Mid-term evaluation of African Technology Policy Studies Network Phase VI Strategic Plan: for the period January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010

The African Technology Policy Studies Network (ATPS) is a multidisciplinary network of researchers, private sector actors, policymakers and civil society. ATPS has the vision to become the leading international centre of excellence and reference in science, technology and innovation (STI) systems research, training and capacity building, communication and sensitization, knowledge brokerage, policy advocacy and outreach in Africa. It has a Regional Secretariat in Nairobi Kenya, and operates through national chapters in 29 countries (including 27 in Africa and two Chapters in the United Kingdom and USA for Africans in the Diaspora) with an expansion plan to cover the entire continent by 2015. The ATPS Phase VI Strategic Plan aims to improve the understanding and functioning of STI processes and systems to strengthen the learning capacity, social responses, and governance of STI for addressing Africa's development challenges, with a specific focus on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). A team of external evaluators carried out a midterm review to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of the implementation of the Strategic Plan for the period January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2010. The evaluation methodology involved multiple quantitative and qualitative methods to assess the qualitative and quantitative inputs (human resources, financial resources, time, etc.) into ATPS activities (both thematic and facilitative) and their tangible and intangible outputs, outcomes and impacts. Methods included a questionnaire survey of ATPS members and stakeholders, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions (FGDs) with members in six countries. Effectiveness of Programmes Under all six strategic goals, very good progress has been made towards planned outputs and outcomes. This is evidenced by key performance indicators (KPIs) generated from desk review, ratings from the survey respondents, and the themes that run through the FGDs. Institutional and Programme Cost Effectiveness Institutional Effectiveness: assessment of institutional effectiveness suggests that adequate management frameworks are in place and are being used effectively and transparently. Also technical and financial accounting mechanisms are being followed in accordance with grant agreements and with global good practice. This is evidenced by KPIs generated from desk review. Programme Cost Effectiveness: assessment of cost-effectiveness of execution of programmes shows that organisational structure is efficient, delivering high quality, relevant research at relatively low cost by international standards. The evidence includes KPIs from desk review: administrative costs to programme cost ratio has fallen steadily, to around 10%; average size of research grants is modest, without compromising quality. There is high level of pro bono input by ATPS members. ATPS Programmes Strategic Evaluation ATPS research and STI related activities are indeed unique and well aligned with STI issues and needs facing Africa and globally. The multi-disciplinary and trans-boundary nature of the research activities are creating a unique group of research scientists. The ATPS approach to research and STI issues is paving the way for the so called Third Generation University (3GU). Understanding this unique positioning, an increasing number of international multilateral agencies are seeking partnership with ATPS. ATPS is seeing an increasing level of funding commitments by Donor Partners. Recommendations for ATPS Continued Growth and Effectiveness On-going reform of ATPS administrative structure to continue The on-going reforms that have taken place within the Board, Regional Secretariat, and at the National Chapter coordination levels are welcomed. Such reform should continue until fully functional corporate governance policy and practices are fully established and implemented across the ATPS governance structures. This will further strengthen ATPS to achieve the vision of being the leading STI policy brokerage organization in Africa. Although training in corporate governance has been carried out for all sectors of ATPS leadership structure in recent time, there is some evidence that these systems have not yet been fully implemented effectively within all the governance structures of the organization, especially at the Board and National chapter levels. Future training should emphasize practical application with exercises relevant to ATPS leadership structure from the Board to the National Chapter levels. Training on Transformational Leadership - Leading a Change Though a subject of intense debate amongst economists and social