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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
The Heller School for Social Policy and Management
Brandeis University
HS 290f – Spring 2016
Mondays 2:00 – 4:50 pm
Innovative Technologies
for Sustainable Development
Revised 1.21.16
PLEASE NOTE: READINGS MAY BE FURTHER UPDATED UNTIL THE START OF COURSE. PLEASE SEE
THE COURSE LATTE WEBSITE FOR FINAL VERSION.
Laurence R. Simon
Professor of International Development
Director, Center for Global Development and Sustainability
Office: Heller 160
Email: simon@brandeis.edu
Office Hours: TBA or by appointment
______________________________________________________
University notices:
1. If you are a student with a documented disability on record at Brandeis University and wish to have a
reasonable accommodation made for you in this class, please see me immediately.
2. You are expected to be honest in all of your academic work. The University policy on academic
honesty is distributed annually as section 5 of the Rights and Responsibilities handbook. Instances of
alleged dishonesty are subject to possible judicial action. Potential sanctions include failure in the course
and suspension from the University. If you have any questions about our expectations, please ask.
Writing Requirements, and Academic Integrity
Academic integrity is central to the mission of educational excellence at Brandeis University. Each
student is expected to turn in work completed independently, except when assignments specifically
authorize collaborative effort. It is not acceptable to use the words or ideas of another person – be it a
world-class philosopher or your roommate – without proper acknowledgement of that source. This means
that you must use footnotes and quotation marks to indicate the source of any phrases, sentences,
paragraphs or ideas found in published volumes, on the internet, or created by another student. If you
are in doubt about the instructions for any assignment in this course, you must ask for clarification.
This syllabus is subject to change. When in doubt about it, please ask me.
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
This is a fast-paced course reviewing many technologies for their benefits to
sustainable development, environmental protection and poverty reduction.
Course readings are mostly non-scholarly, non-technical and very accessible
introductions to technology and technology transfer. The course is taught
through a problem-solving approach to problems of development and health.
Basis of Course Grade
 Class attendance and participation (10% of final course grade)
 Class preparation evaluated by quizzes: (25%).
 Individual or group presentation to class on selected case studies or topics. (20%):
Depending on the size of the class, students will investigate issues of technology transfer or assess
specific technologies and report their findings to the class. Additionally, students will volunteer to
prepare “nuts and bolts” background briefings (no more than 5 minutes each) on key issues and
institutions that seem to be a gap in class knowledge (e.g. what are the new U.N. Sustainable
Development Goals, what is the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research; what is a
UNESCO World Heritage Site?)
 Case study research paper on sustainable technology strategies, policies and impacts in one
selected country (see grade percentages below for each element of this project). Each student
will choose a country of interest for this case study. Drawing from research on the selected country
and from course readings and discussions, students should:
 begin with an abstract of the paper;
 summarize the history of technology transfer to and/or technological innovation in that country;
 summarize the scope and trend of technology programs in a development sector (e.g. agriculture,
health, energy etc.) being planned or implemented;
 then focus on a gap in one sector and write a plan for the development or transfer of a
sustainable development technology discussing in detail the technology and the needed
institutions, partners, policies, trial and adoption strategies to be employed;
 develop a framework for evaluating the efficacy of the technology, its cultural, social,
environmental and economic impacts on users and other stakeholders;
This case study project will have several elements graded separately:



Proposal (5%): To begin the preparation for the paper, you will submit a brief proposal of
approximately 400-words that defines the technology being addressed, provides a summary
overview of development sector in which the technology will be used, and a preliminary
outline for the study. Submission of written proposals and the related presentations will be
expected and presented during the third or fourth class. Proposals need to be approved by
me. I encourage you to meet with me to discuss your ideas.
Paper (30%): The paper should not exceed 2500 words (exclusive of bibliography /
references) and should be formatted using 1.5 spacing. The paper is due by 11 p.m. on the
date of the final class session. All papers should be uploaded to the Latte course website.
Late papers will not be accepted except for medical reasons or family emergency. I am
available to discuss your paper with you at any time during your research.
Presentation of final paper (10%): You will give a presentation of your case study during
the final class sessions. The presentation length will be determined after the number of
students enrolled is clear.
