Development studies is now seventy years old. Innovation studies is nearly forty years old. Development studies is aging and innovation studies is reaching adulthood. The linking of development studies with innovation studies emerged at an international conference on African Innovation and Competence Building Systems held in March, 2001 in Aalborg, Denmark. Subsequently, 'The Putting Africa First: The Making of African Innovation Systems' book came out in 2003 when the first Globelics conference was launched in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The new field of development and innovation studies has now been on the research agenda for over half a generation. The explicit incorporation of knowledge, invention and innovation to revitalize and make dynamic the development debate by adding new and fresh perspectives and directions has become now vital in the search for the paths of development and structural transformation in developing economies. The creative combination of innovation and development is expected to generate new insights and approaches in addressing the development challenges of all developing economies in the Global South. Human capital, education and research capability to synergize innovation and development are critical. The contributions in this edited book highlight the significance of building education, human capital and research capability towards unifying innovation with development in order to promote structural innovative transformation and sustainable development particularly in Africa.
