SPECA Innovation

Strategy for
Sustainable
Development:

Draft Outline
Rumen Dobrinsky
European Alliance for Innovation

Regional Capacity Building Workshop

on “Innovation Strategy, Technology
Applications and Infrastructure for the
SDGs”
Baku, 4 July 2018
 Structure of the presentation

I. Why discuss a SPECA Innovati

on Strategy for Sustainable De
velopment?
II. Draft Outline of the SPECA Inn
ovation Strategy for Sustainabl
e Development
I. The Rationale for a SPECA Inno
vation Strategy for Sustainable
Development
Agenda for Sustainable Development 2030
 Background
• In 2015, UN member states (incl. SPECA countries)
adopted a set of goals to end poverty, protect the pl
anet and ensure prosperity: Sustainable Developme
nt Agenda 2030
• The 2017 SPECA Economic Forum (5 December 20
17) reviewed the role of innovation as a vehicle for p
ursuing the SDGs in the SPECA countries and discu
ssed policy options
• The SPECA Governing Council welcomed the outco
mes highlighting the role of innovation policies for su
stainable development in the region
 Progress towards the SDGs:
selected indicators

Central Asia Europe

SDG Indicator 2000 2005 2010 2016 2000 2005 2010 2016
1.1.1 Proportion of employed below the international poverty 27.1 15.7 5.9 3.2 0.5 0.4 0.4 0.3

2.1.1 Prevalence of undernourishment (%) 14.5 12.9 9.8 7.7 5.0 5.0 5.0 5.0

3.2.1 Under-five mortality rate (per 1000 live births) 64.4 51.0 40.5 32.9 11.7 9.0 7.1 6.1

3.3.2 Estimated incidence of tuberculosis (per 100 ths. population) 155 160 118 88 54 52 40 32

3.4.1 Mortality rate cardiovascular, cancer, diabetes, respiratory 34.6 35.4 32.0 27.7 23.3 22.3 19.0 17.4

3.6.1 Death rate due to road traffic injuries (per 100 ths. ) 12.9 19.4 17.8 16.9 14.1 13.8 9.9 8.7

4.2.2 Adjusted net enrolment rate (%) .. 68.4 73.0 78.5 92.0 90.8 93.9 94.6

5.5.1 Proportion of seats held by women in nat. parliaments (%) 7.0 13.4 20.0 21.3 16.8 20.5 23.2 28.0

6.1.1 Proportion of population using improved drinking water (%) 83.5 83.8 86.6 86.8 97.8 98.3 98.7 99.0

7.1.1 Proportion of population with access to electricity (%) 99.4 99.7 99.8 100.0 99.7 99.9 100.0 100.0

7.2.1 Renewable energy share in total energy consumption (%) 3.9 3.8 3.6 3.7 7.4 8.1 11.0 13.1

7.3.1 Energy efficiency (energy intensity per constant PPP GDP) 17.3 13.2 10.8 9.1 6.0 5.5 5.1 4.6

9.4.1 CO2 emission per unit GDP (Kg of CO2 per constant GDP PPP) 1.11 0.88 0.75 0.60 0.33 0.30 0.27 0.23

9.5.1 R&D expenditure as a proportion of GDP (%) 0.18 0.25 0.16 0.18 1.62 1.60 1.75 1.83

9.5.2 Researchers (in full-time equivalent) per million inhabitants 337.4 363.2 391.2 500.0 2458.0 2730.3 2985.7 3181.1

9.c.1 Proportion of population covered by >2G mobile network (%) 30.0 60.2 86.7 97.5 94.3 98.5 98.3 97.2
 SDG Dashboard, SPECA countries

Sustainable development goals Afghanistan Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
 
1 End poverty              
2 Food security, sustainable agriculture              
3 Healthy lives and wellbeing              
4 Inclusive education, lifelong learning              
5 Gender equality, women empowerment              
6 Sustainable water and sanitation              
7 Sustainable and modern energy              
8 Inclusive and sustainable growth, full employment              
9 Sustainable infrastructure and industrialisation, innovation              
10 Reduce inequality within and among countries              
11 Smart and sustainable cities              
12 Sustainable consumption and production              
13 Combat climate change and its impacts              
14 Sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a. n.a.

15 Sustainable use of ecosystems and forests              

16 Peaceful, inclusive societies for sustainable development              
17 Global partnership for sustainable development              
Where are the SPECA countries at present?

