The “Senior Experts Dialogue on Science, Technology and Innovation and the African Transformation Agenda” (SED) is an initiative of the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) designed to support member States to leverage science, technology and innovation (STI) to drive the structural transformation of their economies. The impetus for the SED comes from two principal sources: a) the general recognition that most of Africa’s development challenges are amenable to resolution through the careful and purposeful application of STI, and b) the recognition by the international community that STI is an important means of implementation of the outcomes of recent UN summits including the Addis Ababa Action Agenda of the Third International Conference on Financing for Development; Rio+20; the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development (SDGs), the Istanbul Programme of Action for Least Developed Countries, and the African Union’s long-term plan for the structural transformation of the continent – Agenda 2063 (AU 2014), along with the continental Science Technology and Innovation Strategy for Africa 2024 (STISA 2024).

SED provides an arena for rigorous interrogation of STI policies and frameworks, discussion of emerging issues in STI, experience sharing and peer learning. In this role, it provides a platform for surfacing, identifying, and addressing leading issues likely to enhance the ability of African countries to harness STI to achieve their structural transformation and sustainable development objectives.

The first SED was held in 2014 in Abuja, Nigeria with the support of the Federal Ministry of Science and Technology of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the theme “Making New Technologies Work for Africa” The second was held in Nairobi Kenya in 2015 on the theme “Innovation Hubs, Clusters and Parks and Africa’s Transformation” and was co-organized with and hosted by the National Commission for Science, Technology and Innovation (NACOSTI) of the Government of Kenya. The 2016 SED on the theme “Cities as Innovation hubs (or Cities as Centres of Innovation) will be held, in collaboration with the African Union Commission and the NEPAD Planning and Coordinating Agency in South Africa with the support of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) of the Republic of South Africa.

Aide-Memoire

For further information, including registration information, please contact:

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Ms. Hidat Mebratu
New Technologies and Innovation Section
Special Initiatives Division,
United Nations Economic Commission for Africa,
Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
Email: hmebratu@uneca.org
Tel: +251.11.544.5257