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International Journal of Arab Culture, Management and Sustainable Development

 

Special Issue on: "Innovation and Technology Management in the Arab Region"

Guest Editors:
Miltiadis Lytras, University of Patras, Greece
Patricia Ordonez De Pablos, University of Oviedo, Spain

Research and development, particularly as performed by central R&D institutions, is considered the main source of technological innovation in the Arab region. R&D activities in the Arab countries have been popular and effective in the more traditional disciplines. Indeed, the prevalence of research organisations that specialise in agriculture and related subjects, including forestry, water and irrigation research, is noteworthy. Equally significant are the research organisations that specialise in health and related disciplines, as well as education, management and economics.

However, research organisations in the field of engineering, including computer engineering, microelectronics and energy technologies, have a lesser share of R&D activity. Moreover, there is modest R&D capacity in such areas as oil and gas, and water desalination in the countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), even though these sectors constitute a major proportion of GNP in those countries.

Egypt leads the Arab countries with regard to the total number of research organisations, followed by Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. Within the context of affiliations of R&D organisations in the Arab region, the majority of institutes are Government-funded, followed by university institutes and, trailing far behind, private R&D institutes.

So, R&D activity in the region is very fragmented. There is a clear need to coordinate and streamline science and technology activities in order to reduce duplication and conserve R&D resources. These issues are expressed in almost all policy documents and related pronouncements. In some countries, coordination committees have been set up for this purpose, and efforts have been made to undertake joint R&D at national and regional levels. However, these efforts remain insufficient.

This Special Issue offers a unique window to observe the state of the art of innovation and technology management that will chart the course of the future in the Arab region.

Subject Coverage
Topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Total innovation management
• Managing open innovation
• Managing indigenous innovation capability
• Innovation policy
• National/regional innovation systems
• Knowledge management
• Globalisation of R&D and Technology Transfer
• Managing core technology and competence
• Measurement of R&D performance
• Managing the human side of innovation
• IT innovation and e-commerce
• Managing service innovation
• Entrepreneurship, venture capital and innovation

Notes for Prospective Authors

Submitted papers should not have been previously published nor be currently under consideration for publication elsewhere

All papers are refereed through a peer review process. A guide for authors, sample copies and other relevant information for submitting papers are available on the Author Guidelines page

Important Dates

Contact with Editors: ASAP

Manuscripts due by: 1 June 2008

Notification to authors: 15 June 2008

Final versions due by: 10 July 2008