• SPECA countries face significant challenges in a

chieving the SDGs; in many cases, there is a lar
ge distance to the desired targets
• SPECA countries still lag considerably behind m
ore developed regions such as Europe
• But at the same time, over 2000-2016 CA countri
es have made considerable progress in most SD
G indicators, reducing existing lags
 SDGs identified as national priorities by
the SPECA countries

SDGs identified as national priority

Number of
Sustainable development goals countries
Afghanistan Azerbaijan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Tajikistan Turkmenistan Uzbekistan
 
1 End poverty             0
2 Food security, sustainable agriculture X             1
3 Healthy lives and wellbeing         X     1
4 Inclusive education, lifelong learning X X X   X   4
5 Gender equality, women empowerment X X X X   4
6 Sustainable water and sanitation X X X X X X  X 7
7 Sustainable and modern energy  X   X X X   X 5
8 Inclusive and sustainable growth, full employment X X   X X 5
9 Sustainable infrastructure and industrialisation, innovation
X X X X   X X 6
10 Reduce inequality within and among countries   X X 2
11 Smart and sustainable cities               0
12 Sustainable consumption and production   X   X X     3
13 Combat climate change and its impacts  X X X X X X 6
14 Sustainable use of oceans, seas and marine resources   X X     X 3
15 Sustainable use of ecosystems and forests     X X X 3
16 Peaceful, inclusive societies for sustainable development    X     X     2
17 Global partnership for sustainable development
 X X X X X 4
SDG gaps and policy priorities in
the SPECA subregion

 
SDG gap faced by
SPECA countries
Large gap Low or medium gap
Priority assigned to
SDGs by national policy
in the SPECA countries 

 
SGD6, SDG8, SDG4, SDG5, SDG7,
High priority SDG9 SDG13, SDG17
 

  SDG3, SDG11, SDG1, SDG2, SDG10,

Low or medium priority
SDG16 SDG12, SDG14, SDG15
 
Innovation for sustainable development in the
SPECA region
 Innovation can be a powerful engine for development as it can
contribute to both technological progress and rising prosperity
 Existing technology gaps offer opportunities for catch-up and
productivity growth via knowledge and technology transfer
 Innovation can also be an engine for structural transformation of
SPECA countries helping them to accelerate their regional
integration and their integration into the world economy
 One specific need is the creation and strengthening of linkages at
all levels: local, regional and linkages to global value chains
 SPECA countries need to put a greater emphasis on innovation
based on absorption and adaptation and develop the necessary
private sector absorptive capacities
 They also need to build a tangible critical mass of productive
capabilities and related institutions and infrastructure
Innovation Strategy for Sustainable Developm
ent: The SPECA Mandate

 The Twelfth Session of the SPECA Governing Council

(Dushanbe, 6 December 2017) underscored the importance
of elaborating an innovation strategy for the SPECA region
to support the governments’ efforts towards the SDGs
 This Strategy should draw on the Conclusions and
Recommendations of the 2017 SPECA Economic Forum
and should identify possible innovation policies to realize
regional synergies and economies of scale
 The strategy should help policy makers in the design and
implementation of such policies and in strengthening their
cooperation in addressing SD issues of common concern
2017 SPECA Economic Forum: guiding princi
ples of innovation for SD policy agenda

1. Widening and deepening the role of innovation policies for SD

2. Innovation policies for SD should be inclusive and participatory
3. Fostering technology catch-up as an engine of growth and a push
towards the SDGs
4. Strengthening the national capacity for innovation
5. Support to entrepreneurship in innovative SD undertakings
6. Facilitating access to finance for innovative SD undertakings
7. Innovation in agriculture to achieve the SDGs
8. The policy agenda is backed by demand-side policy measures
9. Addressing common concerns via joint efforts and cooperation
10. Engage key stakeholders through partnerships
11. Awareness raising on the role of innovation
II. Draft Outline of a SPECA Inn
ovation Strategy for Sustainabl
e Development
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable D
evelopment: The Vision
 SPECA countries aspire to meet the expectations of their
societies in ensuring sustainable development in the region
 Many SD challenges (water, energy, environment and transport,
etc.) are of transboundary nature so SPECA countries need to
pursue of cooperative solutions to the benefit of all countries
 Recognizing the role of innovation SPECA countries will seek to
develop their capabilities to design and implement innovation
policies for sustainable development
 SPECA countries will also strengthen regional cooperation in
implementing innovation policies for sustainable development
 The Innovation Strategy for Sustainable Development is a policy
document of the SPECA countries, jointly agreed by their
Governments, to guide their cooperative efforts
 It targets objectives and activities of common interest and will be
implemented with the joint efforts of the SPECA countries.
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable D
evelopment: Objectives
 Overall objective: to achieve a sustained improvement in the
capabilities of the SPECA countries to formulate and implement
innovation policies for sustainable development and to raise the
level and quality of regional cooperation in their implementation.
 Specific objectives:
 Upgrade the knowledge and skills base of key stakeholders;
 Strengthen the regional policy dialogue with participation of leading
international expertise;
 Work together in identifying SD challenges of common interest;
 Enhance regional cooperation in implementing SD innovation;
 Facilitate technology transfer addressing SD challenges in the region;
 Strengthen cooperation with existing platforms for international collaboration;
 Improve SPECA countries performance in the degree of SDG achievement;
 Awareness raising in the SPECA countries .
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable D
evelopment: Proposed Activities

