Rogers, E. (1962) Diffusion of Innovations, New York: The Free Press.

• Although the diffusion of most desirable innovations requires considerable time lag, there is a certain inevitability in their diffusion. Most attempts to prevent diffusion from occurring have been unsuccessful over a long time period. Examples are the ancient Chinese attempt to maintain sole knowledge of gunpowder, and United States efforts to prevent diffusion of the secret of the atomic bomb. In fact, it is probably inevitable that most of the smaller countries of the world today will eventually gain knowledge of nuclear weapons. 3
• An important factor affecting the adoption rate of an innovation is the cultural values of the potential adopters. 12
• Diffusion is the process by which an innovation spreads. The diffusion process is the spread of a new idea from its source of invention or creation to its ultimate users or adopters. 13
• An individual may wish to adopt, but he cannot do so until others join him. 15
• “If we know what a society’s culture is, including its particular system of values and attitudes, we can predict with a fairly high degree of probability of whether the bulk of its members will welcome or resist a particular innovation.” 57 Ralph Linton, 1952, p.74, “Cultural and Personality Factors affecting economic growth, in Bert F. Hoselitz, ed., The progress of underdeveloped areas, Chicago University Press.
• Cultural values influence not only the original adoption or rejection of an innovation but also how the new idea will be integrated into the existing way of life. 59
• The opinion leaders in modern social systems, several studies show, are mostly innovators and early adopters, but I traditional social systems the opinion leaders are less innovative. 72
• If norms are important in affecting individual behavior, then it is essential to determine the process by which a social system norms change. To date there has been little integration of what is known about the diffusion of innovations with present theories of social change. Such a convergence might result in increased fruitfulness for both fields. 74
• A major difference between the diffusion process and the adoption process is that diffusion occurs among persons while adoption is an individual matter. 76
• the way in which an individual adopts an innovation is viewed by most researchers as a process. Adoption of a new idea is a bundle of related events flowing through time; in short it is a process. 78
• It can be observed that awareness occurs at a more rapid rate than does adoption. 108
• Why do innovators require a shorter adoption period? Research studies show that innovators have more favorable attitudes toward new ideas and less resistance to change must be overcome by communications about the ideas. 111
• Evidence from several investigations supports the generalization that for most innovations the awareness-to-trial period is longer than the trial-to-adoption period. 112
• earlier adopters try innovations on a smaller scale than later adopters. 116
• a crises emphasizes the relative advantage of an innovation and effects its rate of adoption. 125
• In summary, the relative advantage of an innovation is a matter of perception. The relative advantage of a new idea, as perceived by members of a social system, affects its rate of adoption. 126
• the complexity of an innovation, as perceived by members of a social system, affects its rate f adoption. 130
• New ideas that can be tried on the installment plan will generally be adopted more rapidly than innovations that are not divisible. 131
• Wilkening, 1952, p.5 “The acceptance of improved farming practices is determined largely by economic considerations yet, if economic considerations were the only basis of acceptance, improved practices would be adopted as rapidly as their economic advantages were demonstrated. But, not only is there considerable lapse of time between initial acquaintance and adoption of a practice, but those who would benefit most from improved practices are frequently the last to adopt them. 137-8 “Informal leaders and innovators in Farm practices,” Rural sociology, 17:272-275.
• What really determines the rate of adoption of an innovation is the adopter’s perception of profitability and not objective profitability. 142
• adoption of an innovation may be viewed as conformity to group pressures which become more intense as a higher percent of adoption is reached for a particular innovation in a social system. 155
• Earlier adopters have a more favorable financial position than later adopters. 175
• found a high relationship between innovativeness and ability to deal with abstractions... 177
• Earlier adopters utilize information sources that are in closer contact with the origin of new ideas than later adopters. 181
• innovators are perceived as deviants by other members of their social system. 200
• In summary, personal influences from peers are relatively more important (1) at the evaluation stage of the adoption process rather than other strategies, (2) for later adopters rather than early adopters, and (3) in unclear situations rather than clear-cut situations. 223
• In modern neighborhoods, leaders were much more innovative than their followers. The leaders in traditional neighborhoods were relatively less innovative, as compared to their followers. 233
• A change agent’s clients must perceive a need for an innovation before it can be successfully introduced. The potential need for an idea must exist in a client system, although a change agent can help develop such a need. 280  Ramesh, J., and Weiss, C. (eds.) (1979) Mobilizing Technology for World Development, New York: Praeger.