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
Course Description
Innovative Technologies for Sustainable Development
Course Rationale
The Oxford English Dictionary defines technology as the application of scientific knowledge for
practical purposes; a branch of knowledge dealing with engineering or applied sciences.
Development has sought to use technology to enhance economic development, agricultural
productivity, public health, generation of energy, education and other development objectives.
The concept of appropriate technology for development began in the 1960s as tools that could
be used at the village with minimal training and made of mostly locally gathered materials.
Today many villagers in Africa have more computing power in their smartphones than guided
the first manned spacecraft to the moon. Appropriate technology today involves bringing
science to the people to meet critical needs for development by local NGOs, private sector, local
and national governments. The best practices for technology transfer, however, are still largely
unknown or ignored by both sellers and users. This course reviews the history of technology
transfer and new or emerging innovative technologies are assessed for their potential
contribution and positive or negative consequences for sustainable economic, social and human
development. Technology transfer strategies are reviewed for their approach as peoplecentered within an empowerment, choice framework (see below reference for Dorothea Klein,
Technologies of Choice.)
The Innovative Technologies course has four broad goals:
(1) To provide an over-arching framework for understanding technology transfer including
through non-profit and private sector efforts.
(2) To introduce and assess innovative technologies for their potential contribution to
sustainable and equitable development in low and middle income countries;
(3) To consider technology transfer as a component of aid effectiveness and to examine
technology transfer programs for their motivations, objectives and interests.
(4) To enable students to gain the skills needed to evaluate proposals for the utilization of new
technologies and their impacts.
Students will have an opportunity to learn about the work of the iLab at the Center for Global
Development and Sustainability (GDS) and to become involved in briefings and dissemination of
GDS technological models and strategies.
Invited guest speakers (to be confirmed) include:
Calestous Juma, Professor of the Practice of International Development and Director of
the Science, Technology, and Globalization Project at the Belfer Center for Science and
International Affairs, Harvard University;
Sajed Kamal, renewable energy specialist, Solar Fenway and associate, BRAC – Bangladesh;
Naeem Saleem, M.D., Public health specialist, Pakistan. Heller School PhD candidate.
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
Session 1: Monday March 14, 2016
Course Introduction
Course overview: objectives, requirements; course content.
The role of technological innovation in world development
The building of technological capacity
Gender and technology
Technological leapfrogging
A survey of technologies for course study
Readings
Diamond, Jared. (1999) Farmer Power: The roots of guns, germs, and steel. In Guns, Germs,
and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton.
Diamond, Jared. (1999) Necessity’s Mother: The evolution of technology. In Guns, Germs, and
Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. New York: W.W. Norton.
Gill, Rosalind and Keith Grint. (1995) The Gender-Technology Relation: Contemporary Theory
and Research. In The Gender-Technology Relation: Contemporary Theory and Research.
London: Taylor & Francis.
Morris, Ian. (2010) Before East and West. In Why the West Rules – For Now: The Patterns of
History, and What They Reveal About the Future. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Session 2: Monday March 21
Part I
Domination of nature or sustainable development?
Evolution of concepts of technology for poverty reduction
Readings
Ali, Saleem H. (2009) The Rush Factor: Tracing the Mineral Roots of Global Power Through
Gold, Coal, and Oil. In Treasures of the Earth: Need, Greed, and a Sustainable Future. New
Haven: Yale University Press.
Williams, Robin and David Edge. (1996) “The social shaping of technology,” Research Policy,
Vol. 21 (1996), pp. 865-899.
Easterly, William. (2013) Technology: How to Succeed Without Knowing How. In The Tyranny
of Experts: Economists, Dictators, and The Forgotten Rights of the Poor. New York: Basic
Books.
Part II
Introducing principles of technology transfer
Readings
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
Simon, Laurence (2015) Ten Principles of Technology Transfer for Sustainable Development.
(Innovative Technology Working Paper #1). Waltham, MA: The Center for Global Development
and Sustainability. To be published January 2016.
