Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries - UNIDO

UNIDO's 9th Ministerial Conference of the LDCs

mbuldys — Mon, 22 Nov 2021 14:54:00 +0000

Thursday, 25 November 2021 - 8:00am to Friday, 26 November 2021 - 8:00am

Background

This year's Ministerial Conference of the LDCs will be held on 25-26 November 2021, immediately prior to the 19th session of the UNIDO General Conference, and will serve as the last global pre-event towards UN LDC5. The Ministerial Declaration stemming from the Ministerial Conference will mainstream the DPoA into the policy orientations building UNIDO Operational Strategy and Implementation Plan for the LDCs 2022-2031.

Side Events

25th November 2021

14:00 – 15:30 (CET): “Mainstreaming the 4IR in LDCs through Science, Technology and Innovation”

Key Objectives:

To present a policy paper which presents a compelling case for the rapid adoption of 4IR technologies by LDCs to achieve rapid economic growth and as well as meet their sustainable development and de-carbonization goals.
To invite distinguished speakers and experts to discuss how the LDCs can accelerate their transition to this new industrial paradigm despite the many development challenges they endure, as well as suggest practical recommendations by which LDCs can initiate their 4IR journey.

Speakers:

Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, Managing Director, Directorate of Digitization, Technology & Agribusiness, UNIDO
Béata Habyarimana, Minister of Trade and Industry, Ministry of Trade and Industry, Kigali, Rwanda (tbc)
Ravi Gupta, CEO, Tambourine Innovation Ventures
Ratanakar Adhikari, Executive Director, Enhanced Integrated Framework (EIF)
Joshua Setipa, Managing Director, UN Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries
Sabine Dall’Omo, Chief Executive Officer at Siemens Southern and Eastern Africa

Registration: Please register here

26th November 2021

14:00 – 14:15 (CET): UNIDO Presentation: "From Istanbul Programme of Action (IPoA) to DPoA: Towards UNIDO's Operational strategy for LDCs in the Next Decade"

tags:

IPoA

LDC5

UNIDO

DPoA

LDC

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Events

Technology as a Driver of Structural Transformation in the LDCs

mbuldys — Fri, 23 Jul 2021 12:15:00 +0000

Wednesday, 28 July 2021 - 8:15am to 9:45am

Registration

Please join us via Zoom at: https://bit.ly/3i2391D

Background

The COVID‑19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of agility and of harnessing the power of technology. Technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data and drones can help enterprises in the least developed countries (LDCs) to enhance their productivity and competitiveness, and to move up the value chain ladder in agriculture, industry and the services sector. In the coming decade, we need to ensure that technology is harvested appropriately as a driver of structural transformation in the LDCs.

Similarly, digital trade – in both goods and services - enhances the opportunity for small‑ and medium‑sized enterprises to participate in global trade, and FinTech can help enhance their financial inclusion. By supporting traceability and trade facilitation, blockchain technology can help to enhance the transparency and trustworthiness of trade transactions at speed. Technology in agriculture can revolutionize systems and help in adjusting to the impacts of climate change.

Join us to engage with experts and practitioners from global support initiatives and LDCs who will explore modes through which the LDCs can achieve structural transformation by harnessing the power of technology and trade, and also outline how the LDCs can best access capacity‑building initiatives in technology for trade.

Objectives

The session will be based around a panel discussion, together with questions, answers and discussions with participants. The session will:

Highlight the progress made to date in technology and structural transformation in the implementation of the Istanbul Programme of Action
Support the LDCs to leverage the power of trade, technology and structural transformation in preparing for the Fifth United Nations Conference on the LDCs
Share experiences on specific areas such as financial inclusion and digital agriculture in the LDCs for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals
Identify areas for further support, collaboration and action in favour of the LDCs in the fields of trade, technology and structural transformation
Better link the LDCs and development partners through dedicated and LDC‑focused initiatives

Speakers

Mr Joshua Setipa, Managing Director, UN Technology Bank
Dr Bernardo Calzadilla-Sarmiento, Managing Director, Directorate of Digitalization, Technology and Agri-Business; and Director, Department of Digitalization, Technology and Innovation, UNIDO
Dr Fahmida Khatun, Executive Director, Centre for Policy Dialogue, Bangladesh
Ms Dorothy Tuma, Former Chair of the East Africa Women in Business platform
Dr Maxwell Otim Onapa, Director, Science, Research and Innovation, Government of Uganda

The session will be moderated by Dr Ratnakar Adhikari, Executive Director, Executive Secretariat for the Enhanced Integrated Framework at the WTO.

Other Resources:

EIF: https://bit.ly/3y5i7tl

UNIDO: https://bit.ly/2UNj6Qg

tags:

EIF

UNIDO

Structural Transformation

Categories:

Events

Strengthening regional health industries and promoting technology transfer to enhance pandemic resilience and improve health outcomes in LDCs

mbuldys — Thu, 27 May 2021 17:21:00 +0000

Thursday, 27 May 2021 - 12:00pm to 1:30pm

PrepCom1 Corresponding theme:

"Leveraging the power of science, technology, and innovation to fight against multidimensional vulnerabilities and to achieve the SDGs"

Enhancing STI has become increasingly important as a driver of productivity growth in the era of enhanced digitization. LDCs must be put in a position to close the digital divide and overcome inequities in access to and productive use of digital technologies, otherwise they will be left behind.

Registration

Please join us via Zoom at: https://bit.ly/3wwGMG0

Background

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the close interrelationship between health and economic activity. Many LDCs bear a disproportionate burden of disease which is a significant contribution to the poverty trap in which they find themselves. It is compounded by weak healthcare systems that are particularly fragile and vulnerable to crises.

Accessing medicines, vaccines and other health technologies of appropriate quality is a vital component of these healthcare systems and one which has been shown to be particularly susceptible to external shocks during the current pandemic. The situation relates to COVID-19 vaccines and to other priority vaccines, essential medicines, PPE and other healthcare commodities.

There is thus a need to build productive capacities for health technologies in LDCs and developing regions of the world and to shorten the value chains so that they become more regionalized and robust.

There is also the opportunity to work with the global community to explore how such capacities can contribute to a new, post-pandemic order that encourages innovation whilst enabling more equitable access to these products for citizens of developing and least developed countries.

Expected Outcomes

This session will reflect on issues highlighted by the pandemic such as disruption to supply of PPE, ARVs etc. as well as the challenges to achieving equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines given current highly constrained global supply.

It will consider the current situation with regard to local production of essential health technologies and products in LDCs and developing regions and identify the challenges that need to be overcome in order to build robust, sustainable, high-quality sources of essential health technologies and products in such jurisdictions.

It will also reflect on how technology transfer and voluntary licensing utilizing these capacities could be facilitated to accelerate access to innovative health technologies.

Speakers

Mr. Greg Perry, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers and Associations (IFPMA), Assistant Director General.
Mr. Babatunde Omilola, African Development Bank, Public Health, Security and Nutrition Division, Manager.
Dr. Janet Byaruhanga, African Union Development Agency, Public Health Senior Programme Officer.
Ms. Xiaoping Wu, WTO, Department of Intellectual Property, Government Procurement and Competition, Counsellor.
Dr. Charlemagne Gnoula, Burkina Faso, Bureau de Suivi du Programme Présidentiel.
Dr. Tsepo Tsekoa, Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, Principal Researcher.

The panel discussion will be moderated by Mr. Moshe Kao, Programme Management Officer, UN Technology Bank

Other Resources:

UNIDO: https://www.unido.org/ldc5

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