Editorial

Citation

Ordoñez De Pablos, P. (2020), "Editorial", Journal of Science and Technology Policy Management, Vol. 11 No. 2, pp. 129-131. https://doi.org/10.1108/JSTPM-06-2020-127

Research, innovation and strategies for more efficient companies and economies

Introduction

Information technologies have impacted the functioning of the economy and societies. Artificial intelligence, Big Data, Internet of Things and machine learning create disruptive innovations, and companies and governments need to tackle these new challenges in the digital domain. Digital technologies can help to increase organizational productivity, global competitiveness, transform the live of citizens and bring prosperity for nations.

In this second issue of 2020, the journal offers a collection of six papers that provide insights and experiences on innovation from Nigeria, Indonesia, Thailand, OECD countries, Romania and Brazil.

Contents of the issue

The first paper, titled “Exposure to and usage of e-banking channels: implications for bank customers’ Awareness and Attitude to e-banking in Nigeria” (by Henry Egbezien Inegbedion, Emmanuel Edo Inegbedion, Samuel Jesuorobo Osifo, Sunday C Eze and Adebanji Ayeni) explores the topics of awareness creation and positive attitude of customers in e-banking. The goal of the paper is “to determine the extent to which consumers’ exposure to and usage of e-banking channels influence their awareness and attitude towards e-banking in Nigeria. The study used the quantitative research design; specifically, the conclusive research design was used and data collection was done through the survey method. The population of the study consisted of the customers of EcoBank, First bank and Zenith bank in Edo, Kogi and Kwara states of Nigeria. A structured questionnaire was used to elicit the desired data from 480 respondents selected from 30 branches of 3 banks in two states”. The results of the study conclude that “customers’ exposure to and usage of ATM, internet banking and mobile banking has significant influence on consumers’ attitude towards e-banking in Nigeria”.

The second paper, titled “Development of palm oil sector and future challenge in Riau province, Indonesia” (by Almasdi Syahza and Brilliant Asmit) explores the case of Riau Province (Indonesia) and the development of palm oil section and its future challenges. Using a survey to study the proposed research questions, authors find that the:

development of palm oil plantations results in land conversion, posing potential erosion in the western part of Riau. In anticipating environmental damage, the Government of Indonesia imposes the Indonesian Sustainable Palm Oil (ISPO) policy. The results of ISPO policy show that Indonesian crude palm oil (CPO) products are environmentally friendly.

Authors highlight that this study is one of few studies focused on these topics in Indonesia.

The third paper, titled “Trust and dynamic governance mechanisms in the university-industry R&D alliances” (by Somchai Ruangpermpool, Barbara Igel and Sununta Siengthai) analyses “how the dynamic interplay of governance mechanisms of the university-firm R&D alliance reduces obstacles and enable the successful commercialization of research collaboration output”. As methodology:

a longitudinal case research approach and retrospective strategy were used to collect relevant data and information in the four university-and-firm alliance teams collaborating on R&D projects in Thailand during 2008-2014.

Next paper in the issue, titled “The role of ICT infrastructure, innovation and globalization on economic growth in OECD Countries, 1996–2017” (by Meta Ayu Kurniawati), proposes that “the rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) over the past decade has enabled heterogeneous economic sectors to be more integrated, leading to a significant effect on nation’s growth across OECD countries. The objective of this study is to estimate the short run and long run inter-linkages among ICT, innovation technology, globalization, and economic growth for the period 1996-2017 in OECD countries”. Furthermore, the authors state that:

ICT, innovation and globalization positively contribute to economic growth, while the causality findings reveal strong endogenous relationships among both ICT mobile and internet use, innovation development, globalization and economic growth in both short and long run. The findings further imply that OECD countries have yet to promote economic growth from ICT infrastructure expansion, the enlargement of technology innovation and the spread of globalization.

The fifth paper, titled “A framework for technology transfer success factors: validation for the Graphene4Life Project” (by Diana Maria Chis and Emil Crisan) develops:

a theoretical framework for technology transfer success factors from a technology provider viewpoint and to test this framework considering the perceptions of graphene researchers from a Romanian research project (Graphene4Life).

Authors propose a:

framework for technology success factors from a technology provider viewpoint, which classifies technology transfer success factors in an expansive way from technology to the market (technology, organization, context, collaboration and customer absorptive capacity factors).

Finally, the sixth paper of the issue, titled “Environmental conditions, subsidiaries’ autonomy and global innovation in multinational enterprises” (by Rafael Morais Pereira, Felipe Mendes Borini, Leandro Lima Santos, and Moacir de Miranda Oliveira Júnior), focuses on the analysis of:

the influence of environmental conditions of the subsidiaries’ host country in the process of developing global innovation. It is argued that, even though the local environment in which subsidiaries are placed must be taken into account, this is not the only important factor to directly create global innovation, but it also becomes necessary for the subsidiaries to be endowed with autonomy, in this sense allowing them to enjoy the local conditions for innovation purposes.

The paper includes a study using data from 172 foreign subsidiaries in Brazil.

We hope that our readers enjoy this selection of papers for the second issue of 2020 and find the views and insights useful for their current and future research agenda. Additionally, we cannot forget the excellent job done by our reviewers. We would like to thank all reviewers of papers for their great efforts and generosity providing valuable feedback to authors.

Future research agenda

In this uncertain time of COVID-19 outbreak, citizens, economies and societies around the world experience a severe health emergency and also enormous economic disruption. All together, globally, we must make wise decisions to mitigate as soon as possible the socio-economic impact of the pandemic in the world.

In this new scenario, it is important to explore how science, technology and innovation can provide advances and solutions to these new global challenges and help to find swift actions to curb the negative impact of the health outbreak (Chui et al., 2017).

The European Commission has supported research and innovation on coronavirus. In 2020, it has launched several actions that address “epidemiology, preparedness and response to outbreaks, the development of diagnostics, treatments and vaccines, as well as the infrastructures and resources that enable this research” (European Commission, 2020).

It is important to join global efforts and that scientists in the fields of frontier research (especially in the areas of epidemiology, immunology, virology and other relevant scientific disciplines) and latest advances in information technologies can provide knowledge, insights and tools to tackle the coronavirus pandemic.

In coming issues of the journal, we will pay special attention to the role of advances in information technologies (digital and collaborative technologies) to offer rapid and effective solutions for better coronavirus epidemic response, gaining more understanding of this new coronavirus and helping to contain the outbreak.