BACKGROUND

UNIDO, in collaboration with the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STEPI) and the Government of the Republic of Korea, is organizing an online event on the contribution of science, technology, and innovation (STI) for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG’s), with emphasis on SDG9. The rational for the event is the recognition of STI and industrial development as two powerful drivers of economic diversification and value addition, economic growth and sustainable development.

The online event will present recent experiences of a selected number of East Asian countries to illustrate strategies to address gaps in technological capability accumulation and strengthen policy capacities for innovation and industrialization. Leveraging on concrete experiences is intended to foster policy learning and enhance government capacities to design and implement appropriate STI and industrial policies.

The online event will comprise two parts. First, the launch of the report titled “The Role of science, technology, and innovation policies in the industrialization of developing countries: Lessons from East Asian Countries”, which includes case studies of East Asian countries that have leveraged on STI and industrial policies to achieve rapid industrialization. Building on this discussion, the second part of the event will serve to discuss what kind of policy capacities are required to implement STI and industrial policies in a post-pandemic world. The case of the Republic of Korea will be used to kick start the discussion.

OBJECTIVES

The online event aims to:

• Present the main results of the report: “The Role of science, technology, and innovation policies in the industrialization of developing countries: Lessons from East Asian Countries”
• Raise awareness of the importance of STI and industrial policy to foster industrial innovation, as an integral component of industrialization in developing countries.
• Glean lessons from the concrete experiences of some East Asian countries to identify and understand which policy capacities are important to mobilize STI as a driver of inclusive and sustainable industrial development.

SPEAKERS

‐ Mr. Hiroshi Kuniyoshi, Deputy Director General, UNIDO
‐ Dr. Hwanil Park, Chief, Director, Division of Global Innovation Strategy Research, STEPI
‐ Dr. Dong Un Park, Associate Research Fellow, STEPI
‐ Dr. Professor Sachin Chaturvedi, Director General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS)
‐ Mr. Sungchul Chung, CEO, the Wonjung Institute South Korea
‐ Dr. Rainer Kattel – Professor of Innovation and Public Policy at the University College London
‐Mrs B. Fatwma Abdool Raman-Ahmed, Permanent Secretary Ministry of Industrial Development, SMEs and Cooperatives, Mauritius

Moderator: Fernando Santiago (UNIDO)