Governments and technology-led development - The News International

After my graduation, I worked in the technolgy startup ecosystem in Pakistan for a few months. As a young Pakistani fresh out of university, I often argued about how policymakers should take a backseat and allow entrepreneurs to build and disrupt markets.
I felt that the policymakers had obsolete ideas and stood in the way of technology entrepreneurs determined to disrupt the existing markets and build new ones with their innovative products and approaches. I saw entrepreneurs creating jobs, introducing new technologies and fostering a culture of experimentation and learning in their communities.
It seemed fair to insist that the government, which was unable to update its public policy to keep up with the times, should step back. But I was missing an important point.
For innovation to drive an economy, there is no need for the government to take a backseat. It should rather assume an enabling leadership position to support technology-led economic development. Or at least that’s what Mariana Mazzucato, also known as the world’s scariest economist, argues in her work.
From her book, The Entrepreneurial State to Mission Economy: A Moonshot Guide to Changing Capitalism, she presents evidence of how it has been the high-risk, early-stage public funding in research and development that drove the technology and innovation-led development of the US economy.
If the state encourages and rewards risk-taking and innovative ideas, then it is only a matter of time for technological...

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