New UNECE network helps countries speed up transformative innovation
The focus on innovation as an instrument to achieve a sustainable transition of our societies, along with the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), is rapidly gaining momentum across the UNECE region.
At the same time, many of the processes surrounding transformative innovation are still unexplored. So, to take stock of its true transformative potential, it is essential that we further explore the dynamics related to innovation as an accelerator for systemic change.
The opportunities are potentially endless, with new technologies altering some of the basic premises of economic activities. One example is the ongoing digital revolution that not only makes some products and services more affordable and accessible to a wider public but also incites new business models, such as the emerging platform economy, that changes the very dynamics of innovation itself. An emerging trend is the combination of technical and social innovations taking place in different areas. A good illustration is the energy in which the support of innovations in diverse fields could cumulatively bring about a transformation of energy production and consumption that makes clean energy economically viable and accessible for all.
Yet, there are also challenges. In practice, supporting transformative innovation is difficult since it often defies established ways of working. To a larger extent than traditional innovation, transformative innovation requires a coordination of efforts in a desired direction. This means agreeing on the direction of policies, bringing on board all stakeholders, creating a coherent policy mix across portfolios while avoiding inefficient lock-in to particular technology solutions, and supporting rapid and broad-based diffusion and take-up, because of the urgency of the sustainability challenge. As a result, transformative innovation also requires new approaches to governance itself. This challenge is shared among all UNECE member States.
Responding to this emerging agenda, UNECE, with the German Federal Agency for Disruptive innovation (SPRIND) and funding from the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Climate Action, launched the project “Reinforcing the innovation ecosystem in the UNECE region to promote innovation and digital technologies for sustainable development and for the circular economy transition”. The topic is in line with the UNECE’s 69th Commission session on circular economy and the forthcoming 70th session on digital and green transformations.
A centerpiece of this project is the UN-ECE Transformative Innovation Network (ETIN), which was formally launched this week at the 14th session of the UNECE Team of Specialists on Innovation and Competitiveness Policies. The launch event brought together experts, policymakers, entrepreneurs, and other interested partners, among others from the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Estonia, Sweden, Germany, Israel, Portugal, and Finland.
The network provides a platform to facilitate peer learning through the exchange of ideas and experiences. Its explicit ambition is to accelerate transformative innovation in UNECE member States in support of the more effective implementation of the SDGs. These efforts are increasingly timely, given recent crises that have accentuated the need to build stronger resilience while also maintaining and further enhancing inclusive development.
Over the coming months, ETIN will host a series of activities, bringing together policymakers, innovation agencies, think tanks, entrepreneurs, and experts from the UNECE region. The ambition is to jointly develop tools that enable and promote transformative innovation that supports sustainable development and the circular economy transition.