“Introduction: A new approach to the north-south technical agenda,” C.W., J.R., pp. 8-17

• The introduction of high-yielding varieties of wheat and rice into the nations of south Asia has shown clearly that the application of science and technology to agriculture often has ramifications that extend far beyond technology policy to issues not usually considered in discussions of the subject at the national, let alone the international, level. For example, it often requires substantial reforms in land tenure, and in the policies and practices of financial institutions and those rendering other essential services such as water, education, health, and energy. The use of science and technology also compels attention to needs of the so-called “informal sector”, with which formal technological institutions generally have little contact. Moreover, the people affected by development must themselves be involved in critical decisions affecting their welfare, a fact which may necessitate important changes in patterns of decision making. 10
• Although they are political realities, national governments sometimes hinder progress by importing technology which is unsuitable or by applying technology where it is far removed from its proper localized context. 10
• technology may provide a feasible, politically attractive approach to long-term cooperation. Such cooperation need not take the form of research. In most areas, the existing supply of knowledge is great enough for its application to begin today, even in the expectation that there will be a better information tomorrow. In these areas, it is in the interest of both the developed and the developing countries for the developing countries to build the capacity to: define their own needs, plan and analyze alternative approaches, formulate and implement policies and projects, mobilize technology from any available source in order to reach their goals and set in motion the processes of evaluation of past experience, research and training, and education and institutional development so that future needs will be foreseen and met. This is the true meaning of self-reliance: not autarky but simply the capacity to mobilize and, if necessary, invent the technology best suited to the problem at hand. 14
• It is in the interests of both the developing countries, with their severe and seemingly endless crisis of unemployment and their recurrent foreign exchange difficulties, and of developed countries, seeking to cope with the social effects of massive population movements from the developing countries, to apply modern technological principles to the improvement of traditional agriculture and industrial skills and the development and diffusion of efficient, labor intensive technology suited to local needs and capacities. 15
• The achievement of self-reliance by developing countries is not a subject for debate and confrontation but a goal which is clearly in the interests of everyone. 15

“Transnational enterprises and technology flows: A business viewpoint,” Lowell W. Steele, pp. 108-117

• Key ingredients for success in negotiating and accomplishing the transfer of technology I any context include the following: (1) Both parties must perceive sufficient potential benefit to warrant the expenditure of effort that the transfer will require. (2) The transfer itself will involve costs in time, effort, and money to both parties. (3) Success requires continual follow-up effort by both parties. (4) Success is never assured, for there is an irreducible area of uncertainty in all technology transfer. (5) The values ad priorities of the parties are very rarely identical, and their interests in effecting the transfer very rarely commensurate with each other. (6) Actions and commitments are carried out by people, not by organizations, and a transfer which may be small in the context of the organization typically constitutes a significant event for the particular people who must accomplish the transfer. (7) In many cases, a significant part of the information that must be communicated is kinesthetic rather than verbal, and direct “hands on” participation may be required. 113
• Specification of the objectives of the development process must precede the identification of technological needs. Effective consideration of technology transfer issues requires subdividing the technical requirements for development into more specific categories. These include: (a) technology to meet a minimally acceptable level of human needs for food, shelter, clothing, health, and energy; (b) technology for agricultural and non-agricultural resource products for local consumption; (c ) technology for agricultural and other natural resource products for export; (d) technology for the manufacture of products for local consumption; (e) technology for the manufacture of goods for export; (f) technology for the creation of an industrial infrastructure: transportation, communication, power, public services, factories, and repair and maintenance; and (g) technology for creating a self-sustaining technological infrastructure: education, craft training, indigenous technical capabilities, measurement and control instrumentation, or information storage and retrieval. 114
• The key problem for developing countries is to specify the scope and thrust of the technology to be transferred in such a way that the domestic economy is left with a strengthened and viable technological capability. 116
• The entire process of technology transfer must rest of a realistic appreciation of what is meant by self-determination and self-reliance. Self-reliance must always be defined in relative terms as meaning the attainment of indigenous capability to manage one’s own destiny in a world community in which both self-determination and interdependence operate in creative tension. 116

