Science, Technology and Innovation for Development

E/RES/2013/10View PDF

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

A Resolution of the Economic and Social Council, under agenda item 13b Science and technology for development, published in 2013.

What other versions does this mandate have?

13 versions · 2013–2025

This is an older version — the most recent is E/RES/2025/19

Year	Symbol	Title	Word length	Text similarity
2025	E/RES/2025/19	Science, technology and innovation for development	5,273	64%Compare
2024	E/RES/2024/14	Science, technology and innovation for development	5,193	86%Compare
2023	E/RES/2023/4	Science, technology and innovation for development	4,966	5%Compare
2022	E/RES/2022/16	Science, technology and innovation for development	285	6%Compare
2021	E/RES/2021/29	Science, technology and innovation for development	4,424	97%Compare

What subjects does this mandate have?

8 subjects

Communication Technology Developing Countries Information Technology Research and Development Science and Technology Science and Technology Policy Technological Innovations Technology Transfer

What’s in this document?

29 operative paragraphs

Decides to make the following recommendations for consideration by national Governments, the Commission on Science and Technology for Development and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development:

Governments, individually and collectively, are encouraged to take into account the findings of the Commission and to consider taking the following actions:

Establish governance mechanisms that facilitate innovative, integrated and multidisciplinary urban and peri-urban community planning, with urban projects to include targeted end users and participation from relevant departments responsible for spatial planning, housing, water supply, energy supply, mobility, communications, health and sanitation, education and skills training, waste management, environmental protection, security and disaster resilience;

Put in place regulatory frameworks, at the national, regional and local levels, that mainstream issues of sustainability into urban projects and support business models that scale innovative solutions;

iii

Invite local governments to establish public-private partnerships for mutual benefit, including to support higher education and vocational training in skills needed for an augmented urban workforce;

Encourage the integration of information and communications technologies into the infrastructure of cities, where appropriate, to increase the efficiency of services, food supply and mobility, to provide for the safety, security and productivity of citizens and to reduce environmental impacts;

Encourage municipalities to join national and international networks for cooperation to learn from best practices in cities of other regions and countries;

Provide support for collaborative research involving universities and municipalities on the socioeconomic impact of urbanization, in order to support informed public policies;

vii

Use information and communications technology-based simulation tools that estimate future requirements in terms of food, water, energy, housing, transport and other services, such as education, health, sanitation, waste management, communication and security, in expanding urban areas, also taking into account the estimated growth of income for planning purposes;

viii

Establish regional expansion plans that take into account the estimated demand for basic services and infrastructure of growing populations in cities and surrounding peri-urban and rural zones;

Promote the adoption of urban agriculture technologies as a means to supplement income and food supply;

Also promote technologies and business models that scale affordable, resource-efficient housing for lower-income groups living in slums, as well as new inhabitants of urban areas;

Explore potential bilateral, regional and multilateral cooperation, especially between municipalities and other types of local government, on improving the resilience of cities and peri-urban areas against natural disasters and the impacts of climate change, for example, with the help of early warning systems;

The Commission and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development are encouraged:

With respect to the Commission, to continue its role as a torch-bearer for innovation, to provide high-level advice to the Economic and Social Council and the General Assembly on relevant science, technology and engineering for innovation issues, to raise awareness among policymakers about the process of innovation and to identify particular opportunities for developing countries to benefit from such innovation, with special attention being placed on new trends in innovation that can offer novel possibilities for developing countries, especially for local governments, small and medium enterprises and individual entrepreneurs;

To provide a forum for building repositories of best practices, successful local innovation models, case studies and experience on the use of science, technology and engineering for innovation, in symbiotic relationship with information and communications technologies, for sustainability, management of services, and solutions for challenges in key urban sectors in developing countries, considering the special requirements of least developed countries and small island States;

iii

To raise awareness among urban policymakers about the role of science, technology and engineering for innovation, and of information and communications technologies, in facilitating integrated regional planning, spatial design, sustainable resource consumption, and efficient management of services in cities and peri-urban communities, in a gender-sensitive manner;

To establish a systematic approach for strategy development related to science, technology and engineering for innovation, including harmonized norms and definitions;

With respect to the Commission and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, to enhance treatment of information and communications technologies as an integral, empowering asset for science, technology and engineering for innovation within science, technology and innovation policy reviews;

To proactively seek funding for the expansion of science, technology and innovation policy reviews and their implementation in close cooperation with United Nations-related agencies and international organizations;

vii

To plan for periodic updates on progress made in countries for which science, technology and innovation policy reviews have been performed and to invite those countries to report to the Commission on progress made, lessons learned and challenges encountered in implementation of recommendations;

viii

To encourage the Gender Advisory Board of the Commission to provide inputs to the policy deliberations and documentation of the Commission, to report on progress at the annual sessions of the Commission and to better integrate gender perspectives into science, technology and innovation policy reviews, where appropriate;

To highlight the importance of the work of the Commission related to the implementation of and follow-up to the areas of science, technology and innovation and information and communications technologies related to the Millennium Development Goals and in the post-2015 development agenda, with the Chair of the Commission to report to appropriate Council reviews and meetings, including those related to the Millennium Development Goals review process and the post-2015 development agenda-setting;

The international community is encouraged:

To explore innovative financing models as a means to facilitate investments in replicating science, technology and innovation-based solutions to pressing societal challenges and infrastructural needs for sustainable development, including the management of cities and peri-urban communities in developing countries;

To establish science, technology and innovation platforms such as open repositories to share and access knowledge, information, experiences and best practices involving technology developments that address the particular urbanization needs and challenges of developing countries, especially least developed countries and small island States;

iii

To harness information and communications technologies and related social and scientific networks to foster “brain circulation” and the global knowledge society;

To facilitate university-to-university collaborations involving students and faculty exchanges, two-way mobility and cooperative research aimed primarily at increasing science, technology and innovation capacities and the cross-border and transregional circulation of knowledge for sustainable development;

To nurture joint collaborations on capacity-building of science, technology and innovation human resources and global research infrastructure.

Who adopted this document and its mandates?

What other versions does this mandate have?

What subjects does this mandate have?

What’s in this document?

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