From the discussion of the historical antecedents to science and technology and the socio-economic development in human societies, the current technological trajectories and the imperatives of sustainable development, there is an unambiguous need for an STI strategy to provide a basis for socio-economic
advancement in any nation or state. There are five key messages intended to guide any effort in formulating and implementing any such strategy.
Firstly, the sustainable development challenge is global and yet context-specific and therefore translating into a local challenge. To the extent that the world summit endorsed the 17 SDGs as requiring the collective action of all the nations of the world, sustainable development is global. The context-specificity reflects in the demands for local action in line with the socio-economic realities at the local level. A state such as Guanajuato should therefore craft its SDG-response very much in its socio-economic context while keeping the high vision of the global sustainable agenda.
Secondly, local action to attain global vision demands a plan and or strategy. Indeed there is hardly any country in the world which has not prepared a well-articulated development plan. If nothing at all, such a plan is
necessary to engage with stakeholders and provide a coherent framework for stakeholder actions. In the specific case of achieving the SDGs, formulating a specific strategy is a sine qua non.
Thirdly, the formulation of the strategy is not an end by itself. The strategy is only a means to achieve the clearly defined vision of sustainable development. Thus, there must be the political will for execution of the strategy on the part of those in authority.
Fourthly, even with any available political will, the content of the strategy is crucial. This paper has so far argued that the connection between STI and socio-economic development is not in anyway incidental. Indeed, the strong relationship between STI and socio-economic development is exemplified in the progress of the advanced countries and the newly industrializing countries. There is therefore the need for a strategy for Guanajuato that must be fully STI-driven for optimal success.
Fifthly, a key determinant of competitiveness is the STI capacity, which enables the execution of the strategy to address the contextual development goals whilst aiming at the global vision. The execution of the STI strategy for sustainable development must therefore begin with the enhancement of the STI capacity of the state.
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Conclusion
This paper underscores the point that STI is the key to sustainable development in the world. In the particular case of the SDGs, there are important connections between the adoption of technologies and innovations and the achievement of these SDGs. The efforts to achieve an end to hunger and ensure food and nutrition security for all, the attainment of good health and wellbeing for all, the progress towards a zero-carbon green economy and into a global system of sustainable production and consumption will be successful to the extent to which there is STI impact.
The state of Guanajuato have launched onto a laudable and promising venture of developing a credible an STI strategy through a participatory process. Given the diversity of the participation and the depth of involvement of stakeholders, this STI strategy will be most useful in enhancing the state’s capacity for STI application in socio-economic activities.
However, there are issues to prioritize in the adoption and the implementation of the STI strategy. There is need to ensure resonance with the competitiveness of the state of Guanajuato. In the situation where the automobile industry is a leading economic sector, it is useful to ensure a re-direction of the technological trends to take advantage of the emerging technologies for low carbon emission and renewable energy sources of the automobile products. In other words, the STI strategy needs to be anticipatory of emergent and pending technologies to sustain competitiveness.
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