Reflections on Globelics 2011

BUENOS AIRES: The Global Network for Economics of Learning, Innovation, and Competence Building Systems (GLOBELICS) is an international network of scholars who apply the concept of ‘learning, innovation, and competence building system’ in developing countries, emerging economies and societies in transition.

This year the Globelics conference was held from 15th-17th November in Buenos Aires. Considering the large number of presentations and variety of research topics, the conference was well organized and the hosts did a splendid job to make the Buenos Aires conference a memorable one.

The event was like a walking bibliography of innovation studies and development, with many big names being present there. As in previous years, UNU-MERIT had a strong presence at the conference, and all our researchers, alumni and former visiting fellows made it feel like a family reunion.

Our director Luc Soete delivered one of the keynote speeches and then a group of UNU-MERIT senior scholars, researchers and PhD fellows presented their research, including Pierre Mohnen, Jacques Mairesse, Shyama Ramani, Micheline Goedhuys, Michiko Iizuka, Jojo Jacob, Francisco Aguayo,Salih Cevikarslan, Radhika Perrot, Alejandro Lavopa, Shuan SadreGhazi, Ezequiel Tacsir, Lilia Sturbin, Giorgio Triulzi and Daniel Vertesy.

What was interesting in this year’s conference was a special track on social and sustainable aspects of innovation, which were discussed under the theme ‘Inclusive Innovation’. In Latin America, with increasing inequality, ‘social warming’ has become a hot topic. IDRC Canada, which was one of the sponsors of the conference also organized an invitation-only workshop after the conference to discuss a new research agenda on Innovation for Inclusive Development. From UNU-MERIT, Shyama Ramani, Michiko Iizuka and Shuan Sadreghazi took part in the workshop.

It was also announced that next year’s Globelics conference will be held in Hangzhou, China, which the Chinese delegate referred to as ‘Paradise on Earth’.

Shuan Sadreghazi, PhD Fellow, UNU-MERIT

UNU-MERIT