7 June 2016: The inaugural meeting of the Multi-stakeholder Forum on Science, Technology and Innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—STI Forum—took place at UN Headquarters in New York, US, on 6-7 June 2016. Participants discussed: the power of STI; enabling environments for STI; realizing the potential of STI for the SDGs; transformative technologies for SDGs; effective STI policy frameworks; or the experience of youth in using STI for sustainable development.

The STI Forum is a component of the Technology Facilitation Mechanism (TFM) outlined in the Addis Ababa Action Agenda (AAAA) and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The TFM also includes an Inter-Agency Task Team on STI for SDGs (IATT), a 10-Member Group, and an online platform.

In discussions at the inaugural STI Forum, panelists, participants and the Co-Chairs considered the purpose of the STI Forum itself, and how it can fulfill its purpose in the future. Some called for the Forum to consider technology transfer issues and bridging technological divides, while others looked forward to “collective learning” around knowledge and STI. Several participants stressed the Forum’s role as a platform for communities to identify needs for STI to better support sustainable development, and to raise concerns about technology’s applications. Discussions highlighted the SDGs’ potential to be disruptive to established policies and practices. But participants also flagged concerns about STIs’ potential negative impacts, including on countries and communities that lack the ability to be fast adopters.

At the end of the two-day Forum, Heide Hackmann, Co-Chair of the 10-Member Group, said the STI Forum cannot be limited to an annual, two-day discussion, but must be the outcome of a year-long programme of results-oriented work, serving as a moment to collaboratively define priorities for the next year. She outlined concrete objectives that the Forum’s annual programme of work could take on. The 10-Member Group also will develop success indicators for the STI Forum and the TFM overall, she said.

Reflections from the Forum’s co-chairs, Macharia Kamau (Kenya) and Vaughan Turekian (US), highlighted the need to bring more people, countries and communities on board to benefit from STI, and the need to ensure STI protects the planet and climate.

The Co-Chairs are expected to produce a summary of the STI Forum, and asked ECOSOC President Oh Joon to ensure that the Forum is able to report on its discussions and plans to the High-level Political Forum on Sustainable Development (HLPF) in July 2016. [IISD RS Meeting Coverage] [STI Forum Website]