scientists, it is generally agreed that cultural mindsets and attitudes could enhance and/or hinder organizational progress. ATPS’s vision demands transformational leadership skills amongst its leaders from the Board members to the National Chapter Coordinators. To lead such a change, ATPS leaders must understand and avoid personal and cultural mindsets and value systems that hinder change, while embracing those that enhance it. It requires deliberate assessment of cultural, behavioural patterns that could hinder progress and the willingness to be recast into cultural and personal habits that make for progress. Improvement of relationship amongst the Board, Secretariat, and National Chapters A large number of ATPS members and stakeholders feel they do not have effective communications and/or access to Board, National Chapter Coordinators and Regional Secretariat activities. Effort should be made to improve the implementation of ATPS communication strategy to improve on information flows amongst the ATPS management and the members. The results of the survey and the FGDs suggest that progress has been made during the past two years in this direction, but more could be done to ensure effective flow of pertinent information to members following ATPS communications channels. Strategies for Increased Funding for National Chapters There is a big gap between the fundraising skills of the Regional Secretariat and those of the National Coordinators. In some cases, funds successfully raised by the Secretariat and disbursed to national chapters were not followed up with timely progress and financial reports by some national chapters. Adequate training in relevant skills required for effective interactions with STI key policy players should be conducted regularly for National Chapter coordinators and ATPS members. The ongoing training in grant writing should continue and be made continent-wide if funding permits. Funding of National Chapters should be strategic such that capacity in a specific area of research is built which, with time, will not only lead to a strong research capacity in that area, but also strengthen academic programmes. For example, a strong climate change programme is emerging at University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN), with strong collaborations with Universities from neighbouring States. Strategies to Increase National Government buy-in and support for STI Translating STI research outcomes into policies requires a great deal of emotional intelligence, skills which are often lacking in the first and second generation universities. In the epoch of the science-based or 2GUs, governments were content with universities carrying out scientific research and providing scientific education. Now they desire to see universities as incubators of new science- or technology-based commercial activities, whether by existing firms or start-ups. Hence, governments demand that universities take an active and leading role in the exploitation of their knowledge and they are willing to make funds available to support such activities. Thus, for universities to gain the attention of national leadership they must become centres of excellence and explicit instruments of economic development in the knowledge-based economy. The universities must do this while working collaboratively with government departments, parastatals, and institutions and dedicated research establishments. ATPS should anticipate these shifting changes and devise programmes to assist both government and universities to relate effectively. New administrative structures in member organizations to sustain and manage the emerging STI multidisciplinary teams Second Generation universities (2GUs) tend to focus on pure science and often do not regard the application of their know-how as their task. In contrast, Third Generation Universities (3GUs) objectively stimulate techno-starters – students or academics – to pursue the exploitation or commercialisation of the knowledge they generate. They view this as being equal in importance to the objectives of scientific research and education. Administratively, research in the 2GU era was mainly monodisciplinary and departments were structured along disciplines. The emerging interdisciplinary scientific teams with focus on specific research areas functionally work against the current mono-disciplinary faculty-based, administrative structure of 2GUs. For interdisciplinary teams, the current faculty system is an obstacle. There is a need for new organisational forms for university management that can create responsibilities for the task of know-how exploitation. ATPS must anticipate this and begin to strategize solutions for their member institutions to transition to 3Gus administrative structure, otherwise ATPS growth will plateau, and progress achieved so far may be stunted.

