ABSTRACT
Brazil has been experimenting with S&T policy since the late 1960s when the government first defined the incorporation of S&T into the productive system as a strategic goal to be attained through real technology transfer and the development of the Brazilian capacity to innovate. This quarter of a century-long experimentation has resulted in the creation of a complex set of institutions and organizations which regulate the process of technology transfer, provide skilled human resources, and fund and perform research activities. While relatively efficient in supplying skilled labour and high-level human resources for research, the policy has managed to stimulate innovation capabilities at firm level in only the few cases in which it is integrated with sectoral industrial policies. Beyond the sectoral level, technology policy has struggled to provide the general conditions for technology development. The regulation of technology transfer and the granting of protection to industrial and intellectual property rights has been set up and adapted to changing domestic and external conditions. Incentives and subsidies have been established to stimulate technological development at firm level but in general they do not seem to have been effective. Human resources for research and high-level technical personnel have been provided, but not in the amount, quality and specializations required. In addition, a high illiteracy rate and an inefficient system of primary education have constituted general constraints to innovation.
