TIDE Centre, University of Oxford

The Technology and Industrialisation for Development Centre explores the complex relationships between trade, investment, technology, industrialization, and innovation in the context of development. The Centre was created in 2008 by Professor Xiaolan Fu as a multidisciplinary research hub within the Oxford Department of International Development which brings together scholars and practitioners who view technology and industrialisation as essential drivers of sustainable development. It has built on the pioneering work since the 1970s by its influential development economists —Frances Stewart, Sanjaya Lall, Barbara Harriss-White, Adrian Wood, and Valpy FitzGerald. In an era when the development agenda was dominated by concerns around food security, poverty reduction, and aid, these thoughts leaders have championed the transformative power of technology and industrialisation as key levers for progress. Today, the centre's mission is more crucial than ever. With increasing disparities in technological capabilities and a renewed global industrialization race, especially in the transition to a low-carbon economy, it is imperative to push the knowledge frontiers on innovation and industrial policy for local prosperity and true sustainability for all.