#technical collaboration

The World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought underlines the urgent need to halt land degradation through global cooperation and innovative solutions – such as those offered by nuclear science.  

For example, I’ offers a unique and powerful tool to map water resources and therefore protect them – building drought resilience for future generations. 

“We now know exactly which areas need special attention, and we know how to protect them to ensure our water supply for now and the coming decades,” said Ricardo Sánchez-Murillo from the National University of Costa Rica, which has been partnering with the IAEA to understand Costa Rica’s rainfall patterns. 

How does isotope hydrology help us build drought resilience?

Isotope hydrology is a nuclear technique that reveals how water moves through the land, ocean and atmosphere, providing information about the water’s origin, age, quality and movement. 

Isotopes are atoms of the same element with the same number of protons but a different number of neutrons. Water (H2O) being composed of two atoms of Hydrogen and one of Oxygen, each drop has a unique isotopic ‘fingerprint’ or ‘signature’, depending on where it comes from. Scientists can track the movement and pollution of water along its path through the water cycle. 

For sixty years, the IAEA has been supporting researchers around the world gather and analyse water samples and created the Global Network of Isotopes in Precipitation, the worldwide monitoring network built by the IAEA to provide governments and researchers with the long-term, large-scale data they need to gain insights into climate processes at the local, regional and global scale.

Data and information help countries meet Sustainable Development Goal 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation) and deliver on the Water Action Agenda. Since 1962, water samples have been sent to the IAEA's laboratories in Vienna.  The results provide scientists with detailed information on the origin and age, and this information is entered into the largest online isotopic hydrology database. 

“This large amount of data allows researchers to better understand the water cycle globally and locally. For example: when, where, and how groundwater is recharged. This is key to decision makers to manage water resources, particularly in the light of climate change,” explains IAEA Isotope Hydrologist Lucia Ortega. 

The IAEA datasets and maps are freely available for analysts around the globe to study how changing global rainfall patterns affect local water resources.  These help countries understand how precipitation patterns change and how different rainfall events transfer to the groundwater system and help them also identify the exact source of water pollution when it occurs.  

The Global Water Analysis Laboratory Network

The IAEA is further promoting water cooperation through its Global Water Analysis Laboratory (GloWAL) Network.  Launched at the UN 2023 Water Conference, the GloWAL Network is a groundbreaking transformative tool in water analysis, empowering countries to independently generate chemical and isotopic water data.  

The network fosters collaboration, best-practices, knowledge-sharing and capacity building among laboratories bridging technical gaps between lower-, middle- and high-income countries. GloWAL’s objectives include enabling independent data collection in low- and middle-income countries, reducing technical disparities, attracting financial investment and promoting scientific innovation in water analysis.  

The First Coordination Meeting of GloWAL Network will take place in Vienna next week (18-20 June 2024).  

Waste Water Works

Executive Summary

The paper discusses the various technology transfer mechanism available for the company. They have been discussed in detail in the Section 1. Section 2 contains the advantages and disadvantages of technology transfer mechanisms. R and D strategies and intellectual property themes have been explained in Section 3 clearly. Section 3 is followed by Section 4 that portrays the broad guidelines on what globalization strategy the company should follow. It also discusses the country matrix and its implications for the country. Section 5 gives the conclusion on if this business should be done alone or in a partnership.

Section 1 :

Technology can also be termed as commodity, knowledge or a social economic process. Therefore, the technology is transferable from one medium to another. Technology transfer can happen globally or in a local market as well. The technology transfer mechanisms are the sources to transfer the technology available to the buyer from the seller. Therefore, the technology transfer mechanism that the waste water treatment business MAP-C can consider for the commercialisation of technology is Joint Ventures, Technical Collaboration and production sharing. (Peng, 2008)

Joint Ventures: This can be used when the company is planning to expand globally. Here the two or more countries commit their asset which can be finance, land, skills, market, plant and equipments to the combined ventures. (Nguyen,2010. The countries also share certain responsibilities which could be defined in the agreement. The partner from the host country holds better decision making powers and management powers related to the technology or business. Therefore we can use this approach for waste water treatment business as the controlling power will be in the parent organisation’s hand.