“International technology flows for development: Suggestion for US Government and corporate initiatives,” Jack Behrman, pp. 119-127

• The US government can help in supporting and encouraging the transfer of technology to the developing countries...by supporting the develop of appropriate infrastructures in the developing countries to receive technology and utilize it. 119
• No developing country can make adequate use of technology unless it has an appropriate scientific and technical infrastructure in the public, private, educational, and corporate sectors. 120 Among the initiatives that can be taken in this area are: (a) reorientation of university programs; (b) exchange of professional personnel; (c ) stimulation of repair and maintenance services; (d) development of technology centers in the developing countries; and (e) support for small business through appropriate financing institutions. 121
• Since technologies developed for advanced countries may not be precisely adapted to the needs of the developing countries, the companies should stand ready to make appropriate adaptations, either from their own investigations or on the basis of dialogues with developing country officials as to their needs. 125

“Technology for development: The south Korean experience,” Hyung-Sup Choi, pp. 130-139

• Without a means for active transfer of technology within countries, development efforts are futile. 137
• It is a widely held assumption that a change in rural values and attitudes is a necessary precondition to self-sustained change in rural economic behavior. 139
• the establishment of an infrastructure conducive to innovation should receive highest priority at the national level. The government’s role is pivotal in the accomplishment of this task. 138
• increased awareness of the need for technology transfer within countries - and of the immense economic as well as moral benefits that accrue from it. 139

“Technological Development in Minas Gerais, Brasil,” Juarez Tavora Veado and Jose Israel Vargas, pp. 154-161

• The basic goal is to promote the development of technologies appropriate to the physical, cultural, and economic realities of Minas Gerais by utilizing the natural resources of the region, minimizing damage to the environment, and training people in priority areas. 161

• There are many pitfalls associated with disregarding the specific contexts of underdevelopment or overlooking the full range of factors, both internal and external, that condition the development of indigenous policies. 167
• Various research approaches, disciplinary perspectives, and ideological points of view must be combined if one is to comprehend the interplay of forces that shapes science and technology development. There is no substitute for determined local efforts - however modest at the beginning - to understand a particular situation of a country’s industry and its science and technology capabilities, their possible future development, and the types of government measures likely to be most effective. 167

“Energy and development: fueling change,” David Henry, pp. 197-203

• Technology is a complex blend of technical, social, economic, and political issues. 203

Zahlan, A.B. (ed.) Technology Transfer and Change in the Arab World: A Seminar of the United Nations Economic Commission for Western Asia, Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.
“Finance and technology transfer,” Georges Corm, pp. 95-114

• Our analysis has shown that a direct link exists between LDC’s balance of payments deficit and the accumulation of foreign debts on the one hand, and the way technology is being acquired by LDC’s from Western countries on the other; by this we mean the creation of joint ventures with transnational or the purchase of technology packages, mainly through turn key projects. This link is also evident when one looks at the history of technology transfer in the nineteenth century, particularly in Latin America, the Near East and North Africa. The link has not existed in modern china, North Korea or Vietnam. 102
• greater dependency is created vis a vis imported technological hardware at the expense of local entrepreneurial capacity... 106
• Technology can be developed and adapted by scientific knowledge or by learning by doing when proper incentives are provided, or in most cases, by combination of the two. But the concept of transferring technology by buying large quantities of equipment and productive capacity from another economy makes little sense particularly when the foundations of such technology in the recipient country are missing i.e. a vast network of scientists and engineers, managerial capacities, a range of skilled workers, improving productivity in the agricultural sector, etc. 106
• The process of development is primarily one of progressively involving all sectors of population in productivity improvements and the process of innovation. Imports of foreign made production capacity can never replace the social and economic value of the development of a national production capacity. 108

