Departmental Seminar

Global Technology Leadership: The Case of China

Asia/Hong_KongGlobal Technology Leadership: The Case of China
    Asia/Hong_KongGlobal Technology Leadership: The Case of China
      Overview

      Title:

      Global Technology Leadership: The Case of China

      Speaker:

      Dr. Naubahar Sharif (Associate Professor, Division of Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology)

      Date:

      November 18, 2015

      Time:

      4:00 pm

      Venue:

      Room 201, 2/F, May Hall, The University of Hong Kong (Map)

      Language:

      English

      Enquiry:

      (Tel) (852) 3917-5901
      (Email) ihss@hku.hk

      Abstract

      Over the last century and a half, global technological leadership has shifted from Great Britain to the USA. In this talk, I argue that China is positioning itself to assume global leadership in technology within the coming few decades. I identify three sources of competitive advantage for China’s ascent in the global technology stakes: its massive domestic market, its centralized power and willingness to employ state-sponsored industrial policy and government support, and the process of globalization that continues to transform markets worldwide. After acknowledging skeptical views of China’s capacity to achieve global technology leadership, I survey the present state of affairs and assess its prospects for growth based on statistical evidence and multiple examples. I argue that the three sources of competitive advantage I explicate offer China a path to imminent global technological leadership.

      About the Speaker

      Naubahar Sharif is an Associate Professor in the Division of Social Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). With a Ph.D. from Cornell University in “Science and Technology Studies”, he subsequently completed the Executive Education Program in Innovation and Economic Development at Harvard. Naubahar has been at HKUST since the 2005 completion of his PhD and has been active in research and teaching-related initiatives. His research interests include the emergence and development of the innovation systems conceptual approach, university-industry linkages in Hong Kong, the role of innovation/technology in Hong Kong, and innovation-related linkages between Hong Kong and Guangdong. He has published in leading innovation-studies-related academic journals, including “Research Policy”, “Science, Technology and Human Values”, and “Science and Public Policy”. Naubahar was part of a six-member HKUST team that consulted for the Innovation and Technology Commission (ITC) in HK from 2006 to 2010. In terms of teaching, Naubahar is a winner of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences “Best Teacher Award” (2008), and has been a shortlisted candidate for the university-wide Michael Gale Award for Distinguished Teaching. Naubahar is the teacher of HKUST’s, and Asia’s, first Massive Open Online Course (MOOC).

      Poster