Agricultural Innovation in Asia: Drivers, Paradigms and Performance

Agriculture in Asia has shown impressive advances over the last two decades. Yet, enormous challenges lie ahead. Rising food prices, climate change, the loss of agricultural land to erosion and urbanization, and a growing and more affluent population will require continuous increases in productivity and improvements in sustainability. To answer those challenges Asian agriculture will need to become much more knowledge intensive and innovative. This study analyzes the theory and practice of agricultural innovation, focusing on the nature of the innovation process, the forces that drive agricultural innovation, the core actors involved, and the key techno-institutional innovation paradigms that have emerged. On the basis of this theoretical framework the study presents an analysis of agricultural innovation in four Asian countries: Indonesia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Vietnam, analyzing innovation at the levels of the agricultural production system, the national innovation system, and discussing the roles of public and private actors and innovation networks. The study finds that four different techno-institutional paradigms can be distinguished, based on four revolutions in Asian agriculture: the green revolution, the sustainability revolution, the biotechnology revolution and the supermarket revolution. These paradigms are based on fundamentally different technologies, involve different actors and innovation networks and show different patterns of performance across Asia. To be effective, agricultural research and innovation policies need to reflect the specific opportunities and constraints of the four techno-institutional paradigms

The Future of Learning: Preparing for Change

This report aims to identify, understand and visualise major changes to learning in the future. It developed a descriptive vision of the future, based on existing trends and drivers, and a normative vision outlining how future learning opportunities should be developed to contribute to social cohesion, socio-economic inclusion and economic growth. The overall vision is that personalisation, collaboration and informalisation (informal learning) are at the core of learning in the future. These terms are not new in education and training but will have to become the central guiding principle for organising learning and teaching in the future. The central learning paradigm is thereby characterised by lifelong and life-wide learning, shaped by the ubiquity of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT). To reach the goals of personalised, collaborative and informalised learning, holistic changes need to be made (curricula, pedagogies, assessment, leadership, teacher training, etc.) and mechanisms need to be put in place which make flexible and targeted lifelong learning a reality and support the recognition of informally acquired skills.JRC.J.4-Information Societ

An Organizational Performance Assessment System for Agricultural Research Organizations: Concepts, Methods, and Procedures

The ability to assess and demonstrate organizational performance (the ability of an organization to use its resources efficiently and to produce outputs that are consistent with its objectives and relevant for its users) is a key issue in many agricultural research organizations. This Research Management Guideline introduces to an audience of research managers and research institute staff the main concepts underlying performance evaluation of organizations, and the methods and procedures for implementing the Organizational Performance Assessment System (OPAS) for agricultural research organizations. OPAS has been developed and refined over the years by the ISNAR in close collaboration with national agricultural research partners in developing countries. A rapid and cost-effective method, OPAS represents a shift in perspective from an externally driven evaluation of programs or projects, often done for the benefit of outsiders, to an internally driven assessment, aimed at improving performance and accountability. The OPAS evaluates performance at two levels: it reviews the productivity of organizational outputs, and it addresses crucial internal management issues that affect performance. Output assessment and management assessment are the focus of this publication

The future of learning: preparing for change

To contribute to this vision-building process, JRC-IPTS on behalf of DG Education and Culture launched a foresight study on “The Future of Learning: New Ways to Learn New Skills for Future Jobs”, in 2009. This study continues and extends IPTS work done in 2006-2008 on “Future Learning Spaces” (Punie et al., 2006, Punie & Ala-Mutka, 2007, Miller et al., 2008). It is made up of different vision building exercises, involving different stakeholder groups ranging from policy makers, and scientists to educators and learners. The majority of these stakeholder consultations were implemented on behalf of by a consortium led by TNO of the Netherlands with partners at the Open University of the Netherlands and Atticmedia, UK. The detailed results of these stakeholder discussions have been published in dedicated reports (cf. Ala-Mutka et al., 2010; Stoyanov et al., 2010; Redecker et al., 2010a). This report synthesizes and discusses the insights collected. It identifies key factors for change that emerge at the interface of the visions painted by different stakeholder groups and arranges them into a descriptive vision of the future of learning in 2020-2030. In a second step, the report discusses future solutions to pending challenges for European Education and Training systems and outlines policy options. Based on the descriptive vision presented in the first part, a normative vision is developed of an ideal learning future, in which all citizens are enabled to develop their talents to the best and to foster their own wellbeing and prosperity as well as that of the society they live in as active citizens. Strategies fostering such a vision and the policy implications supporting it are presented and discussed

Werken aan de robotsamenleving : Visies en inzichten uit de wetenschap over de relatie technologie en werkgelegenheid

Visies en inzichten uit de wetenschap over de relatie technologie en werkgelegenheid. Steeds vaker komen we in aanraking met robots en verregaande automatisering. Denk aan robotstofzuigers, zelfscankassa's of online tools waarmee je zelf juridische contracten kunt opstellen. De discussie over wat deze automatisering gaat betekenen voor toekomstige werkgelegenheid is inmiddels losgebarsten in de media, de wetenschap en de politiek. De een ziet kansen met nieuwe mogelijkheden voor meer comfort, gezondheid en economische groei. De ander maakt zich zorgen over de vraag of 'slimme technologie' banen gaat vervangen. Over die laatste vraag gaat dit rapport. Wat betekent de inzet van slimme technologie voor de werkgelegenheid? Welke taken kan slimme technologie overnemen van de mens en waar vullen mens en machine elkaar aan? Hoe verandert de organisatie van arbeids- en productieprocessen en welke invloed heeft dat op automatisering van werk? Zijn bepaalde groepen op de arbeidsmarkt kwetsbaarder dan andere? Met welke beleidsmaatregelen kunnen we de kansen van automatisering benutten en negatieve effecten zoveel mogelijk voorkomen? Het rapport Werken aan de robotsamenleving brengt in kaart, wat er in de wetenschap bekend is over de relatie technologie en werkgelegenheid. Het werpt een blik op de toekomst en geeft een beeld van de beleidsopties. Het rapport legt zo een gezamenlijke kennisbasis voor het maatschappelijke en politieke debat over de vraag, hoe Nederland ervoor kan zorgen dat we de robotsamenleving zo inrichten dat deze samenleving voor iedereen een aantrekkelijk perspectief is