Summary of the UN STI Forum Side Event on the Global Innovation Index – Innovation in the Face of Uncertainty

Co-hosted on 9 May 2024 by the Permanent Mission of India to the United Nations, the World Intellectual Property Organization, the Confederation of Indian Industry, and the Oxford University Said Business School, t;his event examined the impact of the current global turbulence resulting from inflation, rising interest rates and geopolitical tensions on the level and nature of innovation. Speakers also discussed successful strategies and policies to harness innovation opportunities and mitigate risks.

In the opening, the Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations and the Minister of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic shared insights and lessons from their countries’ respective innovation journeys. Representatives of WIPO shared their vision on the connection between innovation, IP and sustainable development as well as key findings of the 2023 Global Innovation Index.

Speakers

  • E. Mr. Joel Santos, Minister of the Presidency, Dominican Republic ;
  • E. Ms. Ruchira Kamboj, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations;
  • Marco Aleman, Assistant Director-General, Intellectual Property and Innovation Ecosystems Sector, WIPO;
  • Edward Kwakwa, Assistant Director General, Global Challenges and Partnerships Sector, WIPO;
  • Soumitra Dutta, Dean, Said Business School, Oxford University & GII Co- Editor;
  • Cecilia Zhao, Venture and Growth Investor, Kinnevik Capital, U.K.;
  • Anuradda Ganesh, Representative of the Confederation of Indian Industry, India;
  • Tonny K Omwansa, Chief Executive Officer, Kenya National Innovation Agency, Kenya;
  • Vanessa Behrens, Project Manager, Department for Economics and Data Analytics, IP and Innovation Ecosystems Sector, WIPO (Moderator);

Key messages from the opening session

H.E. Ms. Ruchira Kamboj, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of India to the United Nations, ;shared India’s journey as a leader in tech innovation. She highlighted the importance of the youthful tech savvy population, transformation in funding landscape, and pivotal government initiatives such as Make in India and Start Up India that helped transform the country into the world’s 3rd largest start-up ecosystem and number 1 ranking in the Global Innovation Index in the region since 2011. India is also keen to support friends and partners in Global South to reap the rewards of innovation.;

H.E. Minister Joel Santos, Minister of the Presidency of the Dominican Republic provided insights into his country’s innovation approach and priorities, emphasizing that innovation is not only about doing things differently but also about affecting lasting impact and meaningful change. He stressed the importance of cultivating a culture of creativity and developing synergy and collaboration between public and private sectors and across diverse sectors. He highlighted initiatives such as the Dominican Republic Innovation Club and Dominicana Innova.

Key messages from the panel discussion

The global economy has faced multidimensional uncertainty, fuelled by the lasting impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the impact of climate change, and the numerous conflicts taking place. In the face of this uncertainty, innovation has become a necessary ingredient to enable countries and companies to remain agile. Innovation has remained buoyant, including in many parts of the developing world, thanks to stable and growing venture capital and a strong enabling innovation ecosystem supported by tools such as the Global Innovation Index.

Supportive leadership that prioritises innovation and creativity is vital as innovation requires a long-term commitment and consistency over time in order to bear fruit. This entails consistent investment in research and development as well as willingness to invest in company growth and expansion to move beyond prototypes to market success. Leadership and policy are also necessary to establish a true culture of innovation and experimentation, creating an environment where learning and improving from failure is part of the norm.

Despite adequate venture capital in the world, societal problems are not being solved. In these uncertain times, the problems the world faces are increasingly complex. More diversity is needed across the innovation value chain to adequately address these wide ranging of and complex problems. If the people and perspectives in design teams, venture capital, policy making, business support organizations, etc. all have similar backgrounds and profiles, they will choose to address and finance the same problems, and reach the same conclusions. Similarly, real innovation seldom happens inside one firm or organization: Solutions to complex problems, such as climate change, requires partnerships, knowledge transfer and collaboration.

Participants also agreed on the importance of the innovation ecosystem to fuel and sustain innovation and shared several good practice examples from countries. Important components include supportive policy, public-private partnerships, cross-sector collaboration, innovation hubs, incubation centres, accelerator programmes, dedicated financing. WIPO’s role is to support the innovation ecosystem that incentivizes women and men to find solutions to the critical challenges that the world faces today.

The 2024 edition of the Global Innovation Index will be launched on 26 September in Geneva, Switzerland.