Article S6.6 Research and Technology for Development: Mapping the Context of Agriculture Policy of Orissa, 2008 Seminar Leader: Sumita Sindhi Doctoral Scholar, XIMB, India u507006[at]stu.ximb.ac.in Policy making as a complex, multidimensional phenomenon requires a combination of analytical approaches and inputs from diverse sources. Policy making as an evolving practice has gone beyond the traditional technocratic approach. In this context, the Research and Technology for Development (RTD) framework takes into account the democratic process of policy formulation. RTD is a 19-point checklist with an objective “to provide methodological guidelines that will strengthen the scientific quality of the process that leads towards such [scientifically sound] policies” (Bijker, 2001, p. 4). In simple terms, the checklist helps one focus on a set of questions one needs to answer to assess how well a policy-making process draws upon all the available sources of information and how careful it has been in ensuring that any technological or other system it adopts has actually been verified for its applicability and desirability in the local context. RTD goes beyond isolated consulting. The objective of RTD is to integrate a sustainable communicative process or discourse by establishing rules and continuous mechanisms of association and interchange with stakeholders. The seminar leader presented the findings of an exploratory study on the process of formulation of the State Agriculture Policy of Orissa, 2008 (SAP) and the involvement of various stakeholders in this process. Using the principles behind Bijker’s checklist, a detailed study of the stakeholders (i.e., social groups, institutions, and other actors) was made, looking into their unique capacities, their involvement in the policy-making process, and how their contributions might be enhanced in future. The study indicated insufficient institutionalization of research and technology within the policy framework of the state. The use of Actor Linkage Matrix (ALM), a tool for stakeholder analysis, was demonstrated. The matrix depicted the current level of interaction among the stakeholders of the agriculture policy, namely policy makers, policy influencers, regulators, and users. It indicated the absence of effective collaboration among the stakeholders in formulating the state agriculture policy. Going by the principles of research and technology for development (RTD), the process underlying the State Agriculture Policy, 2008 of the Government of Orissa appears to lack a well-designed mechanism for policy dialogue. The process appears to lack transparency and seems excessively determined by the bureaucratic apparatus of the state government. There seems to be a lack of any mechanism for the integration of specialised knowledge in the policy-making process--be it scientific or traditional knowledge. This seminar dealt with a topic that combined both theoretical and practical concerns. At the theoretical level, is the question of how science and technology interact with society ; whether they unilaterally determine the direction of social development or they influence society through a mutually influencing process, both shaping and being shaped by each other. The relevant theoretical literature on this issue highlights a mutual shaping process (also referred to as the “social construction of technology,” see, e.g., Klein & Kleinman, 2002, also an earlier report published in Research World, Report R3.5). Turning to the practical side, we still come across social processes, as in policy making, where bureaucratic structures impede this technology-society interaction. Neither are social priorities reflected in the relevant research domain, nor are the results of research easily available for guiding social practices. This seems to be a challenge for researchers and policy-makers alike and, among other things, calls for improvements in the institutional mechanisms guiding both. References Bijker, W. E. (with Leonards, C., & Wackers, G.). (2001). Research and technology for development (RTD) through a EU-ACP policy dialogue: Scientific background, methodology, and toolbox. Maastricht, The Netherlands: University of Maastricht. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://arno.unimaas.nl/show.cgi?fid=1998 Government of Orissa. (n.d.). State agriculture policy, 2008. Bhubaneswar, India: Agriculture Department, Government of Orissa. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://orissagov.nic.in/agriculture/policy-package/State_Agriculture_Policy_2008.pdf Klein, H. K., & Kleinman, D. L. (2002). The social construction of technology: Structural considerations. Science, Technology, & Human Values, 27(1), 28-52. Retrieved January 12, 2009, from http://www.prism.gatech.edu/~hk28/Klein02-SciTechHumanVal.pdf
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