Identifying New Partnerships for Innovation: Governance and Policy Challenges

Science, technology, and innovation are critical to national competitiveness, security, domestic and international policy, governance, politics, economic growth, culture, and human well-being. One course of action is to only collaborate with known, established partners. But this approach comes with the risk of missing out on the next “up and coming” player, losing the beneficial products that could arise if collaboration had been established earlier. Newcomers are nations that are developing competency and breakthroughs in specific disciplines but have not yet attained global recognition for their expertise and capacity. This article explores the practical policy and governance challenges associated with identifying and partnering with lesser-known countries, with the goal of providing an advantage to both newcomer nations and more established partners.