Title
The colors of biotechnology in Venezuela: A bibliometric analysis
Date Issued
01 August 2015
Access level
metadata only access
Resource Type
journal article
Author(s)
Universidad Central de Venezuela
Publisher(s)
Elsevier Ltd
Abstract
The background of biotechnology and its different specialty fields is assessed from a bibliometrics perspective, in a developing country within the Latin American region; Venezuela. As methodology we adopted a specialty coding by colors, a technique referred to as 'rainbow' proposed by DaSilvain 2004. The study was limited to publications from Venezuelan institutions in the period comprised within 1970 and 2010. The documentary information was retrieved from a database built for studies of this kind, referred to as Biblios. This database consolidates most bibliographic references related to Venezuelan publications spread among major international and domestic databases. Strengths shown by this database include, among others, the fact that each entry has been assigned the relevant code as set by the UNESCO nomenclature for fields of science and technology. By correlating the rainbow coding against the UNESCO coding we have been able to evidence that although biotechnology represents a third of national capacities in sciences and technology, current Venezuelan capacities only include 5 of the 15 colors in rainbow.
Start page
123
End page
134
Volume
42
Language
English
OCDE Knowledge area
Bioproductos (productos que se manufacturan usando biotecnología), biomateriales, bioplásticos, biocombustibles, materiales nuevos bioderivados, químicos finos bioredivados
Bibliotecología
Subjects
Scopus EID
2-s2.0-84930947744
Source
Technology in Society
ISSN of the container
0160791X
Sponsor(s)
This article was partially possible due funding by FONACIT (National Fund for Science, Technology, and Innovation) through the project LOCTI 201000443 assigned to Rodolfo Fernández-Gómez.
In 1989 a global development strategy was initiated in Venezuela, based on the guidelines set by the VII National Plan as fundamental axis. A main goal for this plan was to develop competitiveness for the international sphere. This is how CONICIT concreted the design, organization and promotion for the New Technologies Program focused on activating, mobilizing, and modernizing the National Scientific and Technological Sector. Such Program would be carried out with funding from the Inter American Development Bank (IDB), which gave raise to the first Framing Agreement executed in 1992. Biotechnology was deemed one of the priority areas identified among cutting edge technologies. Other areas under consideration were informatics, electronics, fine chemistry and new materials. The program did also include fostering talent development and strengthening research and development laboratories and centers. However, even though some results were attained, such were just incipient, as the country failed to have a consolidated National Science, Technology and Innovation System (SNCTI) where those public policies and scientific and technological guidelines that the country needed for fully exploiting such results could be designed.
Sources of information:
Directorio de Producción Científica
Scopus