SCIENTIFIC COLLABORATION BETWEEN CANADA AND DEVELOPING COUNTRIES

Project - Bibliometric Study of Canadian Collaboration with Developing Countries (1992- 2003)
Client - Office of the National Science Advisor (ONSA)

Description - The National Science Advisor`s Office mandated Science-Metrix to perform a bibliometric study of scientific collaboration between Canada and the developing countries. This study had five objectives : 1) to measure current rates of growth of scientific output in developing countries; 2) to identify developing countries that already engaged in relatively intensive collaboration with Canada; 3) to identify those developing countries with a sufficiently dynamic scientific system to be able to absorb leading-edge science from Canada, but which currently do not collaborate with Canada; 4) to identify those fields where Canada currently has active collaboration with developing countries; 5) to identify fields where productive collaborations could be developed between Canada and the developing countries.

The study also examined how developing countries and Canada could best benefit from increased scientific collaboration. For developing countries, it is theoretically more beneficial to collaborate in fields where Canada has demonstrated scientific excellence. However, for scientific knowledge and skills to transfer effectively from Canada to developing countries, the latter must have a sufficient absorption capability level in the fields involved. Thus, the study aimed to investigate the relative strengths of these countries and determine where there was a match with Canada's strengths. This involved using a "radar screen" to synthetically identify the strength and weaknesses of the studied countries. The analysis aimed to identify fields where both the developing countries involved and Canada excelled, as well as the fields where possibilities for collaboration exist, in order to fill some gaps and approach levels of scientific excellence (measured by impact, or in terms of specialization), which occurs when a country places emphasis on scientific output in specific fields.

STUDY REPORT