Getting relationships right in South-South Technology Transfer

Abraham Abhishek, Institute of Development Studies, Sussex University

Abstract

While the importance of South-South technology transfer is becoming increasingly evident in the context of low-carbon development, much remains unexplored as to how the process actually takes place. An important actor in the mechanism is the Private Sector, which serves to augment the relatively limited capital and managerial resources of Southern governments. It is also important to consider communities, the end users, as participants in the technology development and dissemination process rather than just passive recipients of technology, to ensure that technology works across the varied context of the global South.

South-South Technology Transfer can be viewed as a process between the Private Sector, Governments and the end-user Community, and the “enabling environments” can be described as the relationship between the three actors that facilitates the development and flow of appropriate technology. By studying the case of a successful relationship between a Lao-based private company, Sunlabob, a Ugandan private enterprise, the Ugandan Government and local communities, this essay attempts to draw out what made it work and the good practices that could be replicated elsewhere. In essence, the paper focuses on the example of the three actors communicating with each other to identify common objectives and sharing responsibilities in the technology transfer, such that the process acquired a set of clear, agreed-upon net objectives.