“An Approach to the generation of technologies appropriate for rural development,” Amilcar Herrera, pp. 127-147

• Self reliance “is to be understood at the national level of each developing country as the will to build up the capacity for autonomous decision making and implementation in all aspects of the development process including science and technology. This approach to self-reliance is reflected internationally as opposition to all forms of dependency. It calls for changing the mode of incorporation of the developing countries in the international, political, economic and cultural systems.” Pugwash Symposium (June 1977) The role of self-reliance in alternative strategies for development, Dar er Salaam.
• self reliance is basically the recognition that the main responsibility to solve the problems of underdevelopment lies with the developing countries themselves. 135
• The truth is that self-reliance not only is not against solidarity at the world level, but it is a contribution to that ideal. 135
• The main specific reasons to induce participation in the generation of technologies...are the following: a) The technologies used by the traditional sector are based greatly on empirical knowledge, which is transmitted mainly by verbal tradition and is the result of centuries of struggle to survive. This knowledge is comprised of a great amount of useful information on the physical environment, and on the ways to use it to provide the essential needs of life. Coupled with modern science, this empirical knowledge can greatly contribute to the solution to many of the technological problems of the rural areas. b) One of the most difficult aspects of the introduction of new technologies in poor rural areas is to induce people to accept them. This is not so much because they are “conservative”, as it is commonly assumed, but because people generally tend to reject changes in their way of living, unless they have participated in some way in their generation. c) One of the difficulties the peasants experience to solve, or at least to pose clearly, their problems is their almost complete ignorance of the possibilities and limitations of modern science technology. Participation in the process of creating technologies will help them to overcome that obstacle, and to incorporate science as a normal element in their lives, as is the case in the richer parts of the world. d) The resulting technologies should be produced as much as possible by the local people with local resources. The participation of the populace in the process of generation of technologies should contribute to generate the skills necessary for their use and production. 137

“Agricultural water use”, Richard Palmer-Jones and Ian Carruthers,” pp. 237-269

• Irrigation schemes often fail because they neglect the role and special problems of agriculture in general and small farmers in particular in making productive use of the large-scale engineering works publicly provided. 237
• the institutional means for introducing, adapting and managing these innovations are crucial for their effects on both productivity and rural development. 238
• It is increasingly realized that social, political and organizational changes can produce development within agriculture through capital accumulation rather than technical change. 238
• “the great majority of (irrigation) projects, especially those relying on gravity flow, fall far short of expectations an potential. It is rare indeed to find economists’ cost benefit calculations justified, planners’ expectations fulfilled, or governments’ targets achieved. In operation, most projects have water use efficiencies of less than 50%. Most have brought under effective command much less land than was planned. Minor canalization and farm level infrastructure are often left incomplete. Cropping intensities on land which is irrigated usually fall far short of projections. Water deliveries to farmers are often unreliable. The supply of water is frequently very inequitable, with those at the top end receiving more than their fair share, and those at the tail end receiving supplies which are small, uncertain, and untimely, if indeed they receive any water at all. In consequence of these and other short comings, the production of food and other crops resulting from irrigation facilities almost invariably lags far behind the targets set and what is technically feasible.” ODI Review #1, 1977, p.106 240-241
• more appropriate technologies which ca be controlled and operated by indigenes might be sought, even if this means lower levels of production. ...there is often real merit in what might appear to be second best solutions. 241
• This problem is exacerbated where irrigation systems supply large numbers of individual farmers whose needs for water will vary not only because of differences in soils, micro-climate and the crops which they wish to grow, but also because of their labor supplies, farm equipment and alternative economic and social opportunities lead them to want water at different times and in different quantities from those which suit the overall operation of the irrigation system. 244

“Transportation bottlenecks, planning and technology transfer,” K. Philip Rahbany, pp. 333-342

• It is to be recalled that the process of transportation planning is perhaps more important than the plans themselves as these plans posses only short lived virtues and merit continuous testing, planning is a hypothesis to be demonstrated and modified with repeated experimentation. 336