Part III
Introducing innovative technologies in food and agriculture
Green Revolutions 1 and 2: Traditional seed, landlessness and pesticide poisonings as
collateral damage
Introduction to innovative post-harvest technologies
Introduction of drones and sensor networks for small farmer and extension service crop
and storage inspection
Plant based meat substitutes
Introduction to agricultural biotechnologies
From selective breeding to genetic engineering
The controversy over Genetically Modified Organisms
Readings / Media
International Rice Research Institute. Rice Knowledge Bank. Storage:
http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/storage, and
http://www.knowledgebank.irri.org/step-by-step-production/postharvest/storage/cocoon
Bern Carl J., et. al. (2013) Hermetic storage systems for maize stored on
subsistence farms. Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. Paper Number: 131591815.
Ames: Iowa State University.
Walsh, S., D. Baributsa, T. Remington and L. Sperling. (2014). Seed Storage Brief #2: Hermetic
Seed Storage Technology: Principles, Use, and Economics – a Practitioner’s Guide. Nairobi:
Catholic Relief Services.
Harmon, Amy (2013, August 24). Golden Rice: Lifesaver? The New York Times. Retrieved from
http://www.nytimes.com/
Grandia, Liza (2014). Modified landscapes: vulnerabilities to genetically modified corn in
northern Guatemala. In The Journal of Peasant Studies. 41(1): 79-105.
Familiarize yourself with the following technology news
Beetles and bugs: Protecting coffee crops (2015, July 18). The Economist, p 68. Also available
online http://www.economist.com/
Silicon Valley gets a taste for food (2015, March 7). The Economist, pp13-15. Also available
online http://www.economist.com/
Jacobson, Rowan (2014). Has Meat Met its Match? In Ensia, pp. 8-15. Minneapolis: University
of Minnesota.
Field research (2014, November 8). The Economist, p. 82. Also available online
http://www.economist.com/
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
The Robot overhead: Civilian drones (2014, December 6). The Economist, pp. 11-12. Also
available online http://www.economist.com/
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
Session 3: Monday April 4
Innovative technologies in food and agriculture continued
Indoor hydroponic, LED farming
Emergency storage in humanitarian operations
Pesticides and Acute Kidney Syndrome (Sri Lanka and Nicaragua)
Water for agriculture
Students to present their case study proposals
Readings
Navarro, S., Donahaye, J.E., Fishman, S. (1994). The Future of hermetic storage of dry grains
in tropical and subtropical climates. Paper presented at 6th international Working Conference on
Stored Product Protection. Canberra, Australia.
http://bru.gmprc.ksu.edu/proj/iwcspp/pdf2/6/130.pdf
Obeng-Odoom, Franklin. (2013) Do African cities have markets for plastics or plastics for
markets? In Review of African Political Economy, 40(137): 466-474.
Narsalay, Raghav, Leonardo Pongeluppe and David Light. (2015) The Hidden Pitfalls of
Inclusive Innovation. In Stanford Social Innovation Review, 13(1): 48-53.
Grossman, Elizabeth (2015). Bad Wrap: New studies raise disturbing questions about the health
and environmental effects of food packaging. In Ensia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
The light fantastic (2014, May 16). The Economist, p. 75. Also available online
http://www.economist.com/
Of tech and troughs (2014, December 13). The Economist, p. 32. Also available online
http://www.economist.com/
Heyes, J.D. (2015, June 9). Sri Lanka’s President Bans Glyphosate Nationwide to Protect the
Health of the People. Global Research, Nature News.
Session 4: Monday April 11
Innovative technologies in energy
Solar micro-grids, solar irrigation, solar micro-cold storage
Wind, wave and tidal energy, small hydroelectric
Biomass, Biofuel, Geothermal
Energy storage including modified viruses
Linking energy sources to village market food preservation
Bubble-foil for emergency insulation: the use in the Bosnian War
Readings
Stern, Nicholas. (2009) The dangers. In The Global Deal: Climate Change and The Creation of
a New Era of Progress and Prosperity. New York: Public Affairs.
Lema, R. and Lema, A. 2012. “Technology Transfer? The Rise of China and India in Green
Technology Sectors,” Innovation and Development, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp. 23-44.
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
Dai, Y. and Xue, L. 2015. “China’s Policy Initiatives for the Development of Wind Energy
Technology,” Climate Policy, Vol. 15, No. 1, pp. 30-57.
