Decisions to innovate which do not come in response to local requests are not met with the necessary preparation in mindset, mores and willingness to change. Often the imposed technology, while tackling an area of critical importance, does not take full advantage of the available resources or consider the disparities in societal types. Thus innovation is blocked until a major localization of the prioritizing process occurs.
From the sixties onwards there have been initiated in Europe many initiatives for international technological research and product development, but to date these have been largely unsuccessful. As much as 95% of European industrial research funding is used for specific technological improvements in a firm's existing products. There is very little interest in or funding for independent technological research.