5 April 2016: The President of the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), Oh Joon, has appointed the co-chairs of the first multi-stakeholder forum on science, technology and innovation for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), also known as the STI Forum. 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.

Macharia Kamau, Permanent Representative of Kenya, and Vaughan Turekian, Science and Technology Adviser to the US Secretary of State, will chair the first annual STI Forum, taking place from 6-7 June 2016, at the UN Headquarters in New York, US, on the topic ‘Realizing the potential of science, technology and innovation for all to achieve the SDGs.’ The STI Forum is expected to result in a summary of discussions elaborated by the co-chairs, as an input to the High-level Political Forum on sustainable development (HLPF).

In preparation for the STI Forum, a global online discussion is underway, with a focus on the following questions: Why are STI essential for the achievement of the SDGs?; What are the main opportunities and challenges for maximizing the contribution of STI to the achievement of the SDGs?; What are the key elements that countries and international organizations may need to take into account in formulating action plans and/or roadmaps for STI for the SDGs; How can we deploy existing knowledge and new, innovative solutions and technologies and make them more readily available to those who need them?; and What would be success criteria for the STI Forum in the coming years, and what questions should the STI Forum focus on? The online discussion runs from 4 April to 6 May 2016.

Another platform for input is the ‘Call to Action for the STI Forum,’ through which participants can submit concrete scientific and technological innovations, until 30 April. The platform was launched by the Inter-agency Task Team on STI for the SDGs (IATT) and the 10-Member Group to support the TFM. The infrastructure for the platform is provided by the Global Innovation Exchange (GIE), a global online marketplace for innovations. According to the Call for Action webpage, innovations submitted will be publicly featured in GIE’s searchable database. A number of the submitted innovations will be highlighted during the Forum. [ECOSOC President’s Letter on STI Forum Co-Chairs] [STI Forum Webpage] [Call to Action Platform] [Global Online Discussion Website] [IISD RS Story on STI Forum Preparations]