The Future of Technology Transfer in the Global Village

Abstract

One of the most serious challenges facing international legal institutions in the present era of globalisation is the adoption of adequate written laws in the form of treaties, conventions, and codes that address the issues faced by the international community. There have been advances in many areas, mostly in Public International Law. However, when it comes to achieving agreement in economic and commercial issues, the record of the International community is not as positive. Many areas of the law require international conventions or treaties to provide a united front to common problems faced by most countries. Such is the case in areas of competition law, international trade, electronic commerce and intellectual property. One of the areas in desperate need of international regulation is that of creating codes of conduct for the same multinational corporations that have triggered the globalisation process. The present essay will be centred on the concept of technology transfer and on how technology is owned and transferred. Then, the efforts by the United Nations to achieve an agreement on codes of conduct for the transfer of technology will be discussed. Finally, some options for the future of Technology Transfer will be considered.

Keywords: Technology transfer, developing countries

JEL Classification: K33