Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals
United Nations Headquarters, New York
5 and 6 June, 2018
DRAFT Concept Note for the STI Forum
Status: 26 April 2018
Context
The Addis Ababa Action Agenda and the 2030 Agenda for sustainable development established a
technology facilitation mechanism (TFM) that Member States agreed “… will be based on a multistakeholder collaboration between Member States, civil society, the private sector, the scientific
community, United Nations entities and other stakeholders and will be composed of a United Nations
inter-agency task team on science, technology and innovation for the sustainable development goals,
a collaborative multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the sustainable
development goals and an online platform.”
The collaborative multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the sustainable
development goals (“STI Forum”) is convened by the President of ECOSOC and expected to “discuss science, technology and innovation cooperation around thematic areas for the implementation of the sustainable development goals, congregating all relevant stakeholders to actively contribute in theirarea of expertise.” It will “provide a venue for facilitating interaction, matchmaking and theestablishment of networks between relevant stakeholders and multi-stakeholder partnerships in order to identify and examine technology needs and gaps, including with regard to scientific cooperation, innovation and capacity-building, and also in order to help facilitate development, transfer and dissemination of relevant technologies for the sustainable development goals”.
Agenda 2030 tasked the IATT to work with the 10-Member Group to organize the meetings of the STI Forum. Reflecting this mandate, this concept note is jointly put forward by the IATT and 10-Member Group for the consideration of the Co-Chairs of the STI Forum.
Theme for the STI Forum 2018
The theme of the 2018 High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) is
“Transformation towards sustainable and resilient societies”, and the Member States have decided
that the HLPF 2018 shall focus on five SDGs (6, 7, 11, 12 and 15) in addition to SDG 17 that will be
considered at each HLPF.
Accordingly, the theme of the STI Forum 2018 is: “Science, Technology and Innovation for sustainableand resilient societies – Focus on SDGs 6, 7, 11, 12 and 15”.
Objectives
In line with its mandate as per A/RES/70/1 (supplemented by 72/242), the STI Forum will address the following objectives:
(1) STI cooperation: “Discuss science, technology and innovation cooperation around thematic
areas for the implementation of the sustainable development goals”:
a. Congregate all relevant stakeholders to actively contribute in their area of expertise;
b. Open new fields of dialogue between stakeholders and promote the sharing,
exchange and scaling up of ideas, technologies and innovations for the SDGs;
c. Share success stories and challenges in scientific collaborations, innovation,
technology transfer and diffusion, and promote the development of accessible
repositories of ‘best practices’.
(2) Needs and gaps analysis: “Identify and examine technology needs and gaps, including with
regard to scientific cooperation, innovation and capacity-building”:
a. Support the development of gaps and needs analysis at the national and regional
levels, act as an observatory for STI needs for SDGs, and promote capacity-building
efforts;
b. Determine how the STI Forums (2016-2030) can contribute to the design of
roadmaps for the use of science, technology and innovation (STI) for sustainable
development;
c. Consider means of measuring progress in implementation of the SDGs in terms of
the role of STI, including technology development, transfer and diffusion, and take
stock of progress made.
(3) Networking: “Facilitate interaction, matchmaking and the establishment of networks
between relevant stakeholders and multi-stakeholder partnerships”
a. Suggest new initiatives and partnerships to be developed to help promote new
solutions for the SDGs.
b. Organize a Networking Forum to profile exceptional innovators who are already
delivering solutions to one or more of the SDGs, and to illustrate the breadth of
diverse sources of innovation (both geographic and sectoral);
c. To explore potential for inter-disciplinary approaches to innovating solutions for
sustainable development challenges, including open and collaborative innovation;
d. Provide regular reporting on thematic topics and regional initiatives in line with the
principles of the TFM.
(4) Technologies for the SDGs: “Facilitate development, transfer and dissemination of relevant
technologies for the sustainable development goals”
a. Identify practical means and solutions to foster science, technology and innovation
technologies for the sustainable development goals”
a. Identify practical means and solutions to foster science, technology and innovation
geared towards the target SDGs (6, 7, 11, 12 and 15);
b. Enhance enabling environments for STI development and the removal of obstacles to
the scaling up of the development of and access to technologies.
c. Explore innovative approaches to leverage human and financial resources for STI;
d. Support the collection and dissemination of best practices and solutions, as well as
case studies of actual experiences in STI development, transfer and diffusion;
e. Identify means of employing technologies and technological know-how and
information in the public domain.
(5) Impact of rapid technological change on the SDGs: GA resolution 72/242 (OP4) from 2017
mandates the third STI forum to include a session on “the impact of rapid technological
change, including in cases in which changes may occur at an exponential pace, on the
achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals”
a. In continuation with similar discussions in previous STI Forums, seek to identify ways
in which recent developments in science and technology, especially those which have the potential for large-scale transformative impacts, can impact the SDGs;
b. Explore policy options based on country practices to enhance the positive impacts
across countries at different stages of development;
c. Engage with the many communities and stakeholders impacted by these advances.
Modalities & Participation
The STI Forum is collaborative and multi-stakeholder in nature, including Member States, United
Nations entities, civil society and NGOs, private sector, philanthropic sector, scientific community, academia, youth, indigenous peoples and other stakeholder groups. The two-day meeting should mobilize decision-makers, practitioners and experts, as well as users of technologies and the private sector that invests in technological R&D and innovation. It is important to secure participation from the broad range of communities along the STI continuum. It is important to work closely with
Member States to secure the participation of high-level experts and policy makers from capitals, and to include young scientists and innovators in national delegations.
The STI Forum is open to participation by all accredited delegates and representatives through an open call for registration to ensure a wide range of participation.
Resources permitting, the STI Forum will be webcast, and the proceedings recorded and made available for open viewing.
Proposed structure of program and organization of work
This year’s Forum is co-chaired by Japan and Mexico. Draft program of the Forum can be found in the Annex.
The opening session should set the general tone for the STI Forum, while the concluding session
should discuss recommendations and key messages for the Co-Chairs’ summary and set out
expectations for the STI Forum in future years.
The STI Forum and its sessions aims to be as interactive as possible; exploring innovative seating arrangements, use of different media (videos, and visualizations) with side events, innovations exhibits and affiliated events contributing to the discussions.
The Secretariat will be responsible for overall coordination and preparation of the STI Forum, and for planning the opening and closing sessions. Members of the IATT and the 10-Member Group will self nominate to join sub-groups to organize the sessions. The organizers of each session will prepare a concept note, identify and issue invitations to potential speakers, and plan the use of different mediaand discussion formats. The co-chairs of IATT and of the 10-Member Group will ensure coherent approaches across sessions.
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