Introduction
Overview
UN Interagency Task Team Workstream 6 (IATT WS6) on Capacity Building in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for SDGs was formed in 2017 with the responsibility for STI for SDGs capacity building, designing and delivering training courses and workshops on STI Policy for SDGs, particularly for developing countries. The goal is to assist policymakers, public service experts, and key STI stakeholders in keeping abreast of most current approaches to STI policy design, and to enhance their ability to mobilize STI as part of strategies to achieve the SDGs.
Background
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Addis Ababa Action Agenda highlight the importance of Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) policies and actions for meeting the SDGs. The main instrument established by these initiatives is the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM), as a multi-stakeholder collaborative and partnership-building mechanism to share information, experiences, best practices and policy advice. The UN Interagency Task Team on STI for SDGs (IATT) is one of the several mechanisms to operationalize the TFM.
Evolution and current status of IATT WS6
IATT WS6 was launched after the adoption of the SDGs by the UN’s General Assembly. A training programme was designed and elaborated from 2015 to 2017 and reviewed after the 2nd STI Forum with the completion of a mapping exercise on STI activities carried out by the TFM to identify a focus for the capacity-building activities of the working stream. Following the draft programme, two regional trainings were organized in collaboration with the UN regional economic and social commissions: UN-ESCWA for Arab States (Jordan, April 2018) and UN-ECLAC for Central and South American countries (Panama, May 2019). Additional requests for training sessions were made by countries and regions since then.
In response to the global pandemic and the difficulty to convene training activities in presence, IATT WS6 adapted to the situation and delivered five online training workshops between 2020 and 2022, including one international training, two trainings for the Latin American region, one for the Southern African Development Community and one for Tunisia and the Arab States (see more on the event page).
With the successful delivery of the sessions and as requested by countries and regions, more similar trainings adapted to the local contexts will be delivered in 2023.
IATT WS6 Members
IATT WS6 is open to the participation of all United Nations agencies, funds, programmes, the regional commissions of the Economic and Social Council and additional partnerships outside the UN system. IATT WS6 is currently composed of diverse entities, including among others UNCTAD, UNIDO, UNESCO, UNU-MERIT, WIPO, UNDESA, UNEP, WB, ITU, UNESCWA, UNECA, UNECLAC, UNECE, UNTBLDC and UNESCAP. IATT WS6 also collaborates closely with the 10-Member Group, a group of representatives from the civil society, the private sector, and the scientific community, created to support the TFM. Likewise involved is the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre . The IATT WS6 group meetings are held every two weeks.
The work of the IATT WS6 was coordinated by UNU-MERIT until July 2020 and now is coordinated by UNESCO and UNCTAD.
Current IATT WS6 Coordinators:
Mr. Dimo Calovski
Economist, Science, Technology and ICT Branch,UNCTAD
Ms. Kornelia Tzinova
Assistant Programme Specialist, Division of Science Policy and Capacity Building, UNESCO
Announcements
Events
2024
STI Forum Side Event: Strengthening instruments for policy implementation in science, technology and innovation, 10 May 2024, online, event page
2023
Expert Group Meeting on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals, 11-13 December 2023, Vienna, event page
Training Workshop for Latin America on Policies and Policy Instruments in Science, Technology and Innovation for the SDGs, 27-31 March (in Spanish), event page
- Enfoques actuales en formulación de políticas de CTI en el contexto de los ODS
- Instrumentos de política de CTI
- Fomento de la innovación y emprendimiento
- Implementación de la política de CTI
- Monitoreo y evaluación de las políticas de CTI
Capacity Building on STI Policy and Policy Instruments for SDGs: 2nd Part of the Mutual Learning Exercise on Research and Innovation Strategies and Policies, 16-17 Feb, event page
- Session 1: Current approaches to STI policy making in the context of SDGs, with focus on open science and gender equality
- Session 2: STI policy instruments design
- Session 3: STI policy instruments implementation
- Session 4: Innovation and entrepreneurship
- Session 5: Technology transfer needs assessment
- Session 6: STI policy monitoring and evaluation
2022
Online training on STI policy for SDGs for Tunisia and the Arab States, 18-20 Oct, event page
