9 January 2018: The operationalization of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries (LDCs) is making progress, the UN Office of the High Representative for LDCs, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (OHRLLS) has reported. The Council of the Technology Bank held its inaugural meeting in November 2017, and Government of Norway made a contribution of over US$1 million to support the Bank as it sets up operations during 2018.
The Technology Bank is expected to support technology-related policies and facilitate access to appropriate technologies for the world’s poorest countries. The Bank will be located in Gebze, Turkey. According to OHRLLS, the premises of the Bank are currently under construction and are expected to be inaugurated in early 2018. On 20 December 2017, the Norwegian Agency for Development Cooperation (NORAD) granted NOK 9 million (about US$1,070,550) to support the Technology Bank as it sets up operations.
In 2018, the Bank will focus on preparing STI-related reviews and needs assessments in the LDCs.
The Council of the Technology Bank held its inaugural meeting in New York, US, on 21 November 2017, to discuss and adopt the programme of work and budget for activities in 2018. They agreed that in 2018 the Technology Bank will focus on preparing a number of science, technology and innovation (STI) reviews and technology needs assessments in the LDCs.
The Council of the Technology Bank is composed of: Ann Aerts, Head, Novartis Foundation; Aggrey Ambali, New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD); Abdoulaye Yero Baldé, Minister of Higher Education and Scientific Research, Guinea; Sonia Bashir Kabir, Microsoft Bangladesh; Bitrina Diyamett, Executive Director, Science, Technology and Innovation Policy Research Organization (STIPRO); Xiaolan Fu, Oxford University; Zakri Abdul Hamid, Science Adviser to the Prime Minister of Malaysia; Orkun Hasekioğlu, TÜBITAK; Mohamed Hassan, President, InterAcademy Partnership (IAP); Rosibel Ochoa, University of California, Riverside; Frank Rijsberman, Director-General, Global Green Growth Institute (GGGI); Alfred Watkins, Chairman, Global Solutions Summits; and Fekitamoeloa Katoa ‘Utoikamanu, UN Under-Secretary-General and High Representative for the LDCs, landlocked developing countries (LLDCs) and small island developing States (SIDS).
During the meeting, ‘Utoikamanu noted that the full operationalization of the Technology Bank would be the first SDG target to be achieved, and fits within the spirit of the UN Secretary-General’s overall reform efforts to adapt the UN to better support the Goals’ implementation on the ground. SDG target 17.8 calls for fully operationalizing the technology bank and science, technology and innovation capacity-building mechanism for least developed countries by 2017.
The Technology Bank was initially called for by the Programme of Action for the Least Developed Countries for the Decade 2011-2020 (Istanbul Programme of Action). In December 2016, the UN General Assembly (UNGA) adopted resolution 71/251 on the ‘Establishment of the Technology Bank for the Least Developed Countries.’ On 22 September 2017, the operationalization phase of the Technology Bank began with the signing of the host country agreement and the contribution agreement between the Government of Turkey and the UN. [Technology Bank Website] [OHRLLS Press Release on Norway’s Contribution to Technology Bank] [OHRLLS Update on Inaugural Meeting of the Technology Bank Council] [Members of the Technology Bank Council] [SDG Knowledge Hub Story on Launch and Establishment of the Technology Bank]