Prioritization of R & D lines in biotechnology

Perez (2010) claims that the future development strategies of countries of Latin American region should contemplate changes associated with the massive application of advanced biology, to the sustainable transformation of renewable resources. The UNCTAD in the Report on Policy Review in Science, Technology and Innovation for Peru (UN, 2011) recounts the importance of the application of biotechnology and indicates that given the magnitude of its transformative impact, the development of biotechnology "could allow Peru to enhance its competitive advantage in abundance and diversity of natural resources by integrating its multiple traditional primary activities into more complex value chains". Hence the innovation project "Laboratory of Digital Manufacturing (Fab Lab) in the Amazon" of the Fab Lab Association of Peru, takes those recommendations and includes among its lines of action the biotechnology. Therefore, the present research aimed to identify and prioritize research and development (R & D) lines in biotechnology for the Amazon within the framework of this project. The exploratory and qualitative methodology includes a literature review for the identification of current and potential R & D lines, as well as the development of 10 semistructured interviews with biotechnology specialists. For the stage of prioritization of research lines, a literature review was carried out on " capability for technological innovation", which is one of the criteria chosen for the evaluation of each R & D line. Based on this review, related variables were selected and used in a survey to 19 researchers from different institutions, including universities, public and private, non-university research centers, public research institutes and companies. This survey allowed to gather the opinion of these experts on the level of capability to develop research and development of the research line, as well as the level of importance to address the 3 challenges posed by the Fab Lab (Fabrication Laboratory) Amazon Project: Biodiversity Conservation, Food Safety and Sustainable Industry Development. In order to process data from the survey, a statistical multicriteria method and a matrix of importance Vs Prioritization capability were applied. As a result, it was possible to identify 13 R & D lines in Biotechnology to be developed in the Amazon. Those R&D lines was prioritized based on two criteria: technological capability and the importance for conservation, food security and sustainable development. From the 13 identified lines, 5 were prioritized, on which it is possible to develop one or more R & D Agenda with specific roadmaps. In addition, a qualitative methodological process was developed, through consulting expert researchers to prioritize these R & D lines. This process can be replicated for prioritization of R & D lines in other required sectors, including required changes due to the particularities of each sector or subsector. Finally, this work seeks to contribute through the proposal of a participatory methodology for the process of prioritizing R & D lines. This is important when managing resources adequately to generate the greatest social and economic impacts in a society. And, on the other hand, addressing the Biotechnology sector and knowing the priorities raised by researchers represents an opportunity to deepen these lines and gives rise to the elaboration of R & D & I Agendas.