Transcript Document 7423232

2009 STI Global Forum
Session 1: Pro-Poor Innovation
for Social and Economic
Development.
Chair:
Prof. Romain MURENZI
Senior Scholar at International Office at AAAS
and
Visiting Professor at University of Maryland Institute
of Advanced Computer Studies (UMIACS).
and
Visiting Professor at Howard University/Physics
Department
Ramesh Mashelkar: President, Global
Research Alliance - STI Led Inclusive
Growth: Shifting Paradigms
Reinie Biesenbach, Innovation Hub,
South Africa - Pro-Poor Innovation and
Pro-Poor STI for Development
Carlos Guaipatin, Inter-American
Development Bank - Pro-poor
technologies
PRESIDENT BARACK 0BAMA AT THE
NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
“Since we know that the progress and prosperity
of future generations will depend on what we do
now to educate the next generation, today I'm
announcing a renewed commitment to education
in mathematics and science”
The importance of STI for Economic Growth
■
Robert Solow, 1957:
• Economic Growth USA 1909 – 1949: 87.5% of
output attributed to the applications of science and
technology, while capital alone without technology
attributes a mere 12.5%.
Bill Gates - “How to keep America Competitive”
• For centuries people assumed that
economic growth resulted from the
interplay between capital and labour.
Today we know that these elements are
outweighed by a single critical factor,
Innovation.
• Innovation is the source of US
economic
leadership
and
the
foundation for our competitiveness in
the global economy.
• Government investment in research,
strong intellectual property laws and
Questions
• Are there alternatives and variations on the ideas
presented?
• What is the role of the World Bank and other
development organizations in implementing and/or
scaling up these ideas? What can we in this room do
about this?
• What are the next steps that we need to consider as
we incorporate these ideas into the Action Plan. In
other words, what do we need to do to move from
ideas to implementation?