Panda poop power (2013, September 14). The Economist, p. 87. Also available online
http://www.economist.com/
Gerdes, Justin (2014). Oceans of Energy. In Ensia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
Let the sun shine (2014, March 8). The Economist, p. 29-30. Also available online
http://www.economist.com/
Pee power: Going to the loo can recharge a smartphone (2014, August 2). The Economist, p.
60. Also available online http://www.economist.com/
A cool idea: Electicity-free air conditioning (2014, November 29). The Economist, p. 73. Also
available online http://www.economist.com/
Session 5: Monday April 18
Innovative technologies for health
IT systems for rural health clinics
The abuse of medical technology:
Ultrasound and female infanticide
Births by appointment: Caesarean sections go routine
Genetic testing and insemination for healthy children
Water purification technologies in the absence of public systems
Desalination technologies
Rainwater harvesting in arid and semi-arid environments
Malaria, Dengue control through screening vs pesticide impregnated wall liners
Readings
Robins, Steven (2014) The 2011 Toilet Wars in South Africa: Justice and Transition between
the Exceptional and the Everyday after Apartheid. In Development and Change. 45(3): 479-501.
Smartphone diagnosis. (2015, March 7). The Economist, p. 5.
Also available online http://www.economist.com/
Mat red: Safer childbirth in Bangladesh (2013, May 18). The Economist, p. 85. Also available
online http://www.economist.com/
Caesar’s legions (2015, August 15) The Economist, pp.53-54.
Also available online http://www.economist.com/
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Innovative Technologies Syllabus
Lee, K. 2014 “Catching-up or Leapfrogging in the Indian IT Service Sector: Windows of
Opportunity, Path-creating, and Moving up the Value Chain,” Development Policy Review, Vol.
32, No. 4, pp. 495-518.
Watery Dwellings (2014, December 6). The Economist, pp. 4-5.
Also available online http://www.economist.com/
A dad and two mums (2015, February 7). The Economist, p 55.
Also available online http://www.economist.com/
Evans, Jonathan (2015, August 4). Sri Lanka to Use Wasted Rainwater for Crops, Power.
Retrieved from Voice of America http://www.voanews.com/
Atala, Anthony (2011, March). Printing a human kidney. TED Talk.
http://www.ted.com/talks/anthony_atala_printing_a_human_kidney
Session 6: May 2
Innovative information technologies
Capabilities approach to Information and Communications Technologies for
Development (ICT4D)
Big data farming: Monsanto’s prescriptive planting
Using Google Earth for disaster mitigation and response
GIS for water management
GIS for predication of climate change
Sustainable architectural design low cost community housing
Readings
Stiglitz, Joseph E. (2002) Knowledge of Technology and the Technology of Knowledge: New
Strategies for Development. In Sakiko Fukuda-Park, Carlos Lopes, and Khalid Malik (Eds.),
Capacity for Development: New Solutions to Old Problems. London: Earthscan and New York:
United Nations Development Programme.
Thomas, Jayan Jose and Govindan Parayil. (2008) Bridging the Social and Digital Divides in
Andhra Pradesh and Kerala: A Capabilities Approach. Development and Change, 39(3): 409435.
Kleine, Dorothea (2013). Applying the Capabilities Approach to ICT4D. In Technologies of
Choice? ICTs, Development and the Capabilities Approach. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
The truly personal computer (2015, February 28). The Economist, pp. 19-22.
Also available online http://www.economist.com/
Dloniak, Stephanie M (2014). Lion Life Savers: Maasai warriors and biologists team up to
defuse human-lion conflict in Kenya. In Ensia. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota.
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A phoneful of dollars (2014, November 15). The Economist, pp.27-29. Also available online
http://www.economist.com/
Session 7: May 9
PRESENTATION OF STUDENT PAPERS
SEMESTER PAPERS ARE DUE TODAY
Readings
Lappe, Francis Moore (2011). We’ve Hit the Limits of a Finite Earth. In EcoMind: Changing the
Way We Think, to Create The World We Want. New York: Nation Books/Perseus.
Oosterlaken, Ilse. (2011) Inserting Technology in the Relational Ontology of Sen’s Capability
Approach. In Journal of Human Development and Capabilities, 12(3):425-432.