Terrestrial biogeochemical feedbacks in the climate system

The terrestrial biosphere is a key regulator of atmospheric chemistry and climate. During past periods of climate change, vegetation cover and interactions between the terrestrial biosphere and atmosphere changed within decades. Modern observations show a similar responsiveness of terrestrial biogeochemistry to anthropogenically forced climate change and air pollution. Although interactions between the carbon cycle and climate have been a central focus, other biogeochemical feedbacks could be as important in modulating future climate change. Total positive radiative forcings resulting from feedbacks between the terrestrial biosphere and the atmosphere are estimated to reach up to 0.9 or 1.5 W m−2 K−1 towards the end of the twenty-first century, depending on the extent to which interactions with the nitrogen cycle stimulate or limit carbon sequestration. This substantially reduces and potentially even eliminates the cooling effect owing to carbon dioxide fertilization of the terrestrial biota. The overall magnitude of the biogeochemical feedbacks could potentially be similar to that of feedbacks in the physical climate system, but there are large uncertainties in the magnitude of individual estimates and in accounting for synergies between these effects.

Pushing the boundaries of the social: private agri-food standards and the governance of Fair Trade in European public procurement

The article explores how fair trade and associated private agri-food standards are incorporated into public procurement in Europe. Procurement law is underpinned by principles of equity, non-discrimination and transparency; one consequence is that legal obstacles exist to fair trade being privileged within procurement practice. These obstacles have pragmatic dimensions, concerning whether and how procurement can be used to fulfil wider social policy objectives or to incorporate private standards; they also bring to the fore underlying issues of value. Taking an agency-based approach and incorporating the concept of governability, empirical evidence demonstrates the role played by different actors in negotiating fair trade’s passage into procurement through pre-empting and managing legal risk. This process exposes contestations that arise when contrasting values come together within sustainable procurement. This examination of fair trade in public procurement helps reveal how practices and knowledge on ethical consumption enter into a new governance arena within the global agri-food system.

The national food safety control system of China: a systematic review

In recent years, there have been increasing concerns over the safety of the Chinese food supply. Although many of these have only raised concern internally within China, several major food safety issues have had international repercussions. In response, China has implemented new food safety laws and management systems to improve its national food safety control system and reduce public and international concerns. This paper has describes and discusses the components of the Chinese system using the five key elements of a national food control system identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) as essential for an effective system. The latest Chinese national food safety control has made significantly improvement on its regulation framework, however, more work need to be done on standards, law enforcement, and information exchange.

International financial reporting standards (IFRS) as a change agent in Ukraine

This paper aims to examine the perception of key actors regarding the costs and benefits that result from adopting International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in Ukraine. Authors showed that IFRS implementation impacts on internal reporting quality, the relationship with customers, creditors and shareholders, the access to international markets and external financing. They also indicated that financial managers have serious concerns about implementation costs related to the introduction of IFRS. These costs relate to training, instruction on IFRS adoption and translation of current IFRS, changes in software systems, double purpose accounting and deadlines for IFRS adoption and consulting services.

South Korean MNEs' international HRM approach: hybridization of global standards and local practices

This paper analyses the international Human Resource Management (HRM) approaches of Korean Multinational Enterprises (MNEs). Through a study of nine major Korean MNEs’ approaches to subsidiary-HRM, it is argued that the firms pursue hybridization through a blending of localization and global standardization across detailed elements in five broad HRM practice areas. Local discretion is allowed if not counter to global HRM system requirements and “global best practices” used as the template for global standardization of selected HRM elements. This strategic orientation appears to be part of a deliberate response to the “liabilities of origin” born by firms from non-dominant economies.

A simple method for integrating a complex model into an ensemble data assimilation system using MPI

This paper details a strategy for modifying the source code of a complex model so that the model may be used in a data assimilation context, {and gives the standards for implementing a data assimilation code to use such a model}. The strategy relies on keeping the model separate from any data assimilation code, and coupling the two through the use of Message Passing Interface (MPI) {functionality}. This strategy limits the changes necessary to the model and as such is rapid to program, at the expense of ultimate performance. The implementation technique is applied in different models with state dimension up to $2.7 \times 10^8$. The overheads added by using this implementation strategy in a coupled ocean-atmosphere climate model are shown to be an order of magnitude smaller than the addition of correlated stochastic random errors necessary for some nonlinear data assimilation techniques.

