ABOUT THE BOOK
Invention is important and the author wants to
support and encourage as many people as possible to embark on inventing. And
the first object lesson is to teach that inventing is not something that only
special people can do; everybody so willing can invent (or learn to) as long as
there is desire, accessible guidance, and keen interest.
If indeed human ingenuity is our most valuable
natural resource as well as our most abundant, then all people ought to benefit
more equitably from the fruits of human ingenuity. People are a crucial factor
in inventing, inventions and inventive thinking, as protagonists, and as
beneficiaries. Inventing, inventions and inventive thinking is about people's
effort whether as individuals or in group(s)/team(s), to solve human
challenges. Inventing, inventions and inventive thinking have been proven to be
a way to solve problems and inventors have made invaluable contributions to
development of societies worldwide. Both people and countries usually get the
credits and plaudits. People involved actively in inventing, usually inventors,
are, therefore, assets to their countries of residence.
The humongous growth in frontier economies’ per
capita incomes after over 250 years of prolific inventions and innovations
highlight the critical roles of inventiveness in society. Inventors and their
creations have helped nations gain competitive advantage, achieve economic
growth and improved quality of life. Thus, several nations deliberately foster
education/learning, culture and environments which enable inventive thinking. A
survey of requisite literature reveals inventors, the creators of inventions,
innovations and potential drivers of technological progress, are established as
a group of highly valuable economic agents within frontier economies and/or
countries. Background research shows countries leverage capacity in science,
technology and innovation to support higher productivity, competitiveness, and
growth of national economy through increased national inventive activity,
improvement of scientific research performance, development and application of
technologies, and promotion of innovation within enterprises towards increasing
rates of production the value addition of influential elements of the domestic
economy.
Frontier innovative countries with industrial
economy/government, for this purpose, are those with clear advantages in
inventing, critical thinking, creativity, inventions and innovations, with
inventive outputs to match. The same countries and/or economies have nurtured
several individuals/groups which help them achieve prolific fruits of human
ingenuity, and thus outstanding levels of inventions and innovations. These are
the same economies which participated (directly or indirectly) in the first,
second and third Industrial Revolutions as well as the subsequent knowledge
exchange and diffusion. They have profited hugely by capitalizing on advantages
gained from post-1750 scientific revolution, the subsequent broadening of
technological understanding, and the improved information exchange, to enjoy
significant national wealth increases created by the sustained outpouring of
inventions and innovations. They have developed education systems that enhance
inventive thinking abilities of learners resulting in skills that can be used
to create prolific inventive activity.
In The Next
Inventors’ Frontier: Keys To
Creating Global Inventive Transformations,
based on detailed research and
evidence tackles all these probes by concentrating on the following: Who has
done significant and learnable things the course of growing and exploiting the
fruits of human ingenuity? What are the plausible conditions for their
achievements? Can we distill a set of “transferable” and “replicable” steps
which can help emulator countries gain related advantage? What knowledge is
available within the purview of the “success” models and how can emulator
countries access these resources? Collaborating with intent, how can greater
impact be achieved for humanity? The author’s wide-ranging research distills
examples, lessons and insights spanning the academia, multiple industries,
government, non-government / voluntary sectors as well as national / international
professional practices from appraisal of selected frontier economies and/or
countries as case studies from the global north and south, and from regions
including North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa, Western Europe, Eastern Europe,
Central Asia, East Asian Pacific, South Asia, North America, Central America,
South America and the Middle East.
One of the most significant discoveries from the
background research are the remarkable results posted by countries which were
not originally part of the frontier economies, but intentionally embarked on
pursuing, procuring and transplanting inventive knack, technology (whether
licenced, coerced, collaborated and/or transferred from friendly nations) and
adapted innovations, to power productivity growth, economic development and
improved quality of life. However inventively disadvantaged countries do not
share equally in the fruits of invention like the frontier economies. The
author x-rays the deterrent of a typical (inventively disadvantaged) country
that struggles with both development and adaptation of technologies, and then,
proposes remedial steps as well as a putative framework by which any
disadvantaged country could raise homegrown inventive talents, hopefully tackle
local technology deficiency, and grow prolific fruits of human ingenuity.
The Next
Inventors’ Frontier: Keys To
Creating Global Inventive Transformations,
builds an evidence-addled
scenario of the possibility of countries that struggle with both development
and adaptation of technologies utilizing lessons, insights, experiences,
knowledge and capacities framework garnered from case study countries. Using
the seven broad categories of factors, conditions and elements including
cultural, scientific, educational, environmental, political, technical factors
and cross-cutting, Nigeria, as a typical example, with its low levels of
inventive activity and low innovative capacity arising from a plethora of
hurdles blocking prolific inventions and innovations could stand-in for any one
of over 120 countries that need to use technology to tackle poverty challenges.
The author wishes to introduce and invigorate interest in inventive and
innovation skills development and proliferation particularly in countries that
are disadvantaged in terms of exploiting inventing (including invention,
science, technology, and innovation) to boost productivity and competitive
advantage.
If the last 250 odd years have been so prodigious
in inventions and innovations, entirely powered by scientific breakthroughs and
inventive thinking, can we imagine what could be achieved, if new entrants,
that is countries that struggle with both development and adaptation of
technologies, along with the frontier economies and those who successfully
piggybacked, participate in the next wave of truly global inventive
transformations in the next 250 years?
KENNETH NWABUDIKE OKAFOR
