APÉNDICE C. CÉDULAS TERRITORIALES

Technology has been in the spotlight of urban economic studies for decades. Since before the 1980s it has been considered that the (high) technology industry is the engine of economic growth of cities. Technopoles to promote them by linking them with research institutions emerged in different points of the planet 8_{, and science parks were established in the cities. The high} technology industry was highly mobile, very much internationalised, and very dependent on research and development (R&D). It also relied heavily on ICTs, which were, at that time, rapidly evolving to support the new informational needs of the high technology industry, as information gathering, processing, managing and, some years later, the exchange of information. Gradually, the emphasis in economic importance shifted from the traditional production processes to the production of knowledge9 _{and the knowledge sector became a fast-growing area of the global} economy. The share of high-technology products in international trade doubled between 1990 and 1994, from 12% to 24% (UNDP, 1999).

In the 1990s two important trends have become visible in the R&D sector at global level. The first one is the privatisation of research, which has been linked to decreasing public funds for science and technology. The second trend is the shift away from developing countries. Research and development in developing countries has decreased from 6% of the global R&D in the mid-1980s to 4% in the mid-1990s (UNDP, 1999). Further, foreign investments for R&D in ICT, which offer good opportunities for technology transfer, is heavily concentrated in South- East and South Asian countries (UNCTAD, 2002).

Technology and knowledge-intensive firms often locate in large cities and metropolitan areas, where they can have access to highly-qualified workers, but also to a variety of educational, cultural and research activities. For this reason, the large metropolises of the region concentrate the knowledge and technology intensive industry. But, a look at the regional knowledge landscape in Latin America does not give an optimistic picture. The region lags in domestic technology effort and has a weak R&D base (UNIDO, 2003). Compared to emerging economies in South- East Asia, Latin American countries have addressed far less resources to knowledge and technology programmes and cooperation between industry and universities. In general terms, Latin American national governments have not promoted local innovation environments, letting the initiatives in hands of the private sector. Due to their (mainly extractive and tertiary) type of activities, however, the private sector has not prompted sufficient technology demands to work in close contact with local knowledge institutions and universities, to generate a ‘virtuous circle’ between technology innovation, growth and investment 10 _{(Moguillansky, 2003).}

Box 5.1 shows the main issues of Latin America regarding education and technology.

Brazil constitutes the only exception to the traditional low interest of Latin American governments in technology development. Brazil is broadly considered a success story by its government’s strong commitment to research and technology. In 1999 Brazil spent 0.9% of their GDP in R&D, and the goal is to get close to the 2% spent by countries as France, the Netherlands and Belgium (Ministério da Ciência y Tecnología, 2002). As a consequence of these policies, since 1996 the number of citations of Brazilian scientists has increased three times faster than the rate at global level and the country ranked 17th _{at global level in 2001 (Sardenberg, 2001). Brazil} has achieved high FDI growth rates in software industries, telecommunications equipment and bio-technology. In terms of government usage of ICT, Brazil ranks 10th _{out of 82 countries in the}

Box 5.1. Education and technology in Latin America

A recent World Bank report Closing the Gap in Education and Technology (De Ferranti et al., 2002) addresses Latin America's main deficits in skills and technology. Educational attainment at regional level is low in comparison with East Asian countries. Argentina and Chile have an educated population, but other large or even relatively affluent countries, as Venezuela, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Brazil, have great educational deficits. On average Latin Americans have 1.4 years fewer in education than would be expected for their income levels, although there are high performer countries such as Peru.

A second disadvantage noted in the World Bank report is the uneven distribution of education among adults. While in some countries there are relatively high portions of people with tertiary education, there are also high numbers of people with few years of schooling. Although primary school enrolment in the region has an adequate level, most countries present problems in secondary enrolment and some in tertiary education On the other hand, the Latin American countries have a good stock of scientists and engineers for their income levels. Enrolment rates in science and technology are not low on average. Bolivia, Peru and Costa Rica have a relative abundance of scientists and engineers, while Colombia and Venezuela have relatively few.

The report asserts that access to foreign or domestic technology is low in the region. Import penetration in general and import penetration of capital goods are both low. Workers have access to fewer computers than in East Asian countries. Besides, the average R&D expenditure per person and as percentage of the GDP is also low. Table 5.3 shows the figures for the largest countries of Latin America, East Asian ‘tigers’ (Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore), and resource-abundant countries (Australia, Canada, Finland, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden).

Total R&D per worker

(US$) R&D as percentage of GDP

Latin America 35.6 0.5%

East Asian tigers 329.6 2.2%

Resource abundant countries 725.4 1.9%

Table 5.3 Expenditures in Research and Development in Latin America (Source: World Bank, 2002).

The report concludes that Chile, Mexico, Uruguay and Argentina are better positioned in the knowledge economy, while Brazil, Colombia, Costa Rica, Peru, and Venezuela, still need more specialised skills. Although Brazil has large number of universities and technology centres, its high level of inequality places it in the second group. Bolivia, Ecuador and other Central American countries have few innovation-related institutions such as universities and research centres and need to invest for the long term.

Global Competitiveness Ranking made by the World Economic Forum (2003). Brazil is the third developing economy in R&D expenditures financed by productive firms (see Table 5.4), having spent 1.8 billion dollars in its Information Society Programme (Sardenberg, 2001).

Country Percentage of the total R&D South Korea 53% Taiwan 14% Brazil 12% China 6% Singapore 3% South Africa 3% India 2%

Other developing countries 7%

Table 5.4. Leading developing countries economies in R&D financed by productive enterprises in 1998 (Source: UNIDO, 2003).