UNECE provides national capacity building at the demand of member States to support the strengthening of innovation governance and infrastructure in line with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. These activities are often implemented as follow-up to the Innovation for Sustainable Development Reviews carried out by UNECE and assist member States to implement the recommendations arising from these Reviews.
Capacity building is based on a plan agreed with the requesting Government to promote on-going or planned reforms. Advisory missions, training workshops and other technical cooperation activities are conducted in response to requests from Governments for assistance to improve their innovation policies.
UNECE also provides sub-regional capacity building on specific innovation policy issues relevant for a whole region or sub-region at the request of one or more member States. Sub-regional capacity building activities are designed for the Western Balkans, Central Asia, South Caucasus and Eastern Europe. Activities conducted under the UN Special Programme for the Economies of Central Asia (SPECA) support the SPECA Innovation Strategy for Sustainable Development.
UNECE collaborates extensively with other international organizations and UN agencies in the context of its capacity building activities, including with OECD, UNCTAD, UNDP, UNESCAP and the UN Inter-Agency Task Team on Science, Technology and Innovation.
Past activities are presented below. The training materials, handbooks, roadmaps and presentations listed may be freely used by UNECE member States wishing to strengthen their national innovation system.
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SPECA capacity building programme on innovative entrepreneurship 2021-ongoing Beneficiaries: Policymakers as well as staff of universities and business incubators and accelerators in Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan Under the UN Development Account project “Strengthening innovation policies for SPECA countries in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (2020-2023), UNECE has published policy handbooks on Business Incubators for Sustainable Development (also available in Russian) and on Supporting Innovative High-Growth Enterprises for the SPECA sub-region. On the basis of these, several online trainings on support for innovative entrepreneurship have taken place from 2022 onwards. Given the strong interest in this topic from beneficiary countries, the SPECA Network of Business Incubators and Accelerators for Sustainable Development was launched in July 2022 and provides a platform for future activities as well as networking and exchange of experience. Webinar on challenges and opportunities for supporting innovative high-growth enterprises in the SPECA countries(December 2021) Training for policymakers on supporting innovative high-growth enterprises (February 2022) Training for staff of business incubators and accelerators on effective management and development of business incubators and accelerators (September 2022) Training for university management on development of business incubators and start-up accelerators (February 2023) Training for staff of business incubators and accelerators on working with venture funds and business angels (March 2023) |
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Capacity building programme for the Republic of Moldova on innovation and technology Transfer
July 2022-January 2023 Beneficiaries: Ministry of Education and Research, National Agency for Research and Development of Moldova, the State Agency on Intellectual Property, researchers and university staff In follow-up to the UNECE Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of the Republic of Moldova (I4SDR), UNECE supported the government in the implementation of the I4SDR recommendations on enhancing the national innovation system and its governance, developing innovation and technology transfer infrastructure, and leveraging the diaspora for innovation-driven sustainable development. The capacity-building activities, financed by Sweden under the extrabudgetary project “Promoting innovation policy capacities in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus” resulted in a Roadmap on Innovation and Technology Transfer and three virtual workshops to facilitate implementation thereof. Moldova Roadmap on Innovation and Technology Transfer also available in Romanian 1st workshop: Supporting innovation with policy, legislation and local regulation 2nd workshop: Supporting regional and sectoral innovation 3rd workshop: Supporting technology transfer from public research organisation |
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Capacity building programme for Georgia on innovation-enhancing procurement May 2021-September 2022 Beneficiaries: Georgia’s Innovation and Technology Agency and the State Procurement Agency of Georgia In follow-up to the UNECE Innovation for Sustainable Development Review of Georgia (I4SDR), UNECE supported the government in the implementation of the I4SDR recommendations on innovation-enhancing procurement (IEP). The capacity-building activities, financed by Sweden under the extrabudgetary project “Promoting innovation policy capacities in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus” resulted in a handbook on IEP for Georgia and a study tour for Georgian officials from the beneficiary agencies to Norway, a country with a proven track record in IEP. Handbook in innovation-enhancing procurement in Georgia, also available in Georgian
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Roadmap for the Development of Innovation Support Infrastructure in the Kyrgyzstan until 2025 June-September 2021 Beneficiary: State Agency for Intellectual Property and Innovation of the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyzpatent) Under the UN Development Account project “Strengthening innovation policies for SPECA countries in support of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” (2020-2023), UNECE convened a dedicated Task Force with key stakeholders from public and private sectors and independent experts and supported Kyrgyzstan in developing this Roadmap. Roadmap for the Development of Innovation Support Infrastructure in the Kyrgyzstan until 2025 (in Russian) |
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Sub-regional capacity building programme on Innovative High-Growth Enterprises (IHGES) for Eastern Europe and South Caucasus 2020-2021 Beneficiaries: Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Georgia, Republic of Moldova, Ukraine Under the extrabudgetary project “Promoting innovation policy capacities in Eastern Europe and the Caucasus” financed by Sweden, UNECE published the policy handbook Supporting Innovative High-Growth Enterprises in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus in 2021. A three-session webinar built the capacity of public and private stakeholders in beneficiary countries to facilitate implementation of the principles contained in the handbook. The three days focused on the following topics:
Online training supporting Innovative High - Growth Enterprises in Eastern Europe and South Caucasus |