Interactive learning in UK construction practice: examining the role of BIM process standards

From a construction innovation systems perspective, firms acquire knowledge from suppliers, clients, universities and institutional environment. Building information modelling (BIM) involves these firms using new process standards. To understand the implications on interactive learning using BIM process standards, a case study is conducted with the UK operations of a multinational construction firm. Data is drawn from: a) two workshops involving the firm and a wider industry group, b) observations of practice in the BIM core team and in three ongoing projects, c) 12 semi-structured interviews; and d) secondary publications. The firm uses a set of BIM process standards (IFC, PAS 1192, Uniclass, COBie) in its construction activities. It is also involved in a pilot to implement the COBie standard, supported by technical and management standards for BIM, such as Uniclass and PAS1192. Analyses suggest that such BIM process standards unconsciously shapes the firm's internal and external interactive learning processes. Internally standards allow engineers to learn from each through visualising 3D information and talking around designs with operatives to address problems during construction. Externally, the firm participates in trial and pilot projects involving other construction firms, government agencies, universities and suppliers to learn about the standard and access knowledge to solve its specific design problems. Through its BIM manager, the firm provides feedback to standards developers and information technology suppliers. The research contributes by articulating how BIM process standards unconsciously change interactive learning processes in construction practice. Further research could investigate these findings in the wider UK construction innovation system.

Solar thermal components adapted to common building standards (SCAS)

Pilot versions of a solar heating/natural gas burner system, of a solar heating/pellet burner system and of a façade/roof integrated polymeric collector have been installed in the summer of 2006 in a number of demonstration houses in Denmark, Sweden and Norway.These three new products have been evaluated by means of measurements of the thermal performance and energy savings of the pilot systems in practice and by means of a commercial evaluation.The conclusion of the evaluations is that the products are attractive for the industry partners METRO THERM A/S, Solentek and SOLARNOR. It is expected that the companies will bring the products into the market in 2007.Further, the results of the project have been presented atinternational and national congresses and seminars for the solar heating branch. The congresses and seminars attracted a lot of interested participants.Furthermore, the project results have been published in international congress papers as well as in national journals in the energy field.Consequently, the Nordic solar heating industry will benefit from the project.

Dynamic whole system testing of combined renewable heating systems : the current state of the art

Objective: For the evaluation of the energetic performance of combined renewable heating systems that supply space heat and domestic hot water for single family houses, dynamic behaviour, component interactions, and control of the system play a crucial role and should be included in test methods. Methods: New dynamic whole system test methods were developed based on “hardware in the loop” concepts. Three similar approaches are described and their differences are discussed. The methods were applied for testing solar thermal systems in combination with fossil fuel boilers (heating oil and natural gas), biomass boilers, and/or heat pumps. Results: All three methods were able to show the performance of combined heating systems under transient operating conditions. The methods often detected unexpected behaviour of the tested system that cannot be detected based on steady state performance tests that are usually applied to single components. Conclusion: Further work will be needed to harmonize the different test methods in order to reach comparable results between the different laboratories. Practice implications: A harmonized approach for whole system tests may lead to new test standards and improve the accuracy of performance prediction as well as reduce the need for field tests.

Evidenciação dos instrumentos financeiros derivativos: uma análise crítica sobre hedge accounting

Esse estudo de natureza qualitativa, busca por meio de uma pesquisa exploratória e descritiva analisar se as divulgações nas notas explicativas dos instrumentos financeiros derivativos contabilizados pela metodologia do hedge accounting, efetuados em 2009 pelas empresas brasileiras não financeiras listadas na BM&FBOVESPA atendem a lista de exigências de divulgação do IFRS 7. A relevância desse estudo se deve a dois fatores. O primeiro fator é que a utilização de instrumentos financeiros derivativos tem se tornado cada vez mais comum no mercado mundial e brasileiro, devido a seu grande desenvolvimento e evolução. Apesar de que esses instrumentos, quando utilizados de forma adequada, possam ser excelentes ferramentas para minimizar risco, seu uso descuidado pode levar ao prejuízo e até mesmo à falência de organizações, como foi visto na crise do subprime e outras anteriores. Portanto, a mensuração, evidenciação e controle desses instrumentos tornam-se cada vez mais importantes para que realmente possamos entender o impacto desses instrumentos nos negócios das companhias no curto e no longo prazo. O segundo fator é que com o advento da lei 11.638/07, alterada pela lei 11.941/08, determinou-se que deveremos estar com nossas normas contábeis convergidas para o International Financial Report Standards (IFRS) até o final de 2010. Significa que devemos a partir desse momento seguir os seus pronunciamentos no que se refere a apresentação (IAS 32), reconhecimento e mensuração (IAS 39) e divulgações (IFRS 7) dos instrumentos financeiros. Portanto esse estudo nos permite verificar o quanto as empresas já atendem ou não o IFRS 7.

