WIPO Conference on Innovation and Climate Change

Stimulating Innovation, Accelerating Technology Transfer & Diffusion, Enabling Global Solutions

Geneva, July 11 and 12, 2011

A global forum - by and for - leading thinkers, negotiators and entrepreneurs from government, academia, IGOs, NGOs, industry and the public to identify tools, explore strategies and develop global solutions to promote innovation and technology transfer around a pressing global problem.

How can the world innovate its way to a carbon-neutral future?

Research and development partnerships are the foundation of innovation to address climate change. And concerted action to support the necessary innovation requires an enabling policy environment. This conference will address how the principal factors stimulating innovation can be integrated into coherent strategies that span across R&D, national production capabilities, access to markets, effective regulations, and sound intellectual property management. Options will be explored that accelerate technology transfer and diffusion, and thus affect people’s lives around the world.

Plenary Sessions: How can shifting innovation paradigms be leveraged to stimulate innovation and accelerate technology transfer and diffusion?

Short presentations will be followed by ample discussion time and engagement with the participants. Key aspects that will be addressed include:

• How does innovation in climate change technologies really work? What are the economic imperatives to stimulate innovation and structured deals?
• What tools exist to encourage effective partnerships?
• What are the complementary roles of the principal actors to bring about synergies and effective use of resources?
• What can be learned from existing mechanisms and public-private partnerships that have led to successful outcomes (such as various forms of Open Innovation Platforms, the “Clean Investment Fund”, and Product Development Partnerships in Health)?
• How can the interplay of technology transfer and licensing of relevant technologies be facilitated?
• To what extent can collective licensing schemes, open innovation frameworks, network innovation systems, and pooling arrangements be made most relevant?

Break-out Sessions: What are specific options to accelerate technology transfer and licensing?

Different groups will address specific questions centered around four key topics, each within the overarching theme of technology transfer and diffusion:

• Policy: What are the principal choices to stimulate innovation in climate change solutions? How can technology clusters and networks be encouraged and broadened?
• Finance: How can access to financing by developing countries be facilitated?
• Partnerships: How can different R&D and collaborative models be encouraged and their efficiency leveraged? What is the role of specific knowledge sharing platforms?
• Technology transfer and licensing: What are best practices in technology transfer and licensing? How can patent landscapes, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, targeted capacity building and other forms of supportive services contribute effectively?

Final Round Table: Summing up the way forward to stimulate innovation, accelerate technology transfer and diffusion, and enable global solutions.