Innovation is defined as the improvement of existing products, processes, services, and business or organisational models which drive long-term economic growth, competitiveness, and quality-of-life improvements, or the creation of entirely new ones. A U.S. Department of Commerce study found that technological innovation has been responsible for as much as 75 per cent of the growth in the American economy since World War II. In fact, some studies have estimated that innovation drives up to 90 per cent of per capita income growth. This is because innovation enables the productivity improvements that lie at the core of economic growth. It is important to note that such science and technology-based innovation is impossible without a workforce educated in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM).
Over the next decade, innovation in Guyana will be driven largely by foreign companies that have already begun to show a considerable interest in the country’s oil and gas sector. That fact makes STEM preparation (particularly for) young Guyanese all the more important if we are to take advantage of the multiple high-skilled and lucrative career opportunities that will become available very soon. My own prediction is that young people who are equipped with the ability to think critically, work collaboratively, communicate effectively, routinely solve challenging problems and who, additionally, are self-confident and disciplined, will have the luxury of being able to choose from a range of amazing job opportunities in the near future.
The purpose of driving STEM education though, is not principally to create economic opportunity for individuals, rather, it is to provide the ‘fuel’ necessary for powering a technology-driven economy. US researchers Atkinson and Mayo, in their 2010 study of technology education in the United States cautioned that without the right number and quality of STEM-educated citizens, the innovation economy would falter, and with it, economic opportunity for all. The report cites as a warning the situation in the U.K. between 1960 and 1990, a period during which the UK saw its technology industry decline significantly, with the total increase in UK manufacturing output reaching only 1.3 per cent, compared with 69 per cent in Japan, 55 per cent in the United States, and 32 per cent in Germany. Researchers say that a shift away from science-based education was the reason for the decline in innovation.
Publicly funded research is also important for long-term improvement in a country’s productivity. Researchers Psacharo-poulos and Patrinos, in their 2010 study looking specifically at STEM education and innovation, noted that the societal return on investment from publicly funded research and development (R&D) is estimated to range from 20 per cent to 67 per cent, making studies of innovation-stimulating education of particular interest to policymakers. Because of the plethora of studies with consistent findings, it is now clear why, in recent years, many governments have policy agendas around lifting STEM performance to meet the challenges of international competitiveness and, in turn, productivity.
Later this month, 119 nations will send teams of young people to Dubai for a global robotics ‘competition’. For the vast majority of countries involved, winning is not the point of participation in this event. It is to help expose and inspire the next generation of young innovators within their own countries to invest in their countries’ developmental future.
STEMGuyana believes that a more effective route to producing the 5 per cent of youths who have the skills needed to be STEM workers and innovators in the new Guyana economy, is to embrace a system where students interests and passion for STEM, drive curricula. This means providing opportunities for young Guyanese to be exposed to engaging STEM curricula where their talents can be nurtured and they can be prepared from as young as primary school levels to be the next generation of innovators who will create companies and drive economic growth in Guyana over the next twenty five years.
It is the sole reason why STEM-Guyana’s partners fund the expansion of STEM clubs into communities all across Guyana without regard to economic status, gender or race.
