19 December 2017: The President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Marie Chatardova, has appointed the co-chairs of the third Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The STI Forum is a component of the UN Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.

Toshiya Hoshino, Deputy Permanent Representative of Japan, and Juan Sandoval Mendiolea, Deputy Permanent Representative of Mexico, will chair the third annual STI Forum, taking place from 5-6 June 2018, at UN Headquarters in New York, US. The 2018 STI Forum will result in a co-chairs’ summary of discussions, which will serve as an input to the 2018 session of the UN High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF).

In 2017, the STI Forum focused on the SDGs that were under review at that year’s session of the HLPF (SDGs 1, 2, 3, 5, 9 and 14), with participants showcasing concrete ways in which STI can be used for implementing the Goals. The co-chairs’ summary recommended that the future editions of the Forum: serve as catalyst for multi-stakeholder partnerships that include the private sector; be closely linked with and foster collaboration across existing initiatives to overcome fragmented and uncoordinated approaches; and focus on matchmaking between existing problems and existing solutions to facilitate STI assistance to countries where it is most needed.

The TFM also includes an Inter-Agency Task Team on STI for SDGs (IATT), a 10-Member Group, and an online platform. [ECOSOC President’s Letter] [STI Forum 2018][SDG Knowledge Hub Story on 2017 STI Forum] [Co-Chairs’ Summary of 2017 STI Forum]