Enforcing international financial standards in Brazil: limits and possibilities for adoption of IOSCO principles

Foreign capital and institutional investors play a key role in the Brazilian capital and financial markets. Internationally promoted regulatory patterns, especially IOSCO principles, have been increasingly influencing administrative rule making by the Brazilian Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) as well as the adoption of transnational rules in Brazil by means of self-regulatory activity. Even though there is a certain level of convergence of market regulatory standards at the transnational level, implementation and enforcement of rules remains essentially domestic. We analyze two case studies regarding the transposition of international standards into the Brazilian legal system, which illustrate this tension between the transnational and domestic dimensions of financial markets regulation. The first case concerns a CVM rule on disclosure of executive compensation and the its interpretation by local courts. The second case refers to the adoption of suitability rules.

Política e burocracia do controle: as controladorias públicas nas capitais brasileiras

Investigar como as controladorias gerais municipais vêm se estruturando dentro do sistema político subnacional e identificar as similaridades e diferenças entre tais organizações são os principais objetivos deste trabalho. Tais atividades tornam-se relevantes a partir da constatação de que, apesar de ser cada vez mais frequente a alteração do nome e da estrutura do órgão central dos sistemas de controle interno subnacionais para controladorias gerais, não há uma regulamentação específica que predetermine os padrões institucionais, as funcionalidades organizacionais ou os escopos de atuação desses órgãos públicos. Cumpriu-se essa tarefa por meio das seguintes ações: (i) realização de pesquisa bibliográfica a partir da produção acadêmica dos cursos de pós-graduação em Administração Pública e Contabilidade (com ênfase no estudo de controladorias) no último triênio da CAPES (2010-2012); (ii) catalogação e análise dos instrumentos legais de institucionalização dos órgãos de controle interno nas capitais brasileiras; (iii) execução de análise organizacional comparada nas estruturas das controladorias-gerais encontradas. As pesquisas feitas constataram que a produção acadêmica da área de Administração Pública sobre o tema ainda é incipiente; que uma maior integração do campo técnico com diferentes campos acadêmicos (Administração Pública, Contabilidade, Ciência Política, Direito e Sociologia) se faz necessária; que, para além do processo de disseminação da esfera federal para local, há diversas bases estruturantes que influenciam o padrão adotado pelas controladorias públicas municipais; e que, enfim, não se pode falar em consolidação de um único formato institucional de controladoria mas, sim, de práticas constituídas conforme as diferentes conjunturas locais.

Coffee voluntary standards systems a study of the states of Minas Gerais and São Paulo

In order to adapt to new markets, the coffee supply chain has gone through numerous changes during the last years, which led to the creation of the voluntary standard systems. Adopting a Voluntary Standard System (VSS) consists of becoming a member of a certifier or verifier, in which an independent third party sets specific criteria to ensure a product complies with standards. Yet, the segment is still relatively new and raises some doubts about the economic and financial advantages of investing in sustainability-related certification. This study analyzes the perception of coffee producers about VSS – whether it brings economic benefits. The literature review covers various VSS in the coffee sector, the brief history of the commodity in Brazil, as well as the description of the supply chain. Certified and non-certified producers in the States of Sao Paulo and Minas Gerais, answered questionnaires to indicate the perceived advantages of certification. The results show that, despite some added value that certification can bestow, the quality is what really matter, since it allows producers to sell the product at higher prices and to gain advantage over competitors.