional sandwich programs • Establishing a national research funding system • Upgrade or strengthen all universities to full university status

47. C).Suggestions for regional collaboration (cont.) Enhancing capacity for science, technology and mathematics education in Cambodia • Cross institutional collaboration in teacher training and re-training • Remedial science and mathematics as a training priority • Guidelines for science and mathematics curriculum • Consistent recruitment procedures according to national policy • University / high school shared laboratory and workshop activities • Enhancing science and mathematics ‘ community awareness’ • Priority scholarships and international exchange • Establishing targets for teachers and teaching locations

48. Thank You.