Scientific knowledge as a generator of innovation: overview of researchers in Angola 2016 to 2018

Abstract

The reality of Angolan universities in relation to scientific research focused on innovation still lacks strategies and actions that effectively make it possible, as it is considered that the innovation generated in this context is a determining factor for the development of the Country. Innovation is an aspect that should be part of higher education institutions, mainly because they generate knowledge that have a social and economic impact on a local, regional and/or national community. In the case of Angola, some steps have been taken, but given the country's problems and the scarcity of researchers with graduate training at universities, this constitutes a limiting factor for the generation of innovation. From this perspective, the objective was to analyze the scenario of researchers in Angola in the period 2016 and 2018, and its impact on scientific research for the generation of innovation. Regarding the methodological procedures, the nature of the research is qualitative, quantitative, descriptive, exploratory, and documental. The documentary research made use of primary documents, such as: decrees, laws, resolutions and other legal instruments and secondary sources such as: statistical yearbooks of higher education from 2016 to 2018. These were useful to evidence the statistics related to professors and researchers of Angola in the years under study. With regard to the identification of public policies, it was done by government decrees and laws of Angola. Regarding the results, the data from 2016 to 2018 on the panorama of higher education in Angola, includes seventy-two higher education institutions, of which twenty-five are public and forty-seven privates. Within the scope of public higher education institutions, there were 638 doctors and 1,814 masters in 2016, and in the following years an increase of 59 doctors and only 4 (four) masters can be observed in 2017, while in 2018 there was a considerable increase of almost 652 doctors and 1,088 masters. Regarding private higher education institutions, for the years under study, the statistical yearbooks do not include data from researchers in this sector. It identified the existence of public policies aimed at increasing qualified human capital for research, in order to achieve social and economic development. Public policy on the approval of Presidential Decree nº 109/19, which establishes the status of the career of scientific investigator, stands out as an essential element for the generation of innovation in the field of research.