Title: Towards an integrated approach to innovation: examples from the Brazilian industrial sector

Authors: Rita De Cassia Santos, Walter Leal Filho

Addresses: Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Department of Infrastructure, SE 10044, Stockholm, Sweden. ' TuTech, Harburger Schlossstrasse 6–10, D-21079 Hamburg, Germany

Abstract: Brazil has the greatest and the most modern industrial park of Latin America, with a very diversified production. To address the need for major improvements in production systems, the new industrial strategy of Brazil has put pressure on the national industry to adopt a series of measures to modernise it and to make it more open and competitive. This paper focuses on the description of a preliminary study which involves a survey of sustainability approaches by a sample of Brazilian companies that adopt and use technological innovation in their environmental performance. It uses secondary data to explore the context of innovation development in Brazil, linked with environmental issues and identifies the need for further studies using a sample of companies. It also discusses how companies in Brazil are pursuing the goal of promoting innovation technology and moving towards the improvement of environmental performance and competitiveness through technological innovation.

Keywords: Brazil; environment; technological innovation; technologies; industrial strategy; sustainability; environmental performance.

DOI: 10.1504/IJTTC.2005.006106

International Journal of Technology Transfer and Commercialisation, 2005 Vol.4 No.2, pp.247 - 252

Published online: 04 Feb 2005 *

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