WilliamsMemo40

=Williams Memo 40 Abstract= The proposed study focuses on medical technology transfer, or, the process of moving medical artifacts, systems, processes and techniques from one socio-cultural context (industrialized countries, i.e. ' the West') to another (developing countries) by way of entrepreneurial NGOs. Studying MTT is important because while both poverty and poor public health have been acknowledged as passive deterrents in sustainable development (CITATION?) the act of reducing avoidable blindness through medical technology transfer has not been analyzed as a new and active avenue for world development. This topic is important to study now because the World Health Organization has implemented the Vision 2020 program, with the goal of eliminating avoidable blindness by the year 2020. The purpose of my dissertation is to study exemplar cases of MTT to determine what makes them successful, including the following goals: The methodology of the study will consist of participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and comparative policy analysis. The data sets will consist of government officials making medical technology policy, ophthalmologists and other health professionals, medical technology manufacturers that are affiliated with NGOs, and the public and private spaces of eye hospitals. They will be multi-sited internationally in Nepal, India, Kenya, Tanzania, and the USA. This study intends to: contribute to the empirical record of "appropriate technology design" and "technology choice"; advance conceptualization of organizational theory in respect to transnational networks and complexity theory; contribute to the body of theoretical work on social construction of technology; create a more general theoretical framework for international medical technology transfer. Results of this study can help transnational NGOs, policy-makers, and multi-national corporations that are trying to facilitate sustainable development of less developed countries. Dissemination of this work will be through an open access dissertation publication (with a Creative Commons license), and peer-reviewed articles in journals such as: //World Development (IF 1.565)//; //Social Science & Medicine (IF 2.453); Social Studies of Science (IF 1.651); Science, Technology and Human Values (IF 1.711); the International Journal of Public Policy//; and the //Journal of Technology Transfer.//
 * 1) understanding the political processes which shape and guide medical technology transfer
 * 2) adding to the discourse on appropriate technology/ ‘technology choice’ with examples of medical technology innovation
 * 3) adding to the discourse on sustainable development with examples of medical technology innovation
 * 4) creating a more general theoretical framework for international medical technology transfer that incorporates the transfer of culture and values.