Technical Collaboration: In this, for technology transfer varied contractual agreements are signed by both the foreign company and the local enterprise. This is most effective in the international trade because here the contractual agreement is between the two bodies of different nationalities for the sale and purchase of the products.

Production Sharing: In this, the seller does the market survey and feasibility of taking the business into the new country. Once the same is approved, the buyers and local enterprises support the seller for the production. (Nguyen,2010). These can be short term investments, because the production undertaking can be only for a specified time or till the cost is recovered and the seller is in profit. In this, both the parties that are buyer and seller take the responsibilities of the management.

Section 2:

Following are the Advantages and disadvantages of Commercial mechanisms.

Joint ventures:

Advantages:

Joint Venture will give the MAP-C a threshold to gain the experience.

It allows the companies to enter the business market or geographical regions for new market and also gain the knowledge.

In joint ventures the company can have better resources which would include specialised and skilled staff and also the technology.

The losing risk is less as the risks are shared by the partner/s of a venture.

In this, the companies can separate their business gradually. They can even sell the company to the other partner.

Disadvantages:

It is not easy to build the relationship as it takes some times because of the involvement of another entity which is challenging.

The problems which can arise in the Joint venture are;

If the communication is not clear among the people in the venture, the communication could be objectives and goals of the company.

If there is a clash in management and culture style which can result in poor cooperation within the company.

If the leadership and support is not provided by the partners at the beginning.

Technical Collaboration:

Advantages:

These processes combine and evolve different viewpoints.

The technical collaboration encourages the creativity at the workplace. Since the people working are with different experience, it is obvious that the creativity will take place.

The decision making process is more balanced in the company because of the responsibilities on both the parties are equal.

The technical collaborations can advance the delivery time.

Disadvantage

The costs involved are very high.

There is a possibility that the decision making takes times in technical collaboration

Conflicts can happen within the groups in the company because here two different nationals are working and it is evident that the clashes will happen in the thinking, working style and methodology.

Production Sharing:

Advantages

It is considered as the most attractive investment funds and is successful in getting the foreign investments to explore the unexplored areas.

In order to get the cost recovery, the seller or the investor does not leave any stone unturned.

Disadvantages:

The partner or the other party can face the arena of conflicts.

Section 3:

Research and Developments Result Protection:

The Intellectual Property Right should be used in protecting the results of research and development of the waste water treatment business MAP-C and also the other activities. The IPR gives the rights exclusively to the owner that is you to make the product and usage of the name of the product. Generally the IPR are copyrights, patent and trademarks. One of the systems that MAP-C can use is the trade mark to IPR the company. (Peng, 2008)

The strategy used by the Australian government so that the trade mark is not pirated, counterfeit or used in an unauthorised way the government has come up with the new strategy called as Notice of Objection. It is a legal document that allows the customs to stop the import of goods with the trade mark. Also there is a committee called as Intellectual Property Enforcement Consultative Group where the customs are in touch with the company.

The Standard Patent is most appropriate for the MAP-C company because the standard patent gives protection for 20 years on inventions as well. This is most suited for the company as it has invented the product. The invention should differ in some ways from others and should not be adopted from some publications.

Section 4:

The strategies that the company (MAP-C) will take for the globalisation are:

Competing in all parts of the world.

In order to compete in an effective manner, it is important to appreciate the fact that success is there, where is demand.

The product that is MAP-C should remain the same throughout the market, nevertheless of the distance.

The control should be centralised.

Should take the advantage and needs of customers across the borders internationally.

In order to achieve the competitive advantage, it is important to locate the value adding activities.

Another strategy is to integrate and co-ordinate the activities internationally.

When the differences between the countries are mitigated and the competition is large, that is when the global strategies are effective. Global Strategies have advantages in terms of lesser costs, activities co-ordination and product development is fast. (Siegel , 2003)

The Globalisation Issues in Manufacturing and marketing are as follows:

Human resource needs to be strong in order to increase the productivity and also the competition. (Brock, 2007)

You have to do your best practices in order to create the niche in the market.

One of the issues is specialisation, firm should specialise in only one product so that the firm is able to apply its core competencies to the products. (Brock,2007)Have to face the global competition with other units.

How should the entry be made in the global market

The expansion should be simultaneously or one by one.

Another issue is penetrating the new market.