- Session 1: Current approaches to STI policy-making in the context of SDGs
- Session 2: Innovation and entrepreneurship
- Session 3: STI policy instruments design
HLPF 2022 Side Event: UN-Interagency Task Team Perspectives on Capacity-Building in Science, Technology and Innovation for Achieving the SDGs, 6 July 2022, event page
2021
Training Workshop on STI for SDGs for the SADC region, 6-10 Dec 2021, event page
- Session 1: Current approaches to STI policy making
- Session 2: STI policy instruments design
- Session 3: Innovation and entrepreneurship
- Session 4: Implementation of STI policy instruments
- Session 5: Monitoring and evaluation of STI policies
Training on current approaches to STI policymaking in the context of SDGs targeting Latin American countries - sub-national perspectives, online, 10-12 May 2021,(in Spanish) event page
- Enfoques actuales en formulación de políticas de CTI en el contexto de los ODS
- Instrumentos de política de CTI
- Fomento de la innovación y emprendimiento
STI Forum 2021 side event: Capacity Building in STI for SDGs, online, 4 May 2021, event page
Training on current approaches to STI policymaking in the context of SDGs targeting Latin American countries, online, 19-21 April 2021, event page
- Enfoques actuales en formulación de políticas de CTI en el contexto de los ODS
- Instrumentos de política de CTI
- Fomento de la innovación y emprendimiento
2020
- On-line Training Sessions on STI Policy and Policy Instruments for SDGs, online, 19 Nov, 26 Nov, 3 Dec 2020, event page
- Session 1-Current approaches to STI Policy making in the context of SDGs
- Session 2-Design and implementation
- Session 3- innovation and entrepreneurship
2019
- Training Workshop on STI Policies for the SDGs, Panama, 6-8 May 2019
- 4th STI Forum side event: STI Policies Capacity Building for SDGs, New York, 15 May, 2019
2018
2018 STI Forum, Side Event on Building capacity on STI for the SDGs, 5 June, 2018. event page
UN-IATT-WS6 Capacity Building Course on Technology for Development: Innovation Policies for SDGs in the Arab Region, Amman, Jordan, 15 -19 April 2018. event page
- Theme I: STI for SDGs: A Conceptual Framework
- Theme II: Design and Implementation of Innovation Policies
- Theme III: Monitoring and Evaluation of Innovation Policies
Reports and Resources
UN IATT WS6 Progress Report
STI Reports and Training Resources
- UN-IATT and UNIDO Booklet- Science, Technology and Innovation for Achieving the SDGs: Guidelines for Policy Formulation, English version, Spanish version, French version, Arabic version
- UN DESA/ UNITAR/Massive Open Online Course (MOOC)- Develop and Implement Science, Technology and Innovation for SDGs Roadmaps: Level I, 2022
- UN-IATT/UCL Mapping STI policy capacity building initiatives and exploring its transformative value for the SDGs- UN IATT Workstream on Capacity-building Case Study, 2021
- UN-IATT/UCL Repository of capacity building programme on STI policy for SDGs, 2021
- UN-IATT Guidebook on Development of Science, Technology and Innovation Roadmaps for the SDGs
- UNESCO Global Observatory of Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Instruments (GO-SPIN)
- WIPO Guides: Intellectual Property for Business ( WIPO FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY)
- For materials used in the IATT WS6 training workshops, please visit the event page.
Newsroom
- The OACPS Policy Support Facility is launching its first Mutual Learning Exercise on R&I policies and strategies in Addis Ababa (Ethiopia), in partnership with the UN Inter-agency Task Team, 2023
- Countries recommend prioritizing economic sectors and broad multistakeholder participation at start of process to integrate science in the SDGs (web story on the 2022 High-level Political Forum), July 2022
- Joint UN Training Sessions on Science Technology and Innovation Policies for Policy-makers in the SADC Countries, 2021
- Successful science, technology and innovation policy training spurs calls for more interactive webinars 17, Dec 2020
- Building science, technology and innovation capacity in developing countries 2 Dec 2020
- Training on technology facilitation brings together officials and technicians from eleven Latin American and Caribbean countries around the SDGs, 7 June 2019
- Innovation Policies for SDGs in the Arab Region, 15 April 2018
Statistics
UN Interagency Task Team's Work Stream 6 (IATT-WS6) on Capacity Building on STI for SDGs has delivered 9 trainings, which benefited over 1270 participants from 75 countries. These activities have achieved a good gender balance, with 54% female participants. (information updated on 11 December 2023)
If you have questions and suggestions to our courses or anything that you would like to share with us, please contact Ms. Zengmei Wang (ze.wang@unesco.org)
events
Technology
