Delivering on the Promise of Bioeconomy in the Developing World: Link It with Social Innovation and Education

Abstract

In developing countries where numerous factors such as rapid population growth and entrenched social problems hinder equitable economic growth and education, research and development (R&D) are often neglected as well. But the importance of R&D extends beyond science. The capacity to generate and advance their scientific scholarship is important for all countries – for such independent scientific thinking skills might also empower the citizens’ capacity and will to think democratically in a global interdependent world. Social innovation is explained here as a form of responsible innovation that brings together funders, scientists, and knowledge user communities to address long-standing and/or entrenched societal problems. Moreover, in social innovation, the user communities such as citizens can also contribute to the scientific design and funding beyond a passive role to merely adopt innovations developed by scientific experts. The overall success of developing nations thus rests on building successful linkages of the education ecosystem with social innovation and bioeconomy. To this end, E-learning endeavors and the virtual biotechnology labs are novel initiatives that are rapidly transforming society in the developing world. Distance education and E-learning and open learning endeavors are certainly advantageous for the resource-limited developing countries, where the numbers of potential learners are much higher than the number of well-experienced teachers and educational institutes capable of providing the required infrastructures for basic and advanced scientific education. India, in particular, has had strikingly innovative and forward-looking investments in biotechnology distributed learning practices that can illuminate the global society of scientists and citizens. In this chapter we will highlight the fundamental need and present scenario of virtual laboratories in advanced sophisticated life science education in the developing world.