Emerging issues in the development and utilization of S&T indicators in developing countries of the ESCAP region

Development of S&T indicators is expected to provide policy-makers and planners with a broad information base to assist national development planning. While much methodological work has been undertaken to develop S&T indicators, these indicators have often failed to create effective policies for scientific and technological development. The majority of the existing S&T indicators have little relationship with what they are attempting to measure, how those measurements might be carried out, how would these measures help to create intervention strategies into an existing system and how would the strategies so created influence the working of the economic system. This article outlines a conceptual framework for designing effective S&T policies. The design problem is sliced into four systems relating respectively to a) resource base and environment; b) management of production units; c) domestic macro-economic policy; and d) global economic relations. These four systems and the variety of technological patterns they subsume must be carefully understood for creating an effective policy design. System dynamics method is identified as a decision-support methodology which offering an opportunity to experiment with various strategic options proposed and implemented in the past and to understand the various scenarios created under laboratory conditions. Such experimentation helps to explain the variability of the patterns experienced in the past while also pointing toward the critical elements for a successful policy framework for the future. Policy guidelines are outlined for an effective technology-based intervention.