 Six groups of interrelated collaborative activities aimed at the

Strategy objectives:
A. Capacity development;
B. Policy development and dialogue;
C. Regional networking and cooperation;
D. Technology transfer and support to innovative entrepreneurs;
E. Global cooperation;
F. Awareness raising

 Some of the Strategy activities outlined above delineate thematic

areas whereas other activities define the approaches and means
to pursue the Strategy objectives
 Implementation matrix of the SPECA
Innovation Strategy

Means and approaches

Joint regional technology transfer

Regional regulatory consultations
Network of research institutions

Technical assistance missions by

Regional seminars for sharing of

International multi-stakeholder
Joint Sustainable Development
SPECA Innovation Partnerships
SPECA Network for Innovation
good policies and practices
Capacity-building seminars

Sustainable Development
Skill-building workshops

National Innovation for

Policies for Sustainable

international experts

Innovation Fund
Implementation matrix of the

Development

collaboration
Study tours

Reviews

office
SPECA Innovation Strategy

Identify weaknesses in the NIS X X X X

Identify obstacles to regional cooperation in

X X X X X X X X
innovation policies
Periodic reporting on progress against relevant
X X X X X
SDGs
Thematic areas

Sub-regional innovation policy index X X X X X X X X X

Regional regulatory coordination and

X X X X X X X X
harmonization
Identify common SD challenges that call for
X X X X X X X X
regional cooperation
Policies supporting international linkages and
X X X X X X X X X X X X X
regional supply chains
Joint regional innovation activities for
X X X X X X X
sustainable development
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable D
evelopment: Resources

 Implementation will require the allocation of adequate resources

by the SPECA countries as the owners of the Strategy for
undertaking its activities
 The main resource input expected from the SPECA countries will
be human resources in terms of expertise and effort
 Each country should nominate a national team led by a National
Coordinator which will be responsible for implementation
 Additional resources could be mobilized from international donors
such as ADB and CAREC, which may also be invited to join and
assist the implementation of the Strategy
 UNECE and ESCAP will consider their support to the Strategy
within their available budgetary and extrabudgetary resources
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable D
evelopment: Governance

 Oversight will rely on existing intergovernmental structures such

as the SPECA Governing Council and the SPECA Working
Groups (in the first instance the SPECA WG on KBD)
 Periodic Monitoring and Evaluation Reports will be submitted to
and reviewed by the SPECA Governing Council
 The National Coordinators and their teams prepare inputs for
these reports with support from the SPECA WG on KBD
 UNECE and ESCAP will jointly support the implementation of the
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable Development
 The SPECA WG on KBD will provide a platform for regular
intergovernmental and expert consultations on the implementation
of the Strategy
SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable D
evelopment: The Process

 The Strategy is not a substitute for the national SD programmes

but should complement them with regional initiatives where
cooperation would generate synergies and add value
 Developing the Strategy should be regarded as a process run by
the SPECA countries and reflecting their needs and priorities
 The Governments of the SPECA countries are the main actors in
this process
 Developing the Strategy can take the form of intergovernmental
consultations producing a mutually agreed document
 The present Workshop followed by the session of the SPECA WG
on KBD is the first round of such consultations
 UNECE and ESCAP as well as other international agencies and
donors can participate as facilitators of this process
 Thank you!

Rumen Dobrinsky

rumen.dobrinsky@eai.eu
rumen.dobrinsky@gmail.com