Structural transformation, Industry 4.0 and inequality: Science, technology and innovation policy challenges

Structural transformation, Industry 4.0 and inequality: Science, technology and innovation policy challenges

15. Reaffirms the critical role of technology, including information and communications technology, and innovation in trade and development, including through their essential contribution to structural transformation, productive capacities, competitiveness and the diversification of production and exports, integration into global value chains and as a key means of implementation and a component of achieving the Sustainable Development Goals;
     
16. Acknowledges the huge potential of digital technologies to bring economic and social development benefits to developing countries; acknowledges that implementation and deployment of these technologies pose significant challenges for exacerbating economic and social divides and disrupting labour markets and could also lead to widening of the digital and productivity divide, in particular in developing countries and the least developed countries; and, in this regard, requests UNCTAD to conduct research and analysis work on potential policy considerations for mitigating these risks and taking advantage of the opportunities and to encourage cooperation in this area;
     
17. Recognizes the increased digitalization of societies and fast-increasing importance of the digital economy; and stresses the need for countries to strengthen their capacities to promote digital entrepreneurship and to design, implement, monitor and assess evidence-based policies in this field;
     
18. Stresses the importance of building national and regional capacities to facilitate the development, dissemination, adoption and use of frontier technologies and innovative solutions for achieving global and national development goals;
     
19. Recognizes the need to facilitate access by women and youth, as well as rural and vulnerable communities, to science and technology and their participation in the definition of science, technology and innovation agendas, policy decisions and priority-setting; and encourages UNCTAD to consider this in their deliberations;
     
20. Welcomes the contribution of UNCTAD to the digitalization process through research (Digital Economy Report 2019), capacity-building (rapid eTrade readiness assessments, electronic commerce (e-commerce) strategies and eTrade for all) and global and regional e-commerce weeks; and reiterates its call for UNCTAD to strengthen its work on enhancing development gains from the digital economy and e-commerce;
     
21. Expresses its satisfaction with the research work of UNCTAD supporting developing countries in their understanding of policy options to steer innovation in ways that leave no one behind; and looks forward to continued work in this area, including through supporting strategic foresight and technological assessment initiatives in developing countries, to improve their understanding of the socioeconomic and environmental implications of new technologies;
     
22. Commends UNCTAD for its guidance in designing effective policies for science, technology and innovation; and notes the recent science, technology and innovation policy review of Panama and the ongoing reviews in the Dominican Republic, Ethiopia, Uganda and Zambia;
     
23. Invites the UNCTAD secretariat to explore ways to mobilize additional resources to further its work in science, technology and innovation policies and the digital economy, including science, technology and innovation policy reviews;
     
24. Invites UNCTAD to continue its important role in supporting developing countries, especially the least developed countries, to be part of the international debate on frontier technologies, which are expected